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Marketing to baby boomers online is a great way to make money on the Internet.  Targeting baby boomers is still not common practice for many Internet marketers.

People are under the impression that baby boomers don’t go online and don’t spend money.

Here are some interesting statistics from the U.S.Census Bureau that might convince you to look into this market a bit closer

•    I was one of about 77 million people born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the baby boomer era.
•    Another American turns 50 about every 7 seconds—that’s more than 12,500 people every day.
•    I am 48 years old and as of 2009, this puts me in the largest age group in the United States.
•    By 2030, the number of people over the age of 65 will double to about 71.5 million.
•    It was estimated that 78 million Americans 50 or older as of 2001 controlled 67% of the country’s wealth.
•    Households run by people between 55 and 64 years old had a median net worth 15 times the $7,240 reported for the under 35 age group.
•    Americans over 50 have $2.4 trillion in annual income, which accounts for 42% of all after-tax income in the United States.
•    By 2010, the total spending for 50+ households will increase by over $900 billion.
•    As of 2010, adults 45 years and older will out-spend younger adults by $1 trillion annually.

Various other studies have shown that

•    96 percent of baby boomers engage in word-of-mouth marketing by passing product or service information on to friends.
•    One-third of the over 200 million Internet users in the U.S. are adults over the age of 50.
•    More than two-thirds of Americans age 50-64 use the Internet.
•    Adults over 50 spend over $7 billion online annually.
•    The most important source of information for baby boomers when they make a major marketing purchase is the Internet.

These statistics don’t even include the massive amounts of potential customers outside of the United States!

Even if these numbers are only partially accurate they paint a pretty compelling picture about why marketing to baby boomers online is a smart strategy for any Internet marketer.

Baby boomers are a massive potential audience and they will be for years to come.

The truth is that my 81 year old father uses the Internet and e-mail on a regular basis and my mother does most of her research on the Internet when she is considering purchases, travel and financial decisions among many other things.

As I see it there are two ways to look at this market:

1.    Make marketing to baby boomers online part of your Internet marketing strategy
2.    Teach baby boomers how to profit from Internet marketing

As a baby boomer and marketing expert I have made the transition from offline to online marketing.

On top of all this demographic data to support the baby boomer online market, we are in the worst recession this side of the Great Depression.  As such, more people than ever are looking for ways to either supplement their income or replace their traditional jobs altogether.

If you choose to teach baby boomers then the obvious thing to focus on would be the technology piece.  Most of us baby boomers are not classically trained in programming, graphics and web site/page development.

So the way to build products and training for baby boomers would be to simplify the technology and make it easier to implement for the non technical crowd.

Think of the product creation and promotion possibilities to this population in other niches besides Internet marketing…

Age reduction products to include skin care, sexual vibrancy, hair replacement, etc…

Health related products, retirement products, vacations, the possibilities are endless.

Marketing to baby boomers online in a truly targeted fashion and teaching baby boomers how to profit from Internet marketing are two strategies that I see as sure winners in the online business market.