We hear a lot about marketing to millennials but new research from global loyalty marketing agency, ICLP found that retailers may be losing touch with the over 55s. 82% of baby boomers said they felt their favourite retail brand just doesn’t understand them and their needs.
Perhaps the age of Snapchat marketing is not only excluding the baby boomer generation but leaving them feeling unimportant and under-appreciated. This is likely to push away a generation who have perhaps been loyal to a brand for some time, and lead them to find an option more tailored to them.
Baby boomers are a generation who have had it pretty good, they were the first generation to go abroad on holiday rather than to fight a war, and many have already comfortably retired on generous pensions. This, of course, means that there’s disposable income there for the spending. Brands within the travel, leisure, health and home improvement industries should most probably count the over 55s as one of their most important target audiences. So according to this research, what can brands do to keep hold, or regain, the loyalty of this important consumer generation?
- Create stronger rewards programmes: 73% said that they would buy more if they were rewarded better by their favourite retailer.
- Communication is also crucial: 60% would buy more if brands communicated with them better, demonstrating the value of retailer communications when it comes to building devoted and profitable relationships with consumers.
- Reliability and honesty are key: 47% of Baby Boomers said that when it comes to retailers, when things go wrong, it’s important that they get a swift apology and solution.
- Offer consistent and reliable products/services: 70% of Baby Boomers said that they would spend more at their favourite retailer if their products were consistent and reliable.
- Build respect and trust amongst customers: 56% of the over 55s said that they would spend more with a retailer if they trusted them more.
A shift to increased digital marketing often has a focus on the younger generations, with the content produced as well as the platforms used to advertise. The baby boomers are an affluent generation, who although may be digitally active, also continue to support the highstreet. So for brands with a highstreet, or offline presence, this is important to remember and build into your marketing strategy. Marketing to the tech-savvy baby boomers online is a case of creating content or adverts specifically tailored to them. This of course must be powered by insight, connecting with this customer segment and really understanding them as individuals.
Original source: Digital Marketing Magazine