The myth remains that digital messaging won’t reach people older than their 30s.

Smart marketers know this isn’t true. A while ago I wrote about an elderly blogger’s surprising success. Want more proof that digital messages are effective with older consumers? BIGresearch says that 51.9 percent of people age 45-54 like to use email to communicate with others about products; that figure jumps to 53.4 percent for those ages 55-64 and 53.7 percent for those ages 65 and older. And a joint survey by ThirdAge and JWT Boom shows that the baby boomer age group is “also open to both traditional marketing and emarketing, as long as the message is coming from a brand they know and trust,” JWT BOOM President Lori Bitter says.

So yes, to reach the age group that came of age way back in the ’60s, marketers need to think about email. Here are some ideas:

Hair services. A hair stylist acquaintance once told me, “You’ll never go hungry if you know how to cut hair.” That’s because even during a recession, people need basic maintenance on their heads. Plus it’s an affordable luxury, a treat for those either suffering from the economy or on a fixed income. So hair salons and barber shops might want to send coupons to customers who’ve opted in to receive emails.

Grocery stores. Everyone needs to eat. Besides getting brand coupons, shoppers with a limited budget would also patronize a store that gave them, say, a percentage or dollar-amount off their entire purchase. mobileStorm Coupon Management can help you decide what kind of specials to offer.

Local coffeehouses. People who don’t have a full-time job, such as retirees, like to hang out at their local coffeehouse. They can chill out with friends, read with their trusty dog at their side, or use the free Wi-Fi or computer to go online–and check email. Imagine how willing they’d be to part with an extra few bucks if they got an email good for a reduced-price latte at the coffeehouse where they happen to already be!

Anyone have any campaigns they implemented–or that they enjoyed as a consumer–that were targeted at boomers?

I’ve written many posts on how you can get those links. However, there are certain rules you need to follow to make your link building campaigns most effective.

The most important rule: Get relevant links only! This is vital for your search engine rankings, so this one rule should be followed all the time.

One-way links are better than reciprocal links (links being exchanged), three-way links, or other options. External links should point to not only the homepage, but also to other important inner pages of your site.

The links should appear slowly, about one to five per day maximum. Otherwise it could look suspicious or unnatural for search engines; this might harm your site rather than help it. So don’t rush—plan your work wisely.

Links should contain the target keywords in the anchor text. It is a good idea to have the link inside some relevant text paragraph, and not alongside lots of other links.

External links must be permanent and static, not dynamic with query strings or otherwise auto-generated. Simple HTML links are the best. Links should not be from framed pages, since they most likely wouldn’t be read by search engine bots. For the same reason, external links must be in the text, not in images, flash, or graphics. Also, links cannot be through a redirect script or some other JavaScript.

Don’t use any hidden links or other unethical tactics. It’s not worth it!

It is better when links open in the same window. In other words, make sure target=_blank and other similar tags are not used in the code of the link. Never include a rel=nofollow tag with a link; this tells Google not to follow that link!

Don’t try to spam blogs or forums with automated comments or posts. And don’t try other so-called black-hat (or even grey-hat) techniques. You’ll just get into trouble sooner or later.

I wouldn’t suggest using link exchange/text brokering programs. Manual work is always more rewarding at the end of the day.

Get links from well-visited sites instead of barely web-visible ones. You can get an idea of the site’s traffic from checking on Alexa.com or Compete.com.

That’s it for now. In my next post we will discover more rules for obtaining strong one-way links to your website. Stay tuned.

Shavkat Karimov
Internet Marketing Manager
mobileStorm, Inc.
Every problem comes with a solution
SEO Manager’s Expertise

Contextual ads are placed based on an algorithm that studies the words that the user is writing or reading. It’s a great theory in practice. But it can go horribly wrong. Check out what iMedia Connection published that exemplify these kinds of disasters:

(If you don’t understand what’s the big deal: First, read the headline of each news article. Then, look at what the ad copy next to each article says.)

You won’t get these kinds of mistakes if you target consumers with permission-based emails and texts. As I’ve said before, unlike online ads based on algorithms, opt-in messaging is the best targeting tool of all.

This week Nielsen Mobile unveiled a new report, titled “The Short Code Marketing Opportunity,” that proves what we at mobileStorm have long known: Texting is now. The report is one of the first of its kind to take inventory of this year’s successes in text message marketing. mobileStorm client Ashley Furniture HomeStores was among those featured, with the report highlighting the furniture retailer’s usage of mobile coupons to boost sagging summer sales. Nielsen notes, “Rewards programs are one way to ensure that a short code marketing campaign creates an engaging consumer experience; another logical opportunity is couponing.”

Other texting campaigns mentioned were from the likes of Coca Cola, Best Buy, Subway, and other internationally-known brands. One of the most well-known examples cited was the recent campaign for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: Though the SMS message declaring Joe Biden as the vice presidential nominee was disparaged by critics who saw the announcement first on CNN or other news stations, the mass of people–2.9 million of them–who “texted-in” was proof in the pudding.

Nielsen’s report comes just in time for marketers who are unsure of venturing out into the mobile space and have been deterred by industry cynicism. The truth is that mobile campaigns are a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing mediums and pose the opportunity to capture large returns. The key is to use text messaging to start a personal and engaging conversation one-on-one with your customer or prospect, rather than send the kind of messages traditionally used in broad-reaching media formats like print, outdoor, and television.

Along with highlighting the uses of stand-alone mobile campaigns, Nielsen Mobile also talks about using SMS/text messaging to encourage users to participate in traditional media campaigns like television and radio. One of the most obvious examples of this (not mentioned in the report) happens to be another mobileStorm client: American Idol.

The point is that not only is texting powerful by itself, it can also be used to turn branding initiatives into direct response vehicles–an invaluable tool for marketers and media gurus alike.