Baby Boomer Insights

Marketing to Boomers online: we love to spend money, plan trips and influence others!

When my oldest daughter, Katy, graduates from the University of Georgia next weekend (with a degree in commercial real estate), we'll present her with a trip out of the country to somewhere she has never been. Just in case she reads this blog, I'm not revealing where she and her best friend are headed, but  I'm pretty darn certain they'll have a great time. (I've never been there myself, btw, but we boomers are like that - we indulge our kids first!)

I've had a lot of fun planning for the trip and managed to do the entire thing without ever talking with anyone. I found the resort online, booked the flights online, hired a car to pick them up at the airport, arranged to expand her cell service capabilities and even  alerted the bank that she'll be out of the country for a week so they don't deny her unusual debit card purchases (made with money I transferred into her account online). Of course, I've been teasing her with e-mails about the whole thing and she lovingly responds with text messages from her cell phone.

My point is simply this: marketers who continue to assume that they need only focus on Gen Y and Gen X in their online marketing are making a huge mistake. I confess during the entire process of planning Katy's trip, I found myself making quick decisions about what web sites I wanted to interact with and what service providers I was willing to send money to based on the experience I had with them online. Here's a tip for you web site developers: a page completely filled with "stuff" turns off Boomers, especially if the "stuff" is presented in nine-point type!

My insistence on finding and purchasing so much online isn't unusual for my generation. According to a recent report by E-Marketer.com, Boomers and seniors are frequently turning to online sources to do research and make purchases. And their significant economic clout is really starting to show in cyberspace. With an average household discretionary income holding steady at almost $30,000, Boomers have more money to spend online - and offline - than any other generation. And guess what? We're increasingly spending that money on booking online travel for ourselves! (Don't worry, Katy - Dad and I promise not to show up on your trip!) A big difference is we're looking to learn on the beach, not burn on the beach.

Boomers are not only getting - and staying - online, we're influencing seniors to do the same. In fact, the over-60 crowd is expected to grow from 17.5 million in 2006 to over 25 million by 2010. Unfortunately, too many marketers think that because this group largely retired before computers and high-speed internet access became the norm at home, there probably aren't very many who are online.

On the contrary, many find that now is the perfect time to learn a new skill like surfing the web. Many connect with their grandchildren on MySpace and Facebook.  Some are even looking online for opportunities to volunteer.

So, as you put together your 2008 communication and marketing plan for reaching Boomers, make sure you understand how we're changing and influencing online behavior or you may never get a shot at us! 

Why my yard looks tacky this Christmas: Boomers defy conventional wisdom and embrace new liberties

If you're a Boomer, this statistic may not surprise you: 75% of us feel less pressure to act a certain way. Combine that with new research that reveals our optimism and our willingness to spend money, and you start to understand why my yard looks so tacky this Christmas.

Apparently, my Boomer husband decided to let it all hang out and decorate the yard in as colorful and creative a way as he could dream up. And it's a doozy. Think chili pepper lights and colored bulbs outlining the door and you start to get the picture.  I've never seen Ralph so enjoy getting ready for Christmas. He laughed all day Saturday while he strung lights, probably because he could see how mortified I was. As you might have guessed, I'm more of the "classy tiny white lights" type. Thankfully, the indoor decorating is left solely up to me.

Our differences in decorating for the holidays is a great example of some illuminating information my company recently received through the Strategy One/Edelman Boomer Insights Study, which we're now making available to clients and prospects who want to learn more about how Boomers think, act, plan and finance their decisions.

Boomer men and women don't think alike on a lot of things, including healthcare and politics. We share information differently. We're influenced by different people and even different media outlets.

But one thing we have in common is that, generally speaking, we're an optimistic  bunch who revel in the liberties that come with age and wisdom. We no longer feel we have to act a certain way or do certain things just because we fit nicely into an age group.

Conventional wisdom would lead one to believe that Boomers like us with adult children wouldn't necessarily bother to decorate the yard, for instance. Conventional wisdom would suggest if we decorated, it would probably be tasteful and conservative.

See, that's the thing. Too many people use conventional wisdom when trying to figure out Boomers. We defy convention. In fact, we celebrate the fact that we defy convention.

So when you're riding around looking at lights this season, don't think you know who occupies the houses by how their lights look.  You just might be surprised!