By Rhonda Campbell
Baby boomers, determined to put off looking and feeling old for as long as they can, are shaping the types of products and services businesses are developing. Not only are baby boomers working out at the gym and parking further away from office buildings just so they can walk further, they’re also looking for conveniences (i.e. lowered kitchen cabinets, single level homes) to make everyday activities less straining.
Understanding baby boomers’ needs and wants could prove key to your company’s profitability. Develop products and/or services that feed the nostalgia experienced by boomers and you could also gain customer loyalty. If you sell products that were on the market in the 40s, 50, 60s or 70s, you might already be satisfying boomers.
If you’ve never tried to market to baby boomers, you could be losing millions of customer sales. Even so, all’s not lost. You could start taping into the baby boomer buying power today, by taking a few steps. For example, you could:
- Send printed brochures, catalogs and direct mail to your target audience (some boomers don’t use the Internet, ever)
- Include educational facts, etc. with marketing material (yes! boomers love to learn!)
- Highlight the benefits products/services offer to adult children and grandchildren
- Add images to websites, brochures, etc. that show boomers enjoying their favorite activities
- Play music, popular during baby boomers’ teen and young adult years, at your sales office
- Email specials, discounts and sales (Nielsen reports that 89 percent of Americans 65+ years old have an email account)
- Connect product/service discounts to a boomer’s age (movie theaters have been doing this for years)
In its March 6, 2011 “The New Target Demographic, Baby Boomers” article, CBS News reports that, “The first baby boomers are turning 65 this year, and a projected 72 million – about one fifth of the U.S. population – will be that age or older by 2030.” Tap into the nostalgia boomers have and you could provide these millions of Americans the best experiences that are tied into their favorite pastimes and emotionally charged memories. This, in turn, could make your company a business of choice amongst this large demographic.
READER PLUS: Want to stop feeling as if you’re the only one getting older? Check out some of these comments by people who’ve shared when they realized they weren’t as young as they once were. Have a few laughs. After all, instead of getting old, you really are getting better, and you deserve the best products and services!
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Sources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-20039772.html (CBS News: The New Target Demographic, Baby Boomers)
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/serving-massive-baby-boomer-market-000000321.html (Yahoo! Serving the Massive Baby Boomer Market)
