As the Average Age of a Facebook User Begins to Rise so Does the Opportunity for Marketers.
For years millennials have ruled the Facebook playground, using the swings, monkey bars and slides as they pleased, without ever inviting mom and dad to join in on the fun. Millennials had the run of everything, testing out social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Myspace and Xanga, eventually settling on their favorites and leaving the others to fall by the wayside. Meanwhile, the 50+ age group has been patiently sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the optimal platforms to shine through before jumping in.
And now the Baby Boomer age group is starting to flex its muscles around the playground, making Facebook their platform of choice. Within the past year, the 50+ age group’s presence on Facebook has grown exponentially. While this demographic isn’t as quick to adapt new platforms as their millennial children, they are loyal and active on Facebook. A study conducted by Global Web Index concluded that over 70% of all Internet users age 50+ have a Facebook account, and over 40% actively use the platform. With such a large percentage of parents and adults engaging with this platform, marketers are presented with a huge opportunity.
Baby Boomers and Facebook Advertising
Somewhat surprisingly, marketing always seems to be in a race to attract the youngest eyes as possible. What makes this surprising is that marketers may covet the 18-35 demo, but Baby Boomers hold the golden ticket to success in terms of purchasing power. That’s because Baby Boomers currently hold approximately 70% of all of the United States’ disposable income, as stated by NPR. Quite simply, Baby Boomers are able to make purchases that Millennials cannot.
When Baby Boomers flock to Facebook, what they’re really doing is dragging the vast majority of our country’s disposable income with them. This is a marketer’s dream. Though marketers have been targeting 50+ for years through television, print and other traditional media, this mass entrance to the social media world presents marketers with a new and increasingly important platform to reach this audience.
Capitalizing on this new audience begins with understanding how they use Facebook. Unlike millennials, Baby Boomers tend to be more active in terms of commenting and interacting with friends, family and companies. They tend to be less focused on likes and more interested in engaging with others.
Following their pre-social media purchasing habits, Baby Boomers also tend to seek out companies with brand power and equity, looking for quality products. After finding a product they like they tend to be loyal to that brand. Baby Boomers tend to be active, posting more frequently and looking for easy and frequent communication with brands.
If your brand is targeting the 50+ age group, your focus should be around posts and ad campaigns that foster engagement and encourage participation. Once you begin building an audience, work to keep them. This is a crowd that has shown a tendency to remain loyal to brands they trust, so your continued participation in social media engagement will be rewarded with sales.
Facebook’s Helping Marketers Reach Baby Boomers
Facebook is built on advertising, so helping marketers reach their target markets is priority #1 for the platform. To do this, Facebook utilizes targeting capabilities that take advantage of the wide range of wide range of data in each user’s profile. Facebook allows advertisers to apply a user’s location, interests, friends, demographics and behaviors. Implementing a bidding and budget system, Facebook allows advertisers to bid on ad space. This ensures brands are utilizing their advertising dollars efficiently and effectively, targeted only to users likely to make a purchase.
Facebook advertising is useful tool, but it’s not the only one you should be using. A strong online presence is necessary to successfully reach a Baby Boomer demographic. Taking into consideration a Baby Boomer’s general purchasing patterns, building brand recognition backed by a positive reputation is of the upmost importance. Facebook can provide the platform to extend a brand’s good reputation, interact with their customers and likely entice Baby Boomers to purchase or research your company. Over half of the time Baby Boomer’s use of social media leads to an external search for the company’s website or a Google search. As a result of using social media, Baby Boomer are moved to make purchases 36% more frequently based on the content they see on social media, according to research conducted by DMN3.
Facebook is no longer just for the kids. As parents and even grandparents move in on the millennials’ territory, marketers can rejoice as they now have one platform to advertise to a wide range of possible customers. As Baby Boomers continue to adapt to the digital world other social media platforms can expect an influx in Baby Boomer-aged users as they begin to explore the rest of the playground.