The Opportunities Boomers Provide
For Christmas my in-laws got me a subscription to Entrepreneur Magazine. In addition to the issues I have to look forward to, they mailed me a collection of back issues and while thumbing through these I read an article about the aging Baby Boomer generation and the opportunities for business that they provide. Consider these stats:
- 77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the baby boomer era (U.S. Census).
- By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population (AARP).
- By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people (U.S. Census).
Holy smokes, that’s a lot of people! Now you might be thinking that this would be a great time to start that consulting business where you send an army of patient techies into the suburbs to walk the Boomers through Facebook, connect their printers and program their universal remotes. But before you bounce to Craig’s List, consider the following:
- One-third of the 195.3 million Internet users in the U.S., adults aged 50+ represent the Web’s largest constituency (Jupiter Research).
- Two-thirds of Americans age 50-64 use the Internet (SeniorNet).
- Email is the most popular online activity among 50+ users, followed by web browsing, research, and shopping (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
- 72% of baby boomers have broadband Internet in their homes (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
- By the end of 2007, the number of mature social networkers is expected to top 20 million (Deloitte).
What’s it mean? Unlike my grandparents (I’m 29) my kids’ grandparents are online, sending email to their friends and family, surfing the webs, and using social networks like Facebook. A large majority of them are doing it at home with broadband connections. So while your market for your consulting business may have diminished, this still presents many opportunities for your church.
What’s This Mean for the Church?
If your congregation is of the more mature variety, there are some ways you can be using technology to connect with and minister to them.
- Email Newsletter
Email is the most popular feature of the internet used by those who are 50+ years old. Not web browsing or RSS. Why not offer an email newsletter to keep those who prefer email engaged. Take your message to where they are! I like ConstantContact.com but many other options are available. Not ready to face the cost of another web service? Give RSS to Email subscription services like Feedburner.com a try. - Video on Demand
Friends, 2010 was a big year for internet video. Hulu went plus, Netflix got mobile and Apple’s AppleTV sold a million units (not bad for a hobby). I’m predicting the next year to be bigger for video. More content, more devices, more viewers. As Boomers enter into retirement, you may find them stuck at home due to health issues or (hopefully) enjoying their new freedom and traveling. By making sure your video content is being podcast or accessible via a Roku set-top box, you’ll continue ministering to those who are unable to make it to weekend services. Speaking of Roku, those things are cheap (starting at $69). Wouldn’t it be cool if a group of people from the church raised enough money to buy several Roku boxes and then visited members of the congregation who were home-bound, installed the boxes and showed them how to get teaching and worship services on demand? I think so! - Facebook
Is your mom on Facebook? She may be soon. Boomers are flocking to the social network. If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your ministry, now is the time, there are lots of reasons to have a presence on Facebook.
What ideas do you have for reaching Baby Boomers with technology? Are you doing the above? Are you trying something new? Please, let us know in the comments!
Get a Facebook App for your Church!
A couple weeks ago, Henderson Hills Baptist Church, with the help of Terrell Sanders and Adam White of Main Street Enterprises launched a new feature on their Facebook Fan Page. If you visit the HHBC Facebook Fan Page and you are not yet a fan, you’ll be presented with a customized page via a custom Facebook App.
On this custom Facebook App you see items from the HHBC RSS feed, service times, a banner advertising an upcoming event, a link to our weekly newsletter and a link to our media player. Cool!
The magic happens when you realize that all the content in the app is tied to a Wordpress website where you can add new content very quickly and easily! And if your church’s website already runs on Wordpress, you’re Facebook App’s content can sync automatically with your website. Update the website…update the Facebook App.
Here’s some more examples of what Main Street has been able to do with these sorts of Facebook Apps:
- http://www.facebook.com/crossingsokc
- http://www.facebook.com/CommissionStories
- http://www.facebook.com/unitedbrethren
The only downside to these apps is, once you become a fan of the page the app is on, it only appears when you click on it’s tab at the top of the fan page. However, with that in mind, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a great first impression for Facebook users who make it to your page. It’s important to note that tis is due to a limitation in Facebook’s API.
So, how much will one of these bad boys set you back? Adam tells me that they start at $500 plus customization and you can expect it to take about two weeks to turn one of these around. So, if you’re looking to add something fresh to your church’s Facebook strategy, check into Main Street!
StreamAPI Opens Live Video Funtionality To All On Facebook
Lately I’ve seen a number of churches with online campuses that roll several social technologies together (twitter, Facebook, streaming video, etc.) to create their online experience.
I’ve always liked that approach because it does less reinventing of wheels by using existing services that people are already using.
Now it looks like your entire online campus could just take place in Facebook thanks to this service from Stickcam. Pretty cool.
Nine Inch Nails iPhone App Extends Reznor's Innovative Run | The Underwire from Wired.com
I realize that Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor have little to do with the Church. However, Reznor’s innovative use of technology is changing the music industry (no small feat) and there are a few moves he has made, mentioned in the article linked to above that, I thought the Church could benefit from.
- Embrace existing technology
Instead of reinventing the wheel, Reznor has used existing a freely available tech to promote his brand. - Participate in social networks
Why build a social network to share photos, music, videos and discussion if his fanbase is already found on existing networks with greater reach? Plus it’s cheaper. - Leverage social networks for promotion
Now that Reznor is followed by and friends with users from Facebook to Twitter, he can easily and cheaply broadcast tour information and other news to his fans.
10 Predictions for 2009 in the World of Tech
Technophile, Louis Gray provides his predictions for technology in 2009. Of interest to us church types may be:
1) The Real-Time Web Will Become Critical for News and Information Discovery
Gray expects real-time tools like Twitter to gain in popularity and be favored amongst their users as news and information sources. This year, make it a goal to use Twitter for your church. While it will come in handy for communicating weather related closings, start thinking about how you can leverage the platform to become more accessible to your congregation and community.
2) Businesses Will Be Expected to Be On Social Media If They Have Web Sites
Does anybody need more convincing that Facebook can and should be used for ministry?
6) A Major Alternative to FeedBurner Will Emerge As the Service Stagnates
Yes! I am so ready for this. It’s a shame about Feedburner. Many of us use it and many of us have suffered through random posts from the past being mailed to subscribers amongst other issues. I hope for the sake of simplicity that Google gets their act together.
Read the rest of the article and if you have any of your own predictions to make, feel free to share!
