In their book, Boomer Consumer, Matt Thornhill and John Martin lay out exactly what Boomers want and how to get them into your office. There is a wealth of information in the book, but I’d like to just talk about one point here.
Prospects are only going to pay attention to your ad if it directly affects them and their lives. It is important to provide them with information they need and make it easy for them to get more information.
Providing that information in ads and other marketing material requires more words, not fewer. In the direct mail business, historically the mail packages with the most component parts and longer copy generated better results. Think about the Publisher’s Clearing House Mailer… it’s chock-full of pieces… and they’ve made billions. AND, they are still doing it the exact same way.
A four-page letter will pull twice the response as a two-page version. An interested (remember if they weren’t at least mildly interested, your ad would be in the trash already) … an interested prospect wants as much information as possible to make a decision.
So, figure out what your target market wants… and then go all in with information about the who, what, where, how and why’s of how the information will put them in a better position. Better yet, make it interactional. Have short quizzes… checklists… tell stories that they can relate to. The great thing about this type of marketing is that they come in excited to talk to you. They want what you have. And they will be more trusting.