According to a Pew survey, there is approximately 8 million surfers’ age of 65 or older using the Internet. About 58% of Americans age 50-64 say they’re hooked up to the net. 69% of wired baby boomers go online during your typical day, and that’s compared with only 56% of all internet users. Contrary to popular belief, baby boomers [and seniors] spend more time online than teenagers do.
Paul Epstein, CEO of High Voltage Interactive analyzed the survey and summarized the results.
They are online:
- To stay current with news and events
- To research health and medical information
- To stay in touch with family and friends
- To use e-mail • To send online greeting cards
- To check on stocks and investments
- To research products or services to purchase offline
- To make online shopping purchases
That’s right—to make online shopping purchases. The 50 plus market has over $2 trillion in spending power and a net worth that’s nearly twice the U.S. average. In fact, baby boomers are the most affluent market there is. Those aged 50 or better are, and will become even more, a market, social and political force to be reckoned with and hence a very attractive community to a wide range of advertising and marketing sponsors.
With these powerful statistics, companies interested in targeting the baby boomer market must consider online lead generation. The challenge is to position high-value products and services that match with the 50 plus market internet usage with your company’s sales and marketing process to generate the most qualified leads.
The most profitable online lead generation programs understand it’s a balancing act. Companies must realize they must strike the right balance between attracting interest and qualifying those baby boomer prospects that are most likely to purchase. If the process is too simple, you get an abundance of unqualified leads and an awful conversion rate. If the process is too difficult, the cost per lead will be prohibitive.
To avoid these two spectrums, successful companies will create a web site that will deliver qualified [boomers] and silver surfers of the right quality at the right price. To do so, start with a clear understanding of the amount you can pay per lead. This number will be based on your target [boomer] senior customer acquisition cost along with an estimated conversion rate.
Thankfully, the Internet offers an uncanny ability to flex the actual quality of leads within the [boomer] senior marketplace. This allows companies to adjust systematically the conversion rate.
Cutting-edge online lead generation programs aimed at the baby boomer market send traffic to effective lead generation sites that are designed to turn traffic into qualified prospects and leads by achieving this balance of selling and qualification. Followed closely, the following tips will deliver high quality leads for the 50 Plus market.
Online Lead Generation for the Boomer Generation:
- Design a simple site rather than one with too many bells and whistles.
- Develop a web site that is fast to load.
- Design a simple site flow
- Design the website with several entry pages so baby boomers can be directed and routed based on its source.
- Focus the site messaging on selling to the [boomer] senior market.
- Concentrate on a benefits-focused sales pitch that will immediately influence the baby boomers to act.
- Interact with your 50 Plus customers and ask the right questions that will determine their needs.
- Think about which promotions work to convert boomer prospects into customers.
- Disregard promotions designed with the sole purpose to provide contact information because that attracts too many unqualified leads.
- Ensure that the questionnaire design is flexible enough to manage qualified 50 Plus leads.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Test all of your messaging, traffic and questionnaire sources to discover what works best.
Of course, your business needs to be able to keep up with all the tactics that involve online lead generation. You must be able to direct traffic to several web site versions and be able to track down to the level of the web site source as well as the version of the messaging and questionnaire.
An increasing number of baby boomers are surfing the online stratosphere. Their spending habits and income level make them a desirable target audience. Create a comfortable online environment for the mature market paired with proactive business savvy, and your business will be rewarded.
