The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action

The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action

The average amount of time spent on social networking sites increased 82 percent last year. Social media is clearly becoming a new force in organizations around the world, allowing them to reach out to and understand consumers as never before. In many companies, it will move from a "one-off initiative" to an important, integrated tool in marketing and communications strategies. More than 2,000 organizations surveyed by the Harvard Business Review offer feedback and best practices on how to understand the potential of social media, measure and gauge its effectiveness, integrate it into your overall marketing strategy and show the direct link to company financials.

No registration required. Click here to download (PDF).

Connecting with Older Consumers Using the IPhone and IPad

Authored by Boomer Authority™ member, Dick Stroud, a principal with 20Plus30.com, this article addresses Apple’s success with its iPhone and iPad among consumers. Dick explains why these products are particularly relevant to older consumers, specifically citing how their design appeals to older adults on four primary levels: sensory, cognitive, functional, and philosophical.  

Download Dick’s article in PDF format here.

How Marketers Can Use Mobile Technology to Reach Baby Boomers

by Shelly Lipton

It is a known fact that the Baby Boom Generation is not as involved with texting and mobile technology as the younger demographics are.

However, the numbers of boomers using text messaging and mobile shopping is slowly but consistently growing, and those figures more than doubled between 2007 and 2009, according to U.S. Census figures cited by CTIA.

While the average age of those using text messaging is still only 35, consumers in the Baby Boom Generation—those ages 46-64—are accessible, approachable and represent a huge market segment that can easily be tapped by mobile using the right strategies. They are more financially secure, and in many cases, they have paid off their homes and have disposable income.

Most current studies show that while most boomers have mobile phones, only 55 percent consider it a "necessity," compared to the younger generation that cannot imagine life without one.

At first glance, the reason for this is glaringly obvious—boomers remember life before mobile phones, and know that it is possible to survive without one.
This is not the case for younger people who were born into the technology. But there are surprising contradictions within these statistics.

More than 70 percent of baby boomers use smartphones for work-related communications, versus 59 percent for Millennials.

Studies have shown that boomers are not generally early-adopters of new technologies, and also feel that most of the content on the mobile Web is not targeted to them.
According to research by Burst Media, young people are looking for entertainment, games, news and social media, while boomers care more about news, shopping and health information.

Both represent increased opportunities for consumers to use the mobile Web.

Tips of the trade
So how do we reach this demographic? Here are a few general tips:
• Be aware that pricing matters for boomers.
For a generation that coined the phrase "disposable income," things may be far less rosy today.
Millions of boomers lost significant portions of their savings and retirement incomes due to the financial crash, so it is vital for carriers to adapt their pricing plans to draw this market, and for brands to offer attractive discounts and incentives.
• Search outside the box for products and services of interest to people over 50.
Savvy marketers would do well to consider mobile campaigns for libraries, medical centers, pharmacies, banking services, dining, non-profit organizations, financial news and shopping services.
For example, mobile coupons offering two-for-one meals at local restaurants, reminder alerts from pharmacies or medical practitioners and mobile banking are likely to be good choices.
• Produce tech-friendly mobile devices with larger displays and larger keys or touchpads.
Boomers are not big users of smartphones—yet. It is predicted that by 2014 smartphones will make up 60 percent of all handset sales in the U.S., but boomers are not a big part of that equation.
As of August 2009, they represented 30.6 percent of all mobile phone users, but only 19 percent for touch screens and 21.1 percent for smartphones.
• Learn the texting habits of the boomer consumer.

How much do they text? And under what circumstances?

We know that boomers text to keep in touch with their kids and grandkids, but take the time to really study your audience.

Are they interesting in day trading? Prescription reminders? Shopping bargains?
Study your market before creating a mobile program. The more tightly targeted to their needs, the better. 

Boomers are definitely getting on the bandwagon in many areas of interactive technology, so there is plenty of hope on the horizon for bringing them into the mobile fold.

Social networking use among those ages 50 and older nearly doubled since 2009, and an August 2010 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reports, "While social media use has grown dramatically across all age groups, older users have been especially enthusiastic over the past year about embracing new networking tools."

This will fuel interest in smartphones that enable a mobile connection to their social networks, shopping channels and more.

In March of 2009, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan announced plans for "digital literacy training" for older Americans.

The plan brings tech-savvy younger people in to teach digital skills to the over-50 crowd.
Not only would this introduce more boomers to mobile marketing, it just might help to close the generation gap.

The convergence of these trends, especially the proliferation of smartphones, the growth of social networking and the need to stay connected to kids, friends and associates will continue to drive growth and opportunity for mobile marketing to the baby boomers.


About Shelly Lipton
Shelly is a principal at GrownUpMarketing.com, a consulting firm that helps businesses of all types reach both other businesses and consumers in the Boomer and senior space.

Ten Books to Help 50+ Mature Marketers Better Understand Social Media

Ten Books to Help 50+ Mature Marketers Better Understand Social Media

by Martin Diano ── CEO, Boomer Authority™ Association

An excerpt from the eGuidebook and Resource Listing titled Boomer|StrataGEMS™ ── Tools, Technologies & Techniques. A comprehensive eGuidebook for using social media and digital technology to engage with Baby Boomers and Seniors. 

When I began my career in 1968, we conducted business and interacted with customers, friends and family a lot differently than we do today. For businesses, the big deal back then was to have an IBM Selectric Typewriter. Remember that extraordinarily expensive piece of office equipment? The black rotary dial telephone was the primary communications tool. Letters were typed in triplicate using carbon paper, and the little white-out brush instead of the delete key was used to make corrections. Technology certainly has changed.

The emergence of the Internet in the late 90s and, now, social media, has forever altered the behavior of how baby boomers engage others as both buyers and sellers; how they visit with family and friends living in far-flung locations, and how they receive news and search for information. Instead of one-way communication, social media means ── as has been repeatedly referenced throughout this guidebook engagement ── conversation, cooperation and collaboration.

I spend a good portion of my day trying to keep current with the rapid pace of change in social media. The social media landscape is fascinating space to travel. Instead of using a typewriter, as I did in 1968, I tool around the Internet in a fully-loaded desktop computer, outfitted with a 24 inch monitor, and surf websites and blogs with amazingly fast high speed cable access. An ardent believer in lifelong learning, part of the process to remain on the cutting edge of new social media trends is to read just about everything I can on the topic. I read, daily, A-list bloggers and social media professionals like Chris Brogan, Seth Godin and Brian Solis, and download ebooks to my computer for longer reads. I also subscribe to Pro Blogger and Web Pro News.

I've reviewed numerous books before on social media. And, at times, have been critical of the so-called experts on all things Web 2.0, particularly on the topic of blogging. But here's a list of ten books that, in my view, provide Boomer marketers with the requisite take-a-ways essential to be successful and enjoy the benefits social media marketing provides.

The ten books are (in no particular order):

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business by Larry Weber

The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media by Paul Gillen

Now is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs by Geoff Livingston with Brian Solis

Success Secrets of Social Media Marketing Superstars by Mitch Meyerson

Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans

Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media by Liana Evans

The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue by Shama Kabani

About

Martin Diano

Martin is a thought leader in helping Baby Boomers use social media to find, access, and consume high-value content. He is CEO of Boomer Authority™ Association and Publisher of the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center]™. Martin also is publisher of Boomer StrataGEMS™ ─ Tools, Technologies and Techniques.

Social Media Tools Popular Among Marketers

Social Media Tools Popular Among Marketers

Michael Stelzner, author of the popular book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged  and founder of WhitePaperSource, interviewed some 900+ Internet marketers to determine how they are using social media to promote their businesses, what social media tools are more popular among marketers, and how much time are they spending on social media sites. You can download the full report as a PDF.

How people have benefited from social media:
The number-one benefit of social media marketing is "eyeballs".

Social media tools popular among marketers:
Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook were the top four social media tools used by marketers.