Analysts are anticipating a weaker-than-usual holiday selling season. But there is one potential source of selling cheer, especially for tech marketers: the over-65 market.

Nearly 70% of Boomers drink-that's 48 million men and women in the U.S. alone. Not that you'd ever know that because they are rarely featured in most alcohol advertising. For many years, those in the alcoholic beverage industry haven't made a point of engaging drinkers age 50+; but if marketers don't want to leave money on the table, it's time to rethink that.

Katie Couric, now 56, represents her generation of women more than ever. A journalist, wife and mother, she has worn more hats than most men her age, but no more than the average midlife working woman, whether she be a business leader, civic leader, midlife entrepreneur, young widow heading back to work, and/or active empty-nester. As someone who has filled all five of these roles, Couric is the poster child for women over 45.

To me, the most annoying part of being a Baby Boomer is the stereotype that aging has diminished my relevance in today's world. One of the best parts is knowing the stereotype isn't true.

Marketers have to radically change their current mindset about connecting with 50-plus populations. Ten years ago, in the forward of the book Ageless Marketing by the late David Wolfe, Jagdish N. Sheth wrote, "Current demographic mega trends add to the urgency of the need to do so. Developing markets such as North America, Europe, and Japan are characterized by much slower growth and a simultaneous maturing of the population, blurring the gender distinctions, and the rise of feminine values in society and hence the marketplace. More and more consumers are in the more highly evolved later stages of life, which …

Yes, it's the holiday season again. From now through January, most businesses are trying to find ways to reap their share of the most frenzied shopping time of the year. While some marketers will look for this season's killer product or promotion to drive sales during the year-end spending spree, who you target and not what you're selling may be the difference between a hugely profitable holiday sales season and making less than spectacular numbers.

A lot has been written on the difference between the Boomer and Millennial generations, but take a closer look and you'll see the two generations have a lot more in common than you may think. There have even been instances when a message targeting one of these generations has also resonated strongly with the other. Could it be possible to tap into the over $3 trillion in spending power the combined audiences represent with one campaign?

I was reading the results of a recent survey by Burst Media on "The Online Mom" and two notable facts stood out. First, I had never seen a study like this that presented segmented data on Moms of all ages; the research was divided between Moms aged 18-34, 35-54 and 55+. Second, it turns out that the Moms 55+ are not only online as much as younger women; they are online even more.

What's the main reason why you advertise? You advertise to get the interest of a prospective customer resulting in some action, e.g., a sale. So far, Marketing 101, right? Nevertheless, think for a moment, do you use emotional marketing techniques in your advertising right now or are you pushing product? If you don't, then you're losing possible sales and profits.

If you think of "aging in place" as a new phenomenon, you probably didn't grow up in an Hispanic household. For most first- and second-generation Hispanic Americans, living at home with Mom - or having Mom live with you - isn't symptomatic of a sluggish economy, it's a cultural norm.