Many brands and companies exclude seniors and boomers from their digital marketing campaigns and tend to focus on the younger generations as their target audience.
Some businesses make the mistake of thinking that digital marketing is only for young people, but this could not be further from the truth as seniors are not only increasingly active online, but also have more money to spend than any other age group. Here are some tips on how to market to seniors online.
What Does Digital Marketing to Seniors Mean? How do they respond to it differently?
Digital marketing to seniors means speaking to the large and growing population of people aged 50 and over who use the internet and social media daily.
Specifically, the “digital seniors” as named by Think With Google.
“The majority of online seniors — 86%…are enthusiasts who spend at least six hours a day online and own an average of five devices. These are sophisticated, engaged consumers. According to Think With Google, 82% of these digital seniors use their smartphone every day which is incredible considering that just four years ago, only 24% of them reported doing so.” This means that if you’re not marketing to seniors online, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity.
Many seniors are loyal to the brands they use and prefer to stick with the products and services they know. This makes it important to ensure that your digital marketing campaigns are relevant and informative, otherwise, you may lose out on this valuable consumer base. Marketing to an older audience is different, but it can help expand your brand’s reach.
When It Comes to Seniors: Is Digital Marketing Worth It or Is Traditional Marketing Better?
Digital marketing has engaged the young generation and baby boomers in the best way, but when we talk about people who are in the older demographic, it can sometimes get confusing.
There is no clear answer when it comes to whether digital or traditional marketing is better for seniors. On one hand, digital marketing has been shown to be more effective in reaching older consumers than traditional marketing techniques. On the other hand, some people argue that traditional marketing is still the most effective way to reach this demographic. Ultimately, it depends on your specific business and what you are trying to achieve.
How Does Social Media Play Into This?
Social media marketing is a great way to promote your brand and business in the senior market. Many seniors use their leisure time on various social media platforms to stay connected, especially so since the pandemic.
What Platforms are Most Effective for Reaching Them?
Some common social media platforms that are popular among seniors include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube & Pinterest. You can use these platforms to interact with your target audience, share valuable content, and promote your products or services.
Here are some statistics on seniors who use social media according to Khoros:
- 51% of people ages 50-65 use Facebook
- 34% of people that are 65+ years old use Facebook
- 27% of people ages 50-65 use Pinterest
- 66% of people ages 46-55 use YouTube
- 58% of people that are 56+ years old use YouTube
What Kind of Content Resonates with Them?
Seniors tend to usually look for informative and entertaining content. Visual content with information and health and fitness guides attracts them the most.
Promotional videos on shortcuts and lifehacks, or promoting the use of certain gadgets and products that can make your life easier are also well-received by seniors.
How Do You Measure Success When Marketing to Seniors?
A digital marketing campaign is successful when you get good responses from the older generation, as they are highly engaged with your content. If your social media campaigns get enough engagement from the senior market, you are going the right way.
- Increased web traffic
- Increased leads
- Higher customer conversion rates & sales
- Increased engagement on social media campaigns (likes, comments, shares etc.)
- More customers switching from your competitors and becoming repeat customers
- Improved brand awareness and reputation
Tips for Implementing Digital Marketing Strategies Successfully With This Generation
- Make sure that your website and social media pages are easy to navigate, and provide clear information on your products and services.
- Offer promotions and discounts specifically for seniors, which will help to encourage them to switch to your brand.
- Bring in trusted reviews: People aged 50 and over generally trust the opinions of their peers more than anything else. You can use this to your advantage by featuring reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers on your website and social media pages.
- Make use of influencers: Many social media influencers have a large following among older generations. You can collaborate with them to create content that will reach your target audience, just be sure to pick the correct ones.
- Make sure you target the right audience with audience segmentation: When it comes to digital marketing, you need to make sure you’re focusing on the right target market with your campaign & marketing strategy. This is especially important when you’re targeting seniors, as they are not all the same. Some factors you need to consider when segmenting your older audiences include age, gender, location, interests, and income. As seniors become more aware of social media advertisements, they tend to react negatively to online marketing ads that are not relevant to them.
- Use clear and concise language: When creating content for seniors, it is important to use language that is easy to understand. Avoid using industry jargon, and make sure to explain things clearly.
- Include a call to action: keep the marketing messaging clear and simple, especially the call-to-action so the seniors know what you want them to do next. This could be anything from visiting your website to making a purchase.
- Test and measure: Always test your digital marketing campaigns before you launch them so that you can make sure that they are effective. One ad may do poorly with the senior demographic, and one may do better, so it’s important to find out what resonates with them and to use the more successful ones to keep advertising costs low. Once the campaign is live, keep track of the results and make changes if necessary.
Digital marketing is a great way to reach seniors, as they are surprisingly highly engaged with online content, though in a different way to younger consumers. When creating digital marketing campaigns for this generation, it is important to make sure that you target the right audience and use language that is easy to understand. You should also test your campaigns before launching them to make sure they are effective. If you follow these tips, you’re sure to see positive results from your digital marketing efforts when targeting seniors.
Check out our other blog on marketing to Gen Z here.
