Last week we celebrated Pi Day, the ides of March (et tu, baby boomer marketer?) and St. Paddy’s Day (sorry Kermit, but once a year it IS easy being green). We also shared a wide variety of resources to help you get better results while marketing to the 50+ consumer. Here are the links that received the most clicks, retweets, discussion or attention last week.
1. MOST SHARED: Consumers feel that 1 or 2 Facebook messages a day from a brand or organization are too many. A TolunaQuick survey found that respondents “felt overwhelmed by brand messages on social media,” reported PR Daily. “Other findings from the study that brands will want to consider:
- 40 percent of respondents felt that brand promotions are too complex to enter;
- 20 percent felt incentives are not worth the effort;
- 75 percent said that one or two Facebook messages per day is too much to receive from a brand;
- Nearly 40 percent don’t want to share brand interactions with friends
- 20 percent proactively post messages to brand pages.”
The findings didn’t surprise our team one bit. As I tweeted, when Creating Results conducted its Social, Silver Surfers research, we heard this message from baby boomers and seniors using social networks. Only 15% said yes, yes they wanted to engage with a brand via social platforms. The majority told us loud and clear that they felt overmarketed to already and that social media was a personal, not commercial space. (Download the eBook at www.CreatingResults.com/SocialSilverSurfers.)
2. MOST CLICKED: Did you know 52% of #babyboomer women rely on ad insertions, print/online coupons? Good opp for QR code ow.ly/9wR7C
Also notable and useful … Two for those marketing real estate / 50+ housing / retirement communities:
3. Cross-country relocation is just not the norm for baby boomers. Reuters reports that Americans are retiring closer to home than they did in the past.
“The increasing popularity of the short-distance move may be a result of the many advantages the strategy offers. Retirees who stay an hour or two from where they worked and raised their children can cut their costs while staying near their friends, cultural events, major airports and medical facilities. Moving outside the metro area means they don’t have to compete on housing prices with people who need to be closer to the city for their jobs.”
We’d add that 50+ers can also stay close to their jobs to work full- or part-time while easing into “retirement.” Read the full article at ow.ly/9z0oE 
4. Looking for data on the impact of seniors on the housing market? Check out this deck from the National Multi Housing Council, “Resetting the Demand for Multi Family Housing: Demographic and Economic Drivers to 2020.” The report includes data on the change in US households by age group, the rise in multigenerational households and renters who double up, and more.
Download the full PDF report at ow.ly/9BdGu
And one for everybody:
5. A terrific piece in the Wall Street Journal on how we all can – and should – be creative. ow.ly/9CLjz
I hope you’ll be creative in sharing your comments and thoughts, below.