Do you have digital marketing directed at baby boomers?

Does your organization think that digital marketing is only for engaging younger audiences? Think again!

According to a new Hootsuite post on social media trends to watch for in 2021, baby boomers are one of the fastest-growing and most engaged audiences on social media:

Baby boomers are getting fully onboard with social media trends.

Boomers spent more time online in 2020 using social media, digital video, gaming, and mobile payments. Seventy percent of internet users aged 55-64 have bought something online in the past month. And 37% plan to continue doing so more frequently.

Marketers typically target baby boomers through TV advertising. This is still one of the most effective ways to reach them—for now. But eMarketer forecasts less than half of households will have cable TV by 2024.

What are some things that your organization can do to better engage older social media users and take advantage of this growing trend in 2021? Here are some ideas to incorporate into your digital marketing:

1. Use images that feature baby boomers. Representation is important. Too often, social media images exclusively feature younger people. If an older audience doesn’t see themselves represented in your marketing, they will conclude that it isn’t meant for them.
2. Create calls-to-action that are customized for baby boomers. There is plenty of information out there about how different generations use social media differently. Part of effective digital marketing is understanding why your target audience is on social media and what motivates them to act on the content they encounter. Making sure you have calls-to-action that speak to an older audience’s particular interests, wants, and needs will be key to achieving the outcomes you need from them.
3.  Revisit cultural references that have meaning for baby boomers. Memes and cultural references are a big part of how we communicate on digital platforms. Images, videos, and phrases go viral, and just posting them can relay a certain meaning. Baby boomers’ longer timelines open up different and older options for meaningful cultural references. So use that additional content to your advantage when marketing to older audiences!
4. Utilize a user flow that works for baby boomers. While older audiences are spending more time on social media, many continue to trail Millennials and Gen-Z users in technological savviness, which means that navigating your website might not be as intuitive for an old audience as it is for younger users. Making sure you’ve got a simple and straightforward user flow in place is likely even more important than normal for baby boomers. Make it as easy as possible for them to do what you want them to do.

At Communicatto, we’ve got experience engaging all sorts of audiences. We’d love to help you with targeting for tangible outcomes in your 2021 marketing! Drop us a line.