Is the Baby Boomer cohort different from Turning 65?
Fundamentally, both the generation groups fall under the same category.
Baby Boomers is a term used to describe an individual born between the period 1946-1964. They make up a substantial amount of the world's population. 73 million to be exact (as per 2020 U.S. Census).
Turning age 65, on the other hand, is also a rapidly growing section. According to The U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's 65-and-older population grew by over a third (34.2% or 13,787,044) during the past decade and by 3.2% (1,688,924) from 2018 to 2019.
Dr. Luke Rogers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch, reveals that “No other age group saw such a fast increase” as the size of the 65-and-older population.
Apart from demographic differences, which are pretty well vouched for, psychographic differences constitute their characteristics.
Let us check these out one by one:
Unlike other generation cohorts, Baby Boomers prefer face-to-face communication over the phone, email, or text. They are generally more likely to respond to your direct physical mails than respond to your surveys. As per Iofficecorp- Baby Boomers grew up during rotary phones, while other segments like turning 65 prefer to speak via phone.
Social media is another difference of area. Baby Boomers may have vastly different ideas about what is acceptable. These values and motivations tremendously differ from generation to generation. An individual from the baby boomer group tends to stay with a company longer. They have greater expectations, and miscommunications put them off.
But both these sections agree on a few points. Want to know them? Keep reading.
Here is what you should do instead:
Be willing to be taught than teach baby boomers and those who are turning 65 years old.
Acknowledge differences between both groups. It might be tempting for you to put both groups under one umbrella. But, please don’t do that. Identify the generational differences and regard them.
Personalize your approach to communicating. It is better to create exponential customer models to give you a concrete outlook.
Tip: To avoid errors, encourage your team to connect with them regularly, communicate and remove communication barriers. In this, effective marketing strategies can be advantageous.
We are breaking this data in a tabular form to make it easy for you.
|
Birth years |
Current age |
Generation Size |
Media Consumption |
|
Baby Boomers (1946-1964) |
57-75 |
73 million (estimated) |
High media consumption: Television, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers |
|
Generation X (1965- 1980) |
41-56 |
65.2 million (estimated) |
High media consumption : Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, T.V, Smartphone |
|
Millennials (1980-1994/6) |
25-40 |
72.1 million (estimate) |
Highest media consumption: T.V., Netflix, Cable, Mobile devices, Computer, multiple social media accounts |
Traditionally, the elderly were considered less interested in mental health services or social media than other groups.
But today, "aging boomers have a lot to expect in terms of health, well-being" and connections. Dr. Robert S. Stall.
Understanding what your business buyers, whether senior citizens or young groups want in your market, a business is bound to figure what platforms are most likely to become the best agents of connection builders.
For instance, if your business is looking forward to selling insurance care or medicare services to senior adults, you may want to use social media or email ads. On the other hand, if you're offering mortgage protection insurance aids to seniors, you may like to use direct mail ads.
Figuring out the best channels of communications and your customers' activities will likewise let you know the hour of day best to contact them, what keywords sway their attention, and what influence their buying conduct. After that, it's just the beginning of a well-established business.
Baby boomers are becoming significantly more mobile users. Currently, baby boomers are no strangers to technological innovations. They are gradually assimilating it as a means to stay in touch.
A startling research study from 2018 indicated that Baby Boomers are 24% more likely than Millennials to predict that they'd see more significant benefit from chatbots in five of the ten use cases studied.
We are sure that these findings have already changed your notion that seniors are using modern technology.
61% of Baby Boomers believe chatbots can answer complex questions. (MSweezee)
Baby Boomers and Turning 65 age people see significant value from chatbots.
Tip: Add tutorials to allow baby boomers to empower themselves and use the chat box effectively.
Believe it or not! Research shows that baby boomers don’t even respond to advertisements.
In particular, turning 65 is proving to be a challenging market. This cohort is becoming increasingly “digital natives.” They are growing attached to their phones with substantial access to social media. This section is more likely to communicate ideas over social media than paper forms with incredible purchasing power and specific interest.
On the other hand, the various baby boomer sections show more trust in print advertising. According to Russell John, “By creating campaigns that include print media, a business marketing efforts are more likely to garner 76% of adult age or more.
Forbes says that “Placing ads in publications such as magazines, newsletters, and newspapers can effectively reach niche audiences that may be more difficult to target online.”
For those actively trying to capitalize on this market, print media is seen as more credible, and it remains a habit of many baby boomers to this date.
We hope that the above differences and similarities have helped give you an overall outlook on how one should perceive these individual groups.
In addition, we may have missed out on some points, and the Senior Source List would love to include your views in our next blog. Share your ideas in the comments below.
