Network Marketing by Design

Renegade Baby Boomers are one of the key target markets for network marketers. Many are facing retirement, and with cost of living increases, social security less than secure, and the desire to enjoy life and be active longer, residual and supplemental income is both attractive and sometimes necessary for those in this 40+ age group. Others like to network market because of the social word-of-mouth element. They may not need money at all, but love to gather around common interests, meet in a social setting and share. Network marketing is just a natural thing they are doing in their everyday lives, and they might as well profit from a home based business. 

There are 78 million Boomers in the US and they control more than 83% of consumer spending. However, their cautious and more traditional use of the internet makes it a bit more challenging to get them to respond to e-marketing. This is definitely a group that it pays to attract by making friends first. Romance the sale by connecting, listening,  and building personal credibility. Boomers are big on customer service, so be sure to give above and beyond to build personal and product loyalty.

According to a recent Third World/JWTBoom study of 1800 Baby Boomers “People over age 40 participate heavily in word-of-mouth and value personal recommendations and expert opinions, but they have not yet embraced social networking or blogs despite being heavy users of other online services”.

Email is commonly used by this age group to stay in touch with friends and family and exchange pictures. Email campaigns would be a more successful online marketing strategy to influence the Boomer generation. They like trusted brands, and if you are introducing them to an unknown brand, they will be more likely to respond if you include content that is attributed to an expert, author, or someone with credibility in the subject matter you are promoting. They often don’t make a buying decision until they’ve had multiple exposures to either a product, company, or the website being marketed. However, once they try and like a product, 93% said they would be likely to share it with a friend.

Is it worth the effort to reach this middle-age group online? Most definitely! Boomer spending is projected to be over 4.6 trillion by 2015. The survey found 80% of Boomers have a broadband connection and expect 83% will be using the internet regularly by 2011, up from 75% in 2006.

This is the generation that created the World Wide Web and they are as willing to use it as the younger generations, but they take a bit longer to embrace some of the new technology. As fun and exciting as social networking, blogging, and video can be to the internetwork marketer, don’t forego the importance of staying in touch through personal emails and campaigns. Take the time to reach out and blend high touch with high tech for the most success.

Effective email marketing is a skill you will want to learn so you can reach this lucrative and diverse market of 40-plus consumers. For creative ideas and guides for engaging Boomers and attracting them to take action to either join you in business or use your services and products, I invite you to look at Marketing Merge. You will learn every avenue of successful internet marketing with attraction while posturing yourself to earn money while building a leads list. Join the Renegade University/Marketing Merge team today to design your online marketing strategies for success in attracting Baby Boomers.