Baby Boomers today account for 75.52 million or 23.3% of the total U.S. population, which makes it the second largest cohort in the country. While possessing significant disposal income – about 70% of it in the U.S. – this gen still holds the spending power. Who are they? How to market to Baby Boomers? What do they like? Let’s weigh in together.
Baby Boomers: who are they?
This is the cohort born between 1946 and 1964. The term is historically grounded and is marked by substantial birth rates post-World War II. According to 2014 Census Bureau Report, there were more than 4.3 million babies born in 1957, which set a record and has become the highest number of births ever recorded in the U.S. As of 2017, the oldest Baby Boomers are 71 years old and the youngest ones have just turned 53. Technology habits Surprisingly as it might sound, this age segment is one of the fastest growing ones when it comes to smartphone ownership. This has been proven by Pew Research Center. Moreover, 77% of Baby Boomers associate owning a smartphone with freedom, when opposed to other age segments. According to the Huffington Post, 33% of this cohort are Internet users who are online more than watching TV – these numbers account for 78%. Moreover, Colorado University has found out that Baby Boomers spend 27 hours per week online. This is actually even more than online surfers aged between 16 and 34. As for Baby Boomers’ smartphone usage, it has been determined that 44% of them download mobile apps at least once a month. They are usually apps that are related to the following spheres:
Where Baby Boomers mostly spend their money?
When targeting this age segment, make sure to thoroughly research into spheres of their utmost interest. This will certainly play into your hands and allow for making a gold when developing an outstanding idea!
Be it the decision to plunge into social media app development or be it the introduction of certain social features in your project, targeting this age segment might be quite a plan as 71% of this cohort is on social media [3]. Here is some stats that proves that U.S. Baby Boomers are neither more nor less than social animals and are second to none when compared to millennials and gen Z, for instance:
o LinkedIn. 35.3% of Baby Boomers are registered in this network. Despite that 1/10 of this gen are high school dropouts – including 4% of them with less than 9th grade education – this segment keeps building and maintaining professional contacts [6]. According to Post Control Marketing, the Baby Boom cohort is practically as work-focused as millennials. o Pinterest & Google+ are in joint third place, accounting for 32.2% and 30.6% correspondingly.
When marketing to Baby Boomers it is essential to realize that they cover a wide range of preferences. Despite approaching the retirement, the cohort still has a rapid pace of living, high level of online engagement (including social media) and significant disposable income. This makes this age segment quite a valuable audience that should be carefully targeted.
[1]https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-app-smartphone-market-baby-boomers-ron-medlin
[2]http://www.internetmarketinginc.com/blog/the-digital-landscape-of-seniors-and-baby-boomers/ [3]https://www.dmn3.com/dmn3-blog/should-you-market-to-baby-boomers-on-social-media [4]http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/baby-boom [5]http://seniors.lovetoknow.com/Baby_Boomer_Statistics [6]http://www.postcontrolmarketing.com/453/2016/06/15/baby-boomers-and-social-media-usage/
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