Thanks to technology, radio is more portable than ever and can be accessed over the air, via Satellite, online, and via a mobile device such as a smart phone or iPad.

Yet many marketers still intuitively believe the newer radio platforms are exclusive to younger demographics.  I often hear “My target isn’t listening to radio on mobile” from clients who market to baby boomers.  Usually it’s because they themselves, as a focus group of one, have yet to incorporate online radio into their daily lives or because they are in fact, young and still have this notion that anyone over age forty (or perhaps 30) is just set in their ways.  Here’s the reality.  First, let me say that baby boomers created the technology we enjoy today.  You know who I’m referring to.  And, while baby boomers, in general, are not typically known as “early adopters,” they do adopt.  So what if they’re not sleeping outside an Apple store the night before a new release.

Bottom line is that technology is ubiquitous.  A new iYogi survey reported that the majority of U.S. households spend more per month on technology bills than on utilities.  The average two-person family owns upwards of 7 IP devices, including laptops, tablets and smart phones. Among families with three members or more, the number of IP devices per household jumps up to 10 or 11.  What that means is that boomers are doing more than just paying the bill.

With respect to radio, the good news for marketers is that there is a plethora of choices that suit every listener’s sensibility which helps brands hyper target their message.   For instance, AccuRadio is a multichannel Internet radio station designed specifically for adults with sophisticated (translation:  older) musical tastes.  Average listener age is 41 and listeners can create their own music stations from various musical genres including Jazz, Oldies, Country, Broadway, Classical and more.  Services like Pandora allow marketers to specify the exact listener age, sex and zip code that their ads reach.  Talk about eliminating waste!

For marketers, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Lisa Sable is a Senior Marketing Strategist at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com