As Australia’s largest demographic, the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), present a unique challenge for businesses and owners of websites. Because of a high post-WWII birth rate and immigration this generation now represent around a quarter of our entire population. They are wealthier than the younger generations, still utilise print media and the radio and yet are taking up social media at amazing rates – they are a generation not to be overlooked and not to be dismissed out of hand.
The Baby Boomers are better educated, more travelled and more tech savvy than any other group of pre-retirees and retirees in history. This is a generation that know what they want and won’t easily settle for less than the best. While they don’t like to admit is and certainly don’t want to be reminded of – they are an aging demographic and the web designs for them must take that into consideration.
This demographic is also defined by their diversity and fragmentation since they are spread over an 18 year age difference but they do but still have some common attributes. They desire personal fulfilment and gratification, they are team oriented, they work to live not live to work, they are traditionally optimistic, they want quality, they champion causes that are close to their hearts, they work efficiently and effectively, and they question authority.
The future of web design for the Baby Boomers will be based on the following core fundamentals:
- Simple messaging
- A preferred colour palette which contains contrast
- Repetition – belief will come from what is familiar
- Use easy to read typography and big font sizes
- Cost savings and problem solving are favoured messages
- Strong branding and business identity
- Clear and clean images
- Copywriting with big impact – effective headlines, strong captions and catchy titles
- Websites with simple and clean navigation
- Messaging with ‘site first, call last’ call to action behaviour
If the Baby Boomers are your target audience, or even make up part of your audience, you must have a website, content strategy and social media presence that appeals directly to them. Contact Website Design Centre today to discuss your options.
