FINANCIAL - Boomers control 70% of U.S. disposable income
DIGITAL - Boomers spend more time online than millennials
HEALTHCARE - Boomers will double future Medicare costs
Boomers are transforming care delivery, from Medicare to aging-at-home services to convenience-driven alternate sites of care such as retail clinics, telemedicine and wearables to anti-aging nutraceuticals. Opportunity abounds. What’s clear is the need to understand Boomers – what’s important to them, what truly matters to them, and why they do what they do – has never been more important.
For marketers this means a shift in orientation from brand promotion to individual inspiration, from features and functions to emotional appeals that move people to act and engage. It’s about connecting with Boomers around personal, relevant motivations and deep, sometimes even unconscious desires, like freedom, happiness, renewed goals, or simply the ability to enjoy life.
Attracting new Boomer customers and keeping existing ones means communicating on their terms and through media they prefer. Marketing used to be easy, start with a brand or product and see who buys it. Today, success starts with the customer and knowing how they want to engage. Insights and attributes of different Boomer customers are at the core of better informed, data-driven direct-to-consumer marketing decisions.
- Where are they & what’s important to them?
- Where do they get information & how do you get their attention?
- How do they shop & what motivates them to buy?
- Who do they share with & what are they saying about you?
Taking time to leverage data to produce insights that inform your Boomer marketing strategy has huge payoff. The deeper the insight the better the result: accuracy of audience targeting, personalization of communication (content & channel), and relevancy of engagement and loyalty.
Boomers value individual choice, ownership, prosperity, convenience, and a ‘forever young’ outlook on life. They are turning age-65 at a rate of 10,000 a day. Baselines for them are the Vietnam War, hippies, rock music, women’s and civil rights, and parenting. The Boomerquake isn’t the culmination of this group’s life journey, they see it just the beginning as they keep learning, doing and living!
At 75 million strong the Boomerquake is big, and it has a huge payoff. Boomers own “aging”. It’s an exciting, earned lifestage…and they want to be valued and respected. Here’s three keys to marketing inside the Boomerquake:
- Boomers are vital. They proactively invest in their health to maximize their lives.
- Boomers don’t settle. They define ‘new normal’ through active aging.
- Boomers are wired. They may be digital immigrants, but they’re purpose driven embracing innovation and convenience.
Marketers need to solicit their opinions and insights, listen to their wants and needs…and personalize their customer experiences. Make sure content is tailored, conversations are personalized, and media mix reflects their preferences. Brands must build and nurture relationships of trust using emotional and rational drivers that motivate and influence each Boomer customer throughout the active aging journey.
BOOMERQUAKE IS HERE!