Last week I made a post about email marketing to young adults. This week I have clipped a study that shows while young adults are moving away from email, boomers still prefer the platform. This got me thinking. I have helped many of my clients segment their lists and use the data they have to deliver personalized and relevant messages. Some common segments include geo-targeting, past purchases (or abandoned purchases), age of contact/purchase, etc. But, I do not think I have ever helped a client segment by age group! Based on the research, it seems that this is a VERY important segment to consider. The message and methods used for the audiences are very different. For your young adult subscribers, you may use more casual language, youth oriented images, humor and links to social networking sites. The message to your boomers might include testimonials, useful tips and information and a more "professional" look and feel. So, forgive me for sounding like a broken record, but SEGMENT those lists!

clipped from www.emarketer.com The digital channels they use to communicate their news follow a familiar pattern: E-mail and the telephone were more popular with older boomers, while more younger boomers used mobile phones, instant and text messages, social networks and blogs, according to BIGresearch. However, given the choice between instant messaging, text messaging or sending an e-mail, 80% of younger boomers and 87% of older ones still preferred the "old-fashioned" digital channel, according to a May 2008 white paper from ExactTarget. E-mail marketing messages are not lost on younger boomers, especially. A JupiterResearch study conducted in August 2007 showed this group was most likely to forward an e-mail message from a marketer to another adult, at 10%, compared with 7% for all adults. Recommendations from friends and family are valued highly by boomers, so marketers should consider e-mail messages as an important medium to reach them online.\r\n