There is a huge group of people with plenty of disposable income that marketers have been quietly ignoring online. That population is seniors. Marketers work diligently every day to reach their target audience and understand what interests them. With the population growing so heavily, and with these new seniors adapting to new technologies, they make up a huge audience when marketing to seniors.
If you’ve been starting to think about marketing to seniors online, there is plenty of evidence that you are on the right path. This is because seniors, those over 65, make up around 8.5% of the world’s population and this number has been climbing for years. One prediction made by Bloomberg expects the purchasing power of seniors to leap from the $8 trillion that they had in 2010 to $15 trillion when this decade ends.
The “No Internet” Myth
The first objection to marketing geared towards seniors online is that they don’t use the Internet. While this was largely true when the Internet first became popular, this becomes less the case every year. Seniors, like every other population group, are finding that being online can improve their lives in many ways.
A survey conducted in 2014 found that 59% of seniors use the web. Another study from 2015 found that 27% of seniors were using smartphones. These numbers will only increase as the younger crowd reaches this age range and others already in the age bracket learn the freedom and value of being online.
If you research a given age group about marketing strategies, you won’t come up with any shortage of information on them except for on this one group. Everyone is looking for new ways to impress different age groups and convince them that they need a certain product or business. Another blog post of our talks about marketing to the adult children of seniors.
An Inbound Marketing Approach to Seniors
1.) Craft Your Ideal Senior Marketing Persona
When you go to target seniors online, you’ll have to remember that they cannot all be lumped into one category. This means finding your group within a group. Develop a persona or several that would find your product valuable. Correctly answering these questions will keep you from wasting time and money marketing to individuals who wouldn’t use your services. You'll want to identify your ideal tech-savvy senior and gear your digital marketing towards them. This is one of the first things you do in any successful inbound marketing campaign.
2.) Pay Attention to Design
Just like with any other age group, quality web design, print and video matter. Tacky and poorly put together advertisements will drive your audience away. Be sure to use large fonts that are easy for seniors to read. Greater color contrasts are important for the same reason. When it comes to video advertisements, it’s wise to include scripts or captions with them. If you wish to reach seniors with your mobile design, this group will be the most bothered by pop-up ads that are difficult to close or buttons that are too small to press easily.
3.) Keep Your Message Simple
If you keep it simple with seniors, you’ll go far. They tend to respond best to uncomplicated instructions. It’s best to make things as straightforward and frustration free as possible. Something you’ll want to avoid is slang or industry terms. Otherwise you may lose your target audience. Make things so understandable that seniors won’t have to research what you said.
4.) Provide Value and Build Trust
Inbound marketing to seniors is the perfect way to reach them. The goal of this type of marketing thrives on trust building and providing value through ongoing relationships. Seniors can appreciate this approach arguably better than any other demographic group. You can improve the lives of seniors by offering your valuable content and services to them.
To learn more about how you can craft a website presence that builds value and trust with your visitors click the button below to get a free website review and strategy guide. We'll be back to you within 48 hours with a full strategy on how to optimize your current website to seniors for free.
