E-Mail Effective with Boomers

Like other adult Internet users, boomers prefer to talk face-to-face about products, brands or services. Some 93% of baby boomers were very or somewhat likely to share product information with friends, according to a ThirdAge/JWT BOOM survey.

The digital channels they use to communicate their news follow a familiar pattern: E-mail and the telephone were more popular with older boomers, while more younger boomers used mobile phones, instant and text messages, social networks and blogs, according to BIGresearch.

However, given the choice between instant messaging, text messaging or sending an e-mail, 80% of younger boomers and 87% of older ones still preferred the “old-fashioned” digital channel, according to a May 2008 white paper from ExactTarget.

E-mail marketing messages are not lost on younger boomers, especially. A JupiterResearch study conducted in August 2007 showed this group was most likely to forward an e-mail message from a marketer to another adult, at 10%, compared with 7% for all adults. Recommendations from friends and family are valued highly by boomers, so marketers should consider e-mail messages as an important medium to reach them online.