When developing a marketing plan it is important to establish a target audience in which you would like to work with. Having a specific niche audience will increase your chances of gaining clientele; as you will understand what your chosen audience is looking for in both a realtor and a home.

Since each demographic has its own unique way of looking for a realtor when buying and selling a home, it is important to understand how and what your audience is looking for. Today’s post will be focusing on targeting the baby boomer generation.

Defined as the demographic born post World War II until 1964, the baby boomer generation is a rather large demographic with people in both their 50’s and 70’s. This can be challenging at times, as the different age groups will likely be looking for different things in their homes; but you as the realtor can target these needs for each generation.

You may be asking yourself, why target baby boomers? The answer to your question is simple; they already have the resources to purchase a home, meaning they’re financing stable. In addition, they’ve likely already been through the house hunting and buying process, perhaps a few times, and therefore will be familiar with the process.

Getting to Know Them

First things first, as with any demographic you’ll need to get to know your clientele. What are the typical buying habits of baby boomers? Are they looking to downsize or move to a quieter area? Maybe they’re looking to decrease the amount of work they need to put into their home? Whatever it may be, understanding these needs is important when trying to target them. The following are some of the common trends amongst baby boomers:

• Decreasing housing expenses: whether they’re already in retirement or planning on retiring in the near future, they’ll likely want to decrease their home expenses in order to save money for more important situation.
• Proximity to amenities: doctor’s offices, grocery stores, shopping malls, and outdoor public spaces are just some of the services that most boomers will want to be close to.
• Close to relatives: whether it’s siblings, children, grand children, or friends, being able to easily visit those closest to them will likely be a must.
• Increasing convenience: as with most people decreasing the amount of work and energy you need to put into your home frees up time and energy to do things you most enjoy.

Marketing techniques

Next is to understand how they receive information. This is where it may get a little tricky, as the older baby boomers may be more amp to trust mail advertising over online. In this case you have two options to advertising for this demographic: direct mail and through social media/ your online presence.

• Direct Mail: As mentioned previously, some baby boomers may be reluctant to use technology and more willing to trust mail advertising. Consider advertising through informative brochures, postcards, and up-to-date newsletters in order to target this generation.
• Social Media and Your Online Presence: Although we often associate social media outlets to be for millennials, don’t forget that the baby boomer generation can be tech-savvy too. Sure some of them may prefer direct mail, but others may prefer to see the interactive side of your business. Upkeeping your online presence through frequent posts can help you gain interest. Since Facebook tends to be the social media outlet of choice, consider directing your Facebook posts to topics that would be of interest to baby boomers. As many will be considering retirement consider writing about reverse mortgages, or about refinancing. Just remember to keep it straightforward and easy to follow in order to make your social media platforms as user friendly as possible.