The question of how to sell to the largest demographic in the United States, retiring baby boomers, is frequently discussed in a multitude of industries. While this demographic is particularly important to reverse mortgage professionals, marketing
reverse mortgage services to baby boomers should not be your only strategy. To access this generation, you should also market to their adult kids, the majority of whom are now between the ages of 31 and 49 years old. The children of baby boomers are often directly or indirectly involved in a reverse mortgage transaction. Therefore, these children must be an audience for your marketing. Marketing to the children of your potential borrowers certainly possesses different requirements than marketing to their parents. There are stark differences in terms of messaging, media type and just about every aspect of your sales funnel.
When building a pipeline of reverse mortgages there are different, traditional media outlets (e.g., AARP), grassroots tactics (e.g., advertising/networking with religious institutions) and targeted television advertisement placements that we all know work well to reach the baby boomer demographic. In contrast, marketing to the children of baby boomers means going digital, first and foremost. Given that our company is the first direct-to-consumer title provider, we are experts in consumer marketing and in particular, digital advertising as it is clearly the lead horse for marketing to the homebuyer demographic. Increasingly, the children of baby boomers are searching for and receiving the majority of their information from online sources, and increasingly via mobile and tablet devices.
Here are a few key things to keep in mind when marketing online:
Interested parties are easily targeted.
The reason for the vast success of online marketing is not only because that is where your audience is (though some people still read papers and watch television), but also because of the unparalleled ability to target a highly specific audience. Google AdWords is a great place to start, as even an amateur marketer can quickly target users in their geographic area who are actively looking for reverse mortgage solutions. For example, the target
audience may become aware of reverse mortgages through a television ad. Nowadays, more often than not, they will go online to research reverse mortgages after they see that television spot. It is to your advantage to ensure that when they search for information on reverse mortgages in your area, they see you.
Your success is trackable.
Online marketing also affords a higher degree of tracking with less effort than conventional modes of measuring marketing effectiveness. When you track performance you can quickly allocate your budget to the most successful programs and easily test new marketing copy and targeting ideas. Ensure that you take advantage of this by setting up and selecting types of digital marketing that easily offer the ability to track performance. Again, Google AdWords is a good place to start. Google’s prepackaged tracking mechanisms provide the ability to instantly become a statistical, performance marketing extraordinaire.
Make sure your website is finely
tuned.
If you are going to have a presence on the Web, then make sure all your Web assets are top-notch. Many of your marketing campaigns will ultimately drive prospects to your website, and the more optimized your website is for turning traffic into leads, the better your campaign performance. Also, remember that your website will often be this audience’s first impression of you. As reverse mortgage professionals, we know that first impressions are especially important to the baby boomer generation, and that is also true of their children.
While baby boomers may be one of the largest, most impactful demographics in the country, do not overlook the less-crowded
audience for marketing reverse mortgages—their 31- to 49-year-old kids. And as a bonus, when marketing digitally to kids, you will be sure to catch the growing population of tech-savvy seniors surfing the Web, too!
