Those of you not attempting to market to boomers through the internet might be making a costly mistake. A new survey, released at last week’s Beyond the Numbers: Boomer Marketing Summit, shows that the baby boomer generation and their slightly younger counterparts have a significant online presence. ThirdAge Inc., an online marketing and consumer insight company, teamed up with JWT BOOM, a marketing firm specializing in reaching consumers over 40, to survey over 1,000 40+ adults to determine their current online preferences and habits. Their findings dispel some popular myths regarding the ways in which boomers navigate cyberspace.

The findings show that boomers and mid-lifers use broadband to access the internet in greater numbers than the national average across other age groups. Research also shows that boomers are using the internet primarily to email friends and family, to seek out more information about products before they purchase, to read articles and more generally, to browse the web. Not surprisingly, they are not writing blogs, playing games or downloading music or videos. The general assumption about boomers has been that they are not as vulnerable to viral or word-of-mouth marketing tactics as younger generations. The ThirdAge study finds the opposite to be true with 96% of respondents claiming that they are very or somewhat likely to share product information or news with friends. Additionally, 92% of those surveyed have read about a website in a print article and then visited online and 89% have seen a print advertisement and later visited online.

The lesson that should be taken away from these findings is that, in order to maximize the effectiveness of any boomer directed campaign, companies should pursue a comprehensive and integrated marketing plan that combines print media coverage, advertising and online outreach.