A marketer from a manufacturer brand recently asked me if user generated content was relevant to the baby boomer and senior population.
Boomers make up of 35% of the Internet population. While it's true that Millenials (the 13-24 generation) share content at double the rate of Baby boomers (56%), 31% of Baby Boomers share their own user generated content. This could be in the form of reviews, blog posts, comments, discussion forums, etc.
Bazaarvoice has several clients with a high percentage of boomers in their base that are getting great results from UGC; such as QVC, Sears, Macy's, Blair, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Golfsmith, and many others. The use of search (where 25%+ of results are UGC) and usefuleness of user generated content for a purchase is relevant at any age. Just ask someone you know over 50 if they read reviews when they shop online. Nielsen found 8 out of 10 shoppers used reviews when shopping over the holidays, and that includes 35% of the internet population that are boomers!
If you are interested in learning more about marketing and new media strategies for the Baby Boomer generation, consider attending the What's Next Boomer Summit, March 19 in Las Vegas. There will be an E-Revenue Bootcamp. I will be speaking there and will discuss the impact of UGC and customer reviews for this generation. Also, Guy Kawasaki will keynote. Should be a great conference!
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