• by Robin Raff , March 29, 2010

The boomers are coming, the boomers are coming. Beginning next year, the first baby boomers will be eligible for Medicare. And Medicare marketers are getting ready. There are tons of articles about boomers' healthcare needs, their retirement plans, their media habits and their attitudes about aging. Some of these articles include data that marketers should use to determine how to market Medicare to boomers:

• 14% of people ages 45 to 64 are uninsured

• Over 60% of adults ages 50 to 64 who are working (or have a working spouse) have been diagnosed with at least one chronic health condition

• Over half (55%) of workers 50 to 64 with individual coverage spent more than $3,600 on annual healthcare insurance premiums

• A large majority (72%) of baby boomers surveyed would be interested in receiving Medicare before age 65

• Only about 14% of baby boomers aging into Medicare in 2011 plan to retire at 65; nearly 33% plan to work to 70 and beyond. About 25% plan to continue receiving employer-based health insurance after age 65

• Many age-ins (those just turning 65 and new to Medicare) choose Medicare Supplement plans if they purchase private coverage over original Medicare

• There is a powerful shift occurring among boomers away from traditional TV towards new types of online services and entertainment

• 46% of online boomers maintain a social network profile

• Facebook is the social network for boomers.

Just as Medicare marketers eventually learned about the over-65 Medicare-eligible segment, boomers should not be lumped into one segment called "boomers" and marketed with the same approach, in spite of generalizations about them.

Smart marketers have learned the importance of targeting prospects based on unique characteristics. This helps to determine how to most effectively reach and motivate those with the greatest potential.

While some of the data may apply to many boomers, marketers will have the greatest success if they can determine which boomers to target, and how, based on their unique characteristics.

And while it is important for Medicare marketers to know that, as a segment, boomers are retiring later, have a high percentage of unemployed and underinsured, and have multiple chronic diseases, it will also be important to understand their healthcare coverage needs based on their lifestyle and prior healthcare coverage before qualifying for Medicare.

Find out which boomers want the type of healthcare coverage that allows them greater flexibility and control or provides the greatest amount of security at the lowest cost. This will assure you market the right product to the right prospect.

There are behavioral segmentation approaches, like one developed by Deft Research, which allows a marketer to target boomer age-ins based on the specific type of health plan they would be most likely to purchase. For instance, those with a greater propensity to purchase a Medicare Advantage HMO could be identified using the characteristics from Deft Research's "Medicare Mavens" age-in segment.

Basic principles of direct marketing such as the use of data for segmentation and targeting, identifying the right media and offer, and developing the right message to the right boomer will assure the greatest success of any Medicare marketing efforts. Go get 'em!