Digital Media Promotions Are Reaching Baby Boomers

Your digital media promotions efforts should not just be aimed at Generation Y. Sure, they outnumber the Baby Boomers right now, 81 million to 78 million, but that does not mean you should count them out.

In fact, Baby Boomers are not the technology Luddites everyone assumes them to be. Last year, Jeremiah Owyang and Forrester Research released a report that said 60% of Baby Boomers were using social media of some sort or another, and that number is only going up. In 2007, the younger Boomers (ages 43 - 52, as of 2009) were consuming social media at a rate of 46%, while older boomers (ages 53 - 63) were using it at a rate of 39%. But by 2008, those numbers had increased to 67% and 62%, respectively.

Whether it is Facebook and Twitter, watching videos on YouTube, or listening to their iPods, Boomers are some of digital media's biggest users. So a digital media promotions campaign needs to focus on the boomers.

Owyang said in his report that marketers need to focus their digital media promotions campaigns on sites like AARP Online and social networks like Classmates, Facebook, and LinkedIn. "The fact that boomers are increasingly using these tools is a clear indication that it is just not a fad," Owyang said in a February 2009 New York Times article.

The trick, said Owyang, is to engage boomers with a digital media promotions campaign that does not require a lot of effort. He said that Boomers are less likely to participate in contests that require them to write long submissions, or create and upload videos or photos. According to the Forrester report, Boomers prefer digital media promotions like taking polls, rating and voting on items, ranking favorites, or providing user feedback of services or news stories.

This means a Boomer-focused digital media promotions campaign needs to focus on the issues that interest them, not what "young people" think is cool. That does not mean avoiding a digital media promotions campaign that gives free digital music downloads, for example. But rather than tying it into creating special online content, tie it into something the Boomers already enjoy doing. Maybe they are traveling more, or they still work out and participate in sports, or they love music and go to concerts, or they are classic car enthusiasts and visit different shows and rallies.

Boomers are also joining social networks in droves, growing from 15% in 2007 to 25% in 2009. And recent figures from Facebook shows that women, ages 50 - 60, are their fastest growing demographic. This means that not only is Facebook a viable digital media promotions and advertising channel, but company-sponsored social networks are as well.

For example, a social network geared toward older travelers, athletes, or music lovers could be a great long-term strategy for digital media promotions. Consider sponsoring a travel-based social network and being visible while members are discussing different travel destinations and sharing memories.

Forrester and Owyang even recommend using digital media promotions to target Boomers with a social application: according to the report, the number of older Boomers responding to online content doubled from 2007 to 2008, 15% to 34%. For example, a music label could consider launching a mobile app that focuses on a specific music genre geared toward concert venues and bands. Then, users could follow the progress of their favorite bands, see where they are going to play, or check the schedule of their favorite nightclub or concert hall to see who is coming to town. Then share their findings with friends, chat online with other fans, and even arrange meetups at concerts.

Digital media promotions should not be limited to just Generation Y. As Owyang and Forrester Research have shown, the Baby Boomer market is a fertile playground for marketers looking to easily reach an engaged audience. A specially targeted digital media promotions campaign can be just as effective in targeting Gen Y's parents and grandparents.

Digital Media Promotions Cover Promotional Risk, Within a Powerful Promotional Platform

The powerful digital media promotions platform to rapidly launch your promotion, turns content into advertising. The leading digital promotions company that brings high-end promotional technology and programs to link brands with their consumer markets, Hip Digital Media acquired Promotional Currency. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Promotional Currency is a promotions and promotional risk coverage company that merges digital technology in the form of digital music, ringtones, skins and more with turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Additionally, Promotional Currency protects companies from over-redemption liability with its in-depth promotional risk coverage and underwriting capabilities, enabling large-scale programs that increase brand awareness and user experience. Visit www.promotionalcurrency.com to learn more.

Hip Digital Media holds MP3 licenses from all 4 major labels in the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada, Hip Digital enables innovative customer experiences with digital entertainment campaigns for Fortune 500 brands and online media companies. Additionally, Hip Digital protects companies from over-redemption liability with its in-depth promotional risk coverage and underwriting capabilities, enabling large-scale programs that increase brand awareness and user experience. Experience Hip Digital’s suite of services at HipDigitalMedia.com

The Digital Promotional Incentive of Music Download Promotions Gains Loyalty of Gen Y

Digital Promotions are creating customer loyalty of generation Y. These promotional incentive campaigns provide mobile users with immediate gratification and instant rewards. These promotions include effective brand promotions of music download promotions, skins promotions, mobile promotions. Reach Gen Y through digital incentives and you will create customer loyalty forever.

Digital Promotions Incentives of Music Download Promotions and Mobile Promotions are Gaining Loyalty

Design your digital incentive promotion with the newest music, ringtone, and branded content. Hip Digital Media, the leading digital promotions firm, joined forces with Promotional Currency, merging digital content, entertainment licensing and proprietary risk coverage models to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace.

Music download promotions are popular promotional incentives. Consumers like them because digital music has broad appeal and is easy to download and enjoy. Promotional marketers like music promotions incentives because digital music is easy to distribute and helps consumers personalize a brand. Companies are able to increase sales and customer loyalty by using music download promotions as a consumer incentive.

Mobile promotions leverage the rapid market penetration of mobile devices. With mobile phone penetration approaching 90% in the US, mobile promotions allow you to engage consumers nearly anywhere and anytime. Through powerful digital incentives, such downloadable content, instant win games, and mobile coupons, your company can create excitement, drive traffic to an event or store, build an opt-in database, and ultimately improve customer loyalty and generate sales.


Mobile promotions are an effective way to leverage your traditional marketing channels such as print, broadcast and out of home signage. Not only do they allow you to deliver digital incentives quickly and easily to consumers' mobile devices, but they allow you to provide instant gratification to consumers.

There is a reason digital incentives have become a must-have promotional marketing strategy. They Work. What other incentive offers instant gratification for consumers, carries high perceived value that transcends demographics, and costs virtually nothing to deliver?


Digital incentives such as music download promotions, ringtone promotions, mobile promotion, skins promotions and online instant win games and sweepstakes are powerful, multi-pronged promotional marketing tools build customer loyalty and drive sales.


These promotional incentives must be redeemed online or via a mobile phone. They can also be used to generate website traffic, build customer databases and promote repeat sales. These promotional incentives are redeemed online or via a mobile phone and can also be used to generate website traffic, build customer databases and promote repeat sales. Digital promotional incentives are delivered through a unique promo code and URL or mobile phone short code (SMS). They can be distributed in-pack, on-pack, via a custom-branded card or even virtually, making them ideal for practically every application.


Entertain your consumers with promotional incentives of music download promotions, mobile promotions, and skins promotions to differentiate your brand and boost sales through increased brand interest and customer loyalty.

Hip Digital Promotions Player

Digital music promotions evolved within the promotions industry, as Hip Digital Media, the leading digital promotions company announced that it has acquired Dallas based Promotional Currency.

About Hip Digital: Hip Digital Media is the leading Digital Promotions Company that brings high-end technology and programs that link brands with their consumers markets. Holding MP3 licenses from all 4 major labels in the US, United Kingdom and Canada, Hip Digital enables innovative customer experiences with digital music campaigns for Fortune 500 brands and online media companies. Experience Hip Digital’s suite of services at www.hipdigitalmedia.com.

About Promotional Currency: Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Promotional Currency is a promotions and promotional risk coverage company that merges digital technology in the form of digital music, ringtones, skins and more with turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Additionally, Promotional Currency protects companies from over-redemption liability with its in-depth promotional risk coverage and underwriting capabilities, enabling large-scale programs that increase brand awareness and user experience. Visit www.promotionalcurrency.com to learn more.

Digital Music Promotions Reach Gen Y & Boost Marketing Conversions

Digital music promotions reach active consumers, increase marketing conversions of these consumers, and increase sales. Gen Y is online. They are also active retail consumers. This group is a sought after demographic of 10-30 year olds, because they have more discretionary spending than their parents have. They communicate on mobile devices and marketers are finding it very difficult to reach them through traditional media channels. They interact with each other through social media applications and are speaking with each other about your products and services. The sooner marketers learn to join the conversation, the better for the brands they represent.



Smart phones are becoming a way of life. Nearly every coffee shop is providing free wifi to its customers, and many restaurants are following suit. The ubiquity of wireless and smart phones are making digital promotions easier for marketers to launch and providing a strong avenue to reach the coveted Generation Y demographic.

Digital music promotions gain brand loyalty of Generation Y. Investing your promotions budget into a digital music promotion will guarantee you customer loyalty. Traditional promotional incentives do not compare to digital music download promotions. Try earning Gen Y customer loyalty by investing in plastic pens , hats other promotional merchandise. Most customers will not keep their pens, but they download your music giveaway, save it to a mobile device and every time they hear the song you gave them, they will remember your brand. To follow are ideas to deploy these promotions and increase marketing conversion rates.

Social media is an active channel to distribute these promotions. Increase conversion rates by promoting the music giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, email, and a blog with links back to the promotional incentive. The viral marketing aspect of social media will increase campaign activity.

Create a promotional incentive with purchase promotion, by giving away a free music download card, free ring tones, or free wallpapers, when customers spend a set amount of money. Put the entire music promotion on a mobile supported website, and let customers download it via their smart phones.

Or create a free music promotion that rewards customers for referring their friends. With every referral you receive, the customer receives a free music download. Follow up with additional customer rewards programs.

Digital music promotions increase activity on viral marketing and grass roots marketing efforts. Use your music promotion campaign to ask customers and fans to post "like" a Facebook page, tweet a code via Twitter, or complete a marketing survey. Give them a free music download whenever they perform the requisite number of social media tasks..

Promotional incentives including digital promotions provide increased retail store traffic. Give away a music download is customers enter your store at a specific time. This is especially a great way to promote a bar or club that has a specific band or DJ coming to town. For example, you could give away one or two of their songs if people check in on the night they're playing.

Digital music promotions reach almost every audience. Gen Y is actively responding to music promotions, but other consumers do as well. The love of music spans all generations. If you are looking to reach your customer, boost marketing conversions, and increase sales, deploy digital promotions. Releasing these promotions through online applications, social media, and text campaigns will provide increased brand exposure, and boost marketing conversions. The outcome of reaching this active, loyal consumer will be a pleasant surprise and you may even learn something from them about your brand.

Digital Music Promotions Appreciated by 5 Consumer Audiences

Digital music promotions are becoming more and more popular for marketers. Whether you have a small business or work for a large corporation, digital music promotions are an effective, low-cost way to tap into different target markets. Thanks to iPods and mp3 players, fast broadband and smart phones, everyone is listening to digital music. CD sales are dropping, and not just because of the economy. Thanks to major players like Apple's iTunes Store and Amazon.com's MP3 store, digital music promotions are becoming easier to deploy.

Of course, successful digital music promotions are more than just sending someone a $5 iTunes card for making a purchase. The smart marketers are tying their digital music promotions into a marketing campaign centered around a particular idea or event. One hotel chain recently gave free Classic Rock songs to their frequent travelers from a specially-designed website as part of their digital music promotions. Stay more nights, get more songs.

So here are five target markets you can gear your digital music promotions campaign to.

• Generation Y: I realize this is a rather large group. The largest of any group, in fact. At last count, Generation Y outnumbered Baby Boomers 82 million to 78 million. And it's Gen Y that's driving the digital music promotions. They're the biggest users of smart phones, SMS technology, social networks, and of course, digital music. Any time you want to reach this age group with a marketing campaign, digital music promotions will be a safe bet.



• Runners and fitness enthusiasts: Nike hit on a particularly smart idea a few years ago, teaming up with Apple, and creating the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit. It's a chip that will not only give runners their time, distance, pace, and calories burned, it will even pull up the music that matches your pace and inspires you to keep moving. It’s great for cyclists too. If you have an fitness-related business, a digital music promotions campaign that offers motivating and up-tempo music can really get your campaign off the starting blocks.



• Road Warriors: I've spent countless hours on planes and in cars, and I can only listen to podcasts for so long. But I would love to be rewarded for doing what I'm already doing, and listen to some of my favorite music. While we're not out there for the rewards, they still make a nice incentive. In fact, some Road Warriors will make a game out of it, and try to find the most profitable rewards for the fewest miles traveled. So if you can create a digital music promotions that's based on miles traveled, nights stayed, or dollars spent, you'll win the Road Warriors over.



• Stay At Home Parents: Tie your digital music promotions campaign into a product or service that a SAHM or SAHD is going to take advantage of. Parents are just like Road Warriors: they're already doing their thing, regardless of the incentives. But if they can get a little something extra for buying a product from you, instead of your competitors, they're more likely to take advantage of it.



• Entrepreneurs: Whether it is due to the economy, or the fact that more people have a burning desire to start their own business, we're seeing more entrepreneurs and in the business world these days. They are working in coffee shops, meeting at restaurants, and trying to keep costs as low as possible. When you start looking at their buying patterns, you see coffee shops being a big part of an entrepreneur's budget. The smart coffee shop owner is going to attract the entrepreneur crowd with a digital music promotions campaign. Instead of giving away a free cup of coffee, try giving away free downloads of the music you're playing in the store. And if you have musicians play on the weekends, be sure to include any of their music in your campaign.

- Julie Ann Ross