Thursday, October 1, 2009

Look! There's the 300 Pound Gorilla!

What is the largest US population segment in history? Well they’re called Baby Boomers and there are about 77.2 million between the ages of 45 and 64. What might surprise you is that they constitute over 30% of the online population.

According to a study from market research group NPD, roughly 61 % of baby boomers said they visited sites that offer streaming or downloadable video (e.g., YouTube and TV network Web sites), and 41 % had visited social networks (e.g., Linked-In, Facebook). Plus, the web-savvy Boomers who visited video streaming sites were 15 % more likely to buy DVDs, CDs and go to the movies and these numbers are growing.

So when you’re putting together your marketing strategy get over your misperception that Web activities are the exclusive domain of young people. If you discount Boomers you’ll find your brand ignored and distrusted by the largest US population segment in history. That's a lot of dollars to turn your back on.

Check out - Social networking’ appeal to older Americans grows and Social media for an older crowd