As a marketer it’s critical to understand who your target market is. You need to know everything from how old they are, to what their income is and even past spending habits. Over the past several years the media and marketers have been spending a great deal of our time focusing on how marketing to Millennials – the reason being that they are the largest generation in terms of volume. But you may be surprised to learn who is really dominating spending.
A recent article from AARP Media Sales mentioned that while Millennials might be what is to come (not sure what this means…to come?), right now the focus should be all about their parents. Consumers 50+ make up 51 percent of all consumer spending according to a U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey. That only starts to scratch the surface on how important this age demographic is. They also control 70 percent of the wealth in the United States.
So as we head into the holiday shopping season, it only makes sense that retailers and marketers be a little less focused on how to market their products to the younger generation and start focusing on how to attract their parents. Adults 50+ are the ones that are opening their wallets and making the majority of holiday purchases.
Several great points were offered within the AARP Media Sales piece, here are just a couple
1. Adults over 50 are everywhere – This is a generation that has quickly started to accept new technology, but they also are still big on things like print media and television. A recent study shows that this generation loves Facebook. They love it so much that 15.5 percent spend 11 hours or more every week scrolling through their news feed. It’s important that a marketer understands this so that they can effectively develop a strategy based on the platform.
2. Go Mobile – There was a time when I never thought my parents would be using a smartphone. Now my mom does everything with it. Would you believe that 40 percent of the website traffic to AARP.org is from a mobile device? It’s true and that means it’s critical that marketers are creating creative and engaging content that people want to share with others.
While the Millennials are certainly a huge target for the future, right now it’s all about the 50+ crowd. This is the demographic that is spending most of the money and this is the generation that is going to help retailers profit during the holiday season.
Make sure you read the other insightful tips that AARP Media Sales gave about reaching the 50+ years old audience. Click here to read the full article.
AARP Media Sales sponsored this post, but emphasized that I was free to express my own opinion.
