-
Get Ready To Tackle That Summer Beach List
Ralph Rosynek -
The Reverse Review Magazine
September - 2010 -
I’m a Reverse Mortgage Originator and Damn It, People Like Me
Michael Manfred -
Cost Effective Reverse Mortgage Marketing 101
John Sorgenfrei -
Winning Battles While Losing Wars
Jonathan J. Neal -
Reverse Mortgages: An Originator’s Tale
Sue Haviland -
Get Ready To Tackle That Summer Beach List
Ralph Rosynek -
The Reverse Review Magazine
September - 2010
Tell a Story, Make a Sale
Tuesday, 02 June 2009 03:43
Articles - Sales and Marketing
Marketing to Baby-Boomers and Seniors Requires a Different Way of Thinking
Recently I found some key information in two very different places, that said almost exactly the same thing about marketing to baby-boomers and seniors. After analyzing both pieces, I found a ton of truth and great ideas for marketing strategy.
The first is an article on ComingofAge.com by Jim Gilmartin that discusses how older adults minds process information differently than younger adults, therefore, the marketing strategy must change to match that thought process.
The second resource is a new book on the market that I hope all of you take the time to read. It’s called Dot Boom: Marketing to Baby Boomers Through Meaningful Online Engagement written by the founding partners at ImmersionActive (www.immersionactive.com).
Here’s what you will find in Dot Boom: Marketing to Baby Boomers Through Meaningful Online Engagement :
A compelling argument for marketing to Boomers
A method for attracting older consumers without disenfranchising young consumers
The keys to getting “landing rights” with a boomer consumer
Best practices with regard to online-creative targeting Boomers
The first Boomer-specific definition of Engagement as a metric
A revolutionary idea in online media planning: Engagement Clusters
A framework for replicating successful online campaigns
The ComingofAge.com piece discusses the eight progressive changes in how older minds process information. Here is the summary of those eight changes:
Less reliance on reason to determine what is of interest, and more on intuition (which is cued by emotional responses): This means that because they have more life experience, boomers and seniors are more likely to make decisions based on “gut feelings” rather than rationally deduced decisions.
First impressions (which are always emotionally based) are more durable and more difficult to reverse than for younger adults: The old saying that you never get a second chance to make a first impression is even more applicable to boomers and seniors!
After a matter qualifies for interest and further attention, baby boomers tend to want more information than do younger consumers: Content is king. Provide it willingly, happily, and in droves.
Decreasing speed in rational processing of objective information: Content is king. Provide it willingly, happily, and “completely”, don’t leave out anything.
More resistant to absolute propositions: You should present information on company and products in a qualified, even deferential manner.
More sensitive to metaphorical meanings, nuances and subtleties: Illustrate values that transcend the generic value of the service and expand its perceived attractiveness. Nonverbal symbols are effective in accomplishing this. Show pictures!
More receptive to narrative-styled presentations of information, less responsive to information presented in expository style: Tell stories, use testimonials and provide examples. Stories are generally quicker to arouse emotions than straightforward propositions about a product’s features. Storytelling has become an important part of market strategy. Whoever tells the best story and tells it best will most likely win.
Perceptions are more holistic. Project an interest in the “whole” person, not just the facet that might need Understanding how a baby boomer’s brain and mind process information is key to effective communications. If an ad, TV, radio spot, web site or sales presentation fails to connect with a baby boomer’s idealized image of self, it is more likely to be ignored. Tell stories, use testimonials and examples of how other families and seniors were helped by using your services. In the end, you will have a NEW story and a NEW testimonial to share with the next prospect.
