St. Louis Missouri (MO) Small Business Social Media Marketing

Originally posted at: http://boomersummit.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/watch-out-social-networking-the-baby-boomers-are-coming/

Sounds like a great conference!

Watch Out Social Networking: The Baby Boomers are Coming
February 18, 2009 — boomersummit

The 78 million baby boomer generation promises to fuel the growth of social networking.  Marketers take note and you better start figuring out how this generation will use social media.

The number of Internet users visiting social networks at least once per month increased an estimated 11% in 2008, to 79.5 million, and will rise another 11% in 2009, to 88.1 million. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of social network users in the US will increase by an estimated 44.2%, to nearly 115 million, according to a new report by eMarketer.

With penetration already high among teens and young adults, there is little room for further growth among those demographics. Growth will come from members of Generation X and baby boomers, but there will also be increased activity in the tween market. User engagement has yet to hit a plateau. In fact, people who join social networks in 2009 and beyond may become frequent users more rapidly than those who first joined a year or two ago.

Key social networking trends to watch in 2009 include the expanding user demographics and continued rise in engagement, the impact of mobile social networking and Twitter, and whether the substantial growth of Facebook in the second half of 2008 can continue, the report said.

How baby boomers are using social networking will be a key theme at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit on March 19 at Bally’s in Las Vegas (www.boomersummit.com).  Speakers will cover what caregivers are doing online (www.caring.com), women over 50 (www.vibrantnation.com) and grandparents (www.grandparents.com).  User generated content and boomer communities online will be covered by speakers from Bazaarvoice, VolunteerMatch, LiveWorld and BlogHer.  Keynote speaker is Guy Kawasaki who will talk about the importance of using new marketing tools to build your business. The meeting covers business and marketing strategies to reach the 78 million baby boomers.   www.boomersummit.com  for the full agenda and registration information.