Marketing to the Mature Home Owner / Part 2:
If They Rock, It’s With a Guitar!
A business magazine recently ran this “humorous” column: “Middle-Age Texting Codes”. The list included such abbreviations as ATD (“At the doctor”), BFF (“Best friend fell”), BYOT (“Bring your own teeth”) and FWIW (“Forgot where I was”).
It’s doubtful these acronyms would amuse many people in their eighties, let alone someone who considers him- or herself middle aged. President Obama celebrated his mid-century birthday last month, and while he loves his BlackBerry, it’s unlikely he’ll be texting any of the above messages any time soon.
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The eldest of the approximately 79 million Baby Boomers reach retirement age this year, at the rate of about four million per year. For reverse mortgage professionals marketing to active adults 57-65 years of age — early Boomers who are planning work and lifestyle changes — respect is the keynote that will win their attention, and ultimately, their interest in qualifying for a reverse mortgage. As noted in the first post in this series, Marketing to the Mature Home Owner / Part 1, nobody becomes “old” overnight simply because they celebrate a birthday.
From the Baby Boom generation onward, the new American senior might best be defined by the Dylan Thomas poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. They will forever consider themselves youthful, and as such, the marketing mindset that worked with previous generations must be modified if it is to succeed.
Younger seniors (many of whom prefer terms such as “mature” or “older adult”) will be interested in quotes for a reverse mortgage, not because they want to rock on the front porch (unless it’s with a guitar), but possibly because:
- They’re planning to help put kids (or grandkids) through college
- They need to care for an elderly parent (these days it’s not uncommon for two generations to be “seniors” simultaneously)
- They want to travel
- They’re considering surgery — plastic surgery, to look as good as they feel
To make the second half golden for both your “younger” reverse mortgage prospects and your business, focus on how you can help these elders fulfill the next great adventure in their lives. That’s the spirit that will win their trust, because while denial may not be a river in Egypt, it flows through the fecund minds of the newly minted senior set.
2 Comments
A timely article as not more than an hour ago I had an internet lead from a guy born 01/1950. My outlook 2010 has a social media plugin which imports Facebook profile pictures and their wall by associated email address. He was standing in front of his home with sunglasses, long hair and guitar in hands. One of his last comments was to a friend that says “GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU BRUTHA”
As a younger rm professional (31) I am really looking forward to servicing this generation and have already started implementing fun ways to connect with them. Great post & ROCK ON!
Hi Cliff,
This is fantastic (or should I write, “funtastic”). It makes perfect sense, too: the musicians the eldest Boomers listened to growing up are cohorts, now in their 60s and 70s themselves — and many are still selling out arenas! I’ll be posting related pieces in this series over the next few weeks ~ stay tuned, and thanks for your comment!