To finish off the day at Transformation 2011, we found out almost everything you need to know about Boomers from Jeffery Cole, Director, Center for the Digital Future at USC. Jeffery spent the last year researching teenagers and as he started looking at their parents, realized that Boomers (people born 1946-1964) do almost the exact same things teenagers do with just one major difference, they have all the money.
Here is a brief recap Jeffery’s key digital Boomer behaviors:
- Boomers are the first generation ever to take the digital technology completely into “older” age. They will be online in “television penetration” type numbers.
- In 2007, Boomers used mobile phones mostly for calls whereas teens used them for texting. Also, Boomers rarely used the internet for entertainment whereas teens used the internet for mostly entertainment. Today, those two differences are basically gone.
- The heaviest users of social networking are over the age of 50. They also find the most value in communities beyond Facebook for their interests such as how to learn to play chess.
- Boomers have the greatest overall trust in the content on the web, including the advertising and they care greatly about the source of the information they are receiving.
- Boomers are the heaviest users of email putting them at the center of the web experience. And they use email for everything: reaching out to friends, to their health care providers, to do business, etc.
- They spend more money online than any other age group.
- Gaming isn’t just for teens. Boomers game just as much as their kids with casual games like poker, solitaire, soduku, and crosswords.
- As the heaviest newspaper readers, Boomers will need to find a new place to go in the next five years as the end of the printed newspaper approaches.
To sum it up, Boomers are digital and they will stay that way. Be sure your thinking about how to reach Boomers digitally with your marketing campaigns. Microsoft Advertising channels attract a boomer audience that rivals the top-10 television broadcast shows. From deeply branded video experiences to targeted performance opportunities that easily scale, Microsoft Advertising offers a broad suite of options to reach and engage your audience.
For more coverage from Transformation 2011 follow @MSAdvertising and keep an eye on the Advertising Blog.
Best,
Kaila Lightner, Web Marketing Manager
Follow us on Twitter @MSAdvertising & @adCenter | Find us on Facebook | Share your thoughts in the Forums | Subscribe