The following is an excerpt from “Boomer StrataGEMS™ ── Tools, Technologies, and Techniques,” an eGuidebook and resource listing for using social media and digital technology to engage Baby Boomers and Seniors.

Engaging Boomers in the Digital Ecosystem

An amazing convergence is happening in mature marketing today: the growth of the Baby Boomer population and the growth of digital media. Baby Boomers increasingly use the Internet to keep in touch with family and friends, anywhere in the world. They search for product information. They compare prices, print coupons, and shop online.

Thus, as the social web continues to rapidly evolve, it is prompting us to establish policies, best practices, and guidelines on how we should engage Boomers and Seniors in online conversation. But we also need to define the “rules of engagement.” How will you encourage thoughtful and meaningful interaction as it benefits your business, brand, customers, peers, and prospects at every touch point?

Here are 15 best practices to help you craft a practical set of rules as you engage with Baby Boomers and Seniors in the new digital ecosystem:

1. Discover all relevant Boomer and Senior communities of interest and observe the choices, challenges, impressions, and wants of the people within each network (In part, the objective of Boomer StrataGEMS™ is to present and comprehensive community listing, including links to each site.)
2. Actively participate where your presence is most advantageous, not just anywhere and everywhere. (Do you really want to be on MySpace, when conversing with people on Eons or Facebook is more productive?
3. Determine the identity, character, and personality of your brand and match it to the persona of the individuals you want to converse with online
4. Establish a point of contact who is ultimately responsible for identifying and responding to all things that can affect brand perception
5. As in customer service, representatives require training to learn how to proactively and reactively respond across multiple scenarios.  Don’t just put the person who is most familiar with social networking in front of your brand
6. Embody the attributes you wish to portray and instill in Boomers and Seniors. Operate by a self-imposed code of conduct
7. Observe the behavioral cultures within each online community and group and adjust your outreach accordingly
8. Become a true participant in each social media outpost you wish to reside. Move beyond marketing and sales pitches. Provide meaningful value- added dialogue.
9. Don’t speak to audiences through canned messages! Contribute value, insight and direction through each engagement
10. Be proactive. Don’t just listen and placate! Be viewed as a “Thought Leader”
11. Consistently create, contribute, and reinforce your brand’s value proposition
12. Earn community connections through collaboration and empower advocacy
13. Don’t get lost in translation. Ensure your communication and intent is clear and that your involvement maps to the objectives you have created for your brand
14. Establish and nurture beneficial relationships online and in the real world as long as doing so is important to the growth of your business. Be wary of time wasters.
15. Give something back! Reciprocate and recognize noteworthy contributions from participants in your communities

Written by Martin Diano:  Martin Diano is a thought leader in helping Baby Boomers use social media to find, access, and consume high-value content.  He is CEO of Boomer Authority Association and Publisher of the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center].  Martin is also the publisher of Boomer StrataGEMS - Tools, Technologies and Techniques, a new eGuidbook for utilizing social media and digital technology to engage Baby Boomers and Seniors.