A Boom from the Boomers
Instead of harping on the negative, today, we wanted to take a deeper dive into one of the segments that many in the sector have a lot of interest, and are looking to it as one among the largest sectors of growth – boomers and seniors. Boomers are baby boomers, and the Census Bureau defines them as being born between 1946 and 1964. Depending on who you ask it can go back as far as 1943 and end as early as 1960. Either way, you’re looking at a population north of 70 million in the US alone. The oldest of this group (who are turning 67), if they aren’t retired already, are still dealing with some incredibly significant life decisions. They face them for themselves and, quite a few, for their parents.
Before even thinking about the age specific life decisions and age specific issues, one of the best ways to think about them is this: Do you have more money now than you did 10 years ago? Do you expect to have more money in the future than you do today? What about by the time you are ready to retire? Exactly, we’ve got a whole generation that, combined, make up not only a larger group of people, they have significant purchasing power. Now, we can start to look at just some of the areas gaining traction in the performance marketing world and why they are just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll start with one of the oldest – diabetic supplies. Long-time performance marketers will recall having seen various diabetic offers on the networks throughout the years. Not being scientists we can’t quite suggest that diabetes increases with age. What we can say is the largest age bracket diagnosed with diabetes is 45 – 64, and the second largest is 65 – 74.
Diabetic offers most commonly focus on meters and supplies. They pay a relatively good amount per lead, and the offer to the consumer is compelling, mainly because it involves little to no cost to them. The transaction between consumer and vendor takes place over the phone. It’s a medical service. You can’t just buy it or sign-up online. Other things to consider, generally speaking, Medicare is the predominant form of payment, and that’s government money. We’ve seen what happens to companies who get government money, they get regulated. Very true with this arena. If you’re a lead generator or network don’t be surprised if it takes a while to get the offer. Then, don’t be surprised about the restrictions. That’s the company needing to be compliant with Medicare. The last thing they can afford is to be viewed as one partaking in Medicare fraud; that has a worse perception than drug running, i.e., sleaze and huge profits.
Senior mobility is another growing area that will only continue to grow as this demographic ages. Late night TV watchers should know the name Hoveround, and those who live in Southern towns will almost certainly have passed the offline version, the Scooter Store. Like several diabetic supply firms there are mobility companies that have incredibly refined and sophisticated customer acquisition programs. They aren’t just savvy about tracking quality, they are set up to scale. They can handle a large amount of volume and, like diabetic supply companies, have owned television. Online, they too face very serious restrictions because the pitch to the consumer is that their mobility device can be covered by their insurance. That doesn’t just happen by filling out a form. It takes phone calls and doctors visits. They need to be diagnosed in order to qualify for the device if they aren’t paying themselves.
Diabetes and mobility aren’t the only high value Medicare covered products. They are two of the more general and sophisticated. There are specialty insurance products and quite a few other conditions. However, all will come with very strict guidelines to stay compliant. Extra leads aren’t worth losing the lifeline of payment. Non-Medicare, the fastest growing segment of boomer marketing is housing. Reverse mortgage is one, but the hopes and bets are placed on creating the marketing company that connects senior care facilities and senior care staffing with potential consumers. It has all of the right dynamics – high lifetime value, large demographic, high payouts, online to offline, etc. And, quite a few companies are doing very well, but it’s going to be a while before it can handle the types of volume that auto insurance can.
Consumer demand isn’t the issue for the slower than expected growth in senior marketing online. It isn’t that enough places don’t exist or that they don’t want people. Unlike the direct marketing dna found in the largest diabetic and mobility companies, the senior housing facilities don’t have it. They don’t have big call centers. They don’t have lead management that lets them differentiate between a customer who fills out a form, and one that calls and leaves a message. They don’t have training in follow-up for frequency and speed. They are sort of the accidental buyers, and they are outmatched for the volume of leads available. They are newbies. In time, they will learn to set up outbound call centers, become expert at the follow-up, and do what every great lead vertical has done – scale massively to meet the latent demand. That’s the beauty of this market. It’s not just large, they don’t just have money, and they don’t need many products covered by insurance. For many products, the future consumers have been delaying, or they are just starting to think about the services. Marketing to them is marketing to an audience that hasn’t necessarily been saturated with ads or considered everything available. For the performance marketing community, that’s great news, but it will mean some patience and more discipline than has been the norm.
