You would be wrong. Chick Lit aside, it is women 40+, the boomer demographic, who buy the most books. And we’re not just talking books about aging, here. We’re talking about moms and grandmas buying Harry Potter for the kids; Oprah fans rushing out to buy the classics; biographies; travel books; pretty much you name it.

Nevertheless, ask a SRO room full of 200 or so book business people “Are you getting your fair share of the 2.1 trillion dollars boomers spend on consumer books and services a year?” and you’ve got everybody’s attention.

Especially when the audience is privy to three of the sharpest minds on marketing to boomers in the country (plus yours truly, the panel moderator, who is known to have an opinion or two…).

As I mentioned in a column last week, one of the greatest challenges faced by book publishers, in particular, is that they are looking at books on subject matters and points of view today that won’t hit retail shelves for a couple of years. Given that there has never been a demographic hitting midlife and beyond this large, educated, vital and engaged, book marketers know that they are on unmapped territory. In effect, they are in the business of partially predicting/partially creating the future.

While meeting rooms at Book Expo with some of the finest authors at the podium sharing lofty, pertinent or controversial ideas stood idle with 15 or 20 scattered amongst the many rows, all of the sessions on marketing (including ours, but also anything having to do with publicity, demographics and new media) were packed solid with literary types trying to get a handle on the new age of book and magazine marketing.

Each of the panelists at the boomer marketing session has played leadership roles in connecting with this demographic, reporting an impressive list of best-sellers, solid hits and, in the case of AARP, the largest circulation of any publication in the world.) I stand in awe of these three panelists for getting it right. There is no magic bullet—but each represented and talked to what emerged as the three basics that are pre-requisites to success. The three basics: research, cross-platform marketing, and something on the spectrum between intuitive genius and dumb luck.

1. Research: How did AARP Magazine know that putting Robin Williams on a tricycle, on the cover would open the door to boomers perceiving the organization as hip and cool; rather than be perceived as juvenalizing or pandering? Dave Singleton, Director of Planning and Promotion of AARP Publications, explained to all of us that the key is research. When AARP puts a celebrity on its cover, they have already vetted the personality through thorough qualitative study. In addition, AARP does quantitative follow-up with a qualified sampling of readers on every issue. Unlike book publishing, which often has to wait several years to find out if their approach was a hit or a miss, AARP gets feedback on a monthly basis and can apply their findings immediately.

2. Cross-Platform Marketing. When I asked Ellen Archer, President of Disney’s Hyperion Press, what she thought was most important to share with this audience as the key to success, she did not hesitate. “Cross-Platform Marketing.” The book publishing business used to center around the book tour and reviews: a talking head shepherded from media outlet to media outlet, with book signings thrown in along the way. Now, to reach boomer women, you’ve got to make every book literally an event. The book signing has grown up into seminars or even retreats, co-hosted by the major chain, sponsored by a major media outlet, supported by third party endorsers of the subject matter. Each title (or titles grouped together by theme or demographic) merits its own website and spawns its own chat rooms. While Ellen did not mention this particular example, I do know of one life advice book making its way up the best-seller lists that was sent to thousands of life coaches around the country (who must have then told their clients about it.) As is true of all boomer woman marketing efforts that work, the campaign has to cut through the clutter, be compelling and relationship-based.

3. Intuitive Genius. Intuition researchers explain why some people’s gut reactions get better results than other’s. In a nutshell, the more information you’ve taken in—both consciously and subconsciously—the more honed your intuitive response. That explains why, for instance,
Springboard Press has had a big success with “How Not to Look Old”. In my last column on the Book Expo, I pondered the question of how did Editorial Director of Springboard Karen Murgolo know that should be the title, and not “How to Stay Young?” In brief, author Charla Krupp was one such person—immersed in the subject matter and demographic and Karen Murgolo is another. Together, with however other many team members contributed, just the right note was struck: zeitgeist combined with smart marketing. The lesson to other publishers—as well as to all marketers interested in the boomer demographic: if you want to get it right, make sure you’ve got one or more members on your team who live, breathe and think the demographic. Oh yes, and then pray.

Carol Orsborn