When it comes to marketing your business, it’s important to make sure your message appeals to the audience that you’re trying to reach. This means understanding the buying power of different generations and groups so you can attract the interest of those who can take advantage of your offers. Each age group is different and has individual levels of equity they can and are willing to spend.
The Baby Boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, was the largest generation in American history until millennials slightly surpassed them. This generation has a solid place in the market. They have a substantial amount of buying power and since many of them have now retired, more leisure time to enjoy. As a result, Baby Boomers continue to draw the focus of a considerable percentage of businesses. In this blog post, we will discuss the buying power of baby boomers and how to leverage that.
Baby Boomers remain one of the top spending generations across the United States. Annually, they outspend other generations by about $400 billion across the United States. While they make up only about 20% of the country's population, they do about 50% of the spending across the nation. Baby Boomers control about 70% of the country's disposable income.
The 73.4 million Baby Boomers across the United States, most of whom have either already retired or are nearing that age, have continued to maintain high levels of spending across multiple categories even as retirement approaches. In early 2020, an average of 53% of boomers preferred online shopping to physical retail stores. That number has increased due to COVID-19: an estimated 45% of Baby Boomers feel that they're doing more online shopping in light of the pandemic.
For your business, this means paying attention to the Baby Boomer audience, whether you're marketing to them online or in a physical store, is critical to the continuing success of your business.
Baby Boomers are an essential component of your target audience. Many of them are currently making major lifestyle changes: relocating, for example, or downsizing now that they no longer have children at home. This is an excellent time for your business to expand its marketing efforts to meet their needs. Marketing during lifestyle changes, in fact, can increase your overall success since consumers are more interested in what your business might have to offer due to their newfound freedoms or challenges.
For example, you have a health and supplement business, this is the ideal time to share information about it with the Baby Boomer audience since they're ideally positioned to make health and wellness changes alongside the other big changes in their lives. You can also catch new Baby Boomers moving into your town, making your business their first stop for needs in your industry. Baby Boomers are much less likely to switch brands without a good reason, even when presented with significant incentives. If you can capture them as they make major life changes, they may have a substantial lifetime value with your business.
Baby Boomers watch TV more often than they get on social media. This is why they are more likely than millennials to keep a cable subscription, rather than cutting the cord. In order to reach them, it's important to consider their viewing habits and where they spend most of their time.
Consider working closely with a media partner to learn more about what Baby Boomers are watching. You want your budget to focus on where they are: the days they watch, the times they're tuned in, and the platforms and channels they're most likely to watch. TV is one of the best strategies for getting boomers' attention.
Another great way to reach their generation is to include email marketing as part of your strategy, since it can help you get their attention directly. Most often, Baby Boomers are focused on aging and style content, including lifestyle shows, and magazines like Better Homes and Gardens. They also regularly follow the news and local sports teams, which makes working with a local media partner an excellent way to connect with a Baby Boomer audience. Some factors to keep in mind:
Unfortunately, all too many brands continue to ignore Baby Boomers in their marketing strategies. If you want to increase your marketing results and improve your ability to reach this generation, working with a media partner can help you learn more about what Baby Boomers want from their marketing and how they prefer to connect with your brand.