Seniors citizens in our society are often excluded from digital marketing targeting based on their outdated assumptions and historical, false perceptions.

According to recent statistics, around one-fourth of people aged 75 and over, use tablets, also 50% of the 65-74 year old age group people are active on different social media platforms. Hence, businesses worldwide are making a mistake of not considering the senior chunk in advertising campaigns.

In this discussion, we‘ll go through five common misperceptions plaguing the marketing gaps and practical tactics on how to incorporate 60+ demographics in the digital media channels and business objectives.

Senior marketing exceeds beyond conventional influencer marketing

Apparently, the number of influencer opportunities are huge. Individuals and entities like family members, professional acquaintances, local news, thought leaders, etc. have the capacity to contribute considerably in the marketing potential and outcome from senior marketing campaigns.

Therefore, we can say that attention should be given to 60+ aged people and marketing campaigns should be directed at their demographics.

According to Ofcom’s data provided in their “Adults: Media use and attitudes report 2019”, in the 65-74 years old age group, around 92% use smartphones, 34% watch streamed content, and 34% have active social media profiles. While in 75 and above age group, 81% of people use smartphones, 22% watch streamed content, and 20% have active social media profiles.

The data easily deduces that digital marketers can have easy access to such age groups via mobile and SMS marketing, and social media marketing and video marketing channels.

Senior citizens show more loyalty and less exploratory in nature

The report further explains that the tendency for online browsing reduces with age. This comes as a challenge for marketers to capture back the lost interest of their senior audiences by educating, informing, and displaying the brand information in a careful way.

Furthermore, senior citizens display unparalleled loyalty towards their preferred brands as the only
“go to” in times of need.

Marketers can have plenty of techniques up their sleeve to achieve such objectives: providing community resources and lifestyle centres; location-based, personalized content; refined offline/online user journey touchpoints; free tips and tools; clear CTAs and discounted offers; better remarketing on informational and educational content pieces; and simplifying and connecting different marketing channels.

Experiences matters above all

Some of the most in-demand trends including personalized user journeys and content creation, user experience, etc. associates most closely with the senior audiences than others.

When marketing pros are able to instil the right focus back to a particular user group or define a clear persona, a win-win situation starts to breed.

Do note that older people tend to value quality customer service, personal communication and query handling, unlike others. Once they’re convinced that a brand cares about them genuinely, they are easily tempted to repeat its use and recommend to their fellow peers.

Here are some of the approaches you can use to accomplish the feat of experience-based marketing.

• Connect both offline and online user journeys and touchpoints. The idea is to keep the marketing message simple, consistent, traditional in tone.
• Employ telephones, instant click actions, and footfall drivers as convenient CTAs.
• Try to incorporate offline and traditional media content in the form of local papers, catalogues, flyers, discount codes, etc.
• Follow the KISS rule (keep it simple, stupid) with clear, easy-to-understand takeaways and actionable insights.

Enhance investment in the education phase

Whether you post an onsite article or submit an external piece, older audiences require extra guidance, clearance, and explanation which might seem like an ordinary, already easy-to-understand piece for people like us.

In other words, the emotional and contextual investment in their information gathering and buying process should be more than normal.

Moreover, you can assist them through various and time and commute saving solutions, for instance, online banking, insurance claims, bills payments, etc.

On the downside, their resistance to change or shift towards aggressive digital media, misperceptions about the credibility and safety of internet, digital transactions while wanting more offline conversations, often proves to be a considerable hindrance in them adopting the change.

This is why marketers need to play smart by creating and facilitating the right blend of offline and online user journeys. Also try to incorporate the traditional experience of offline print media such as local papers, brochures or flyers, and offline CTAs encouraging a telephone action.

Attract seniors through YouTube

According to iPropsect, elderlies do not consider their age as the reason to stop using internet, in fact their usage increases with age.

Around 63% of the silver surfers, 70 years old and above, typically expend 11 to 30 hours online per week, the number is higher than used by younger age groups.

Furthermore, the article states that online video content is heavily consumed by older citizens. About 15% of the chunk from the 50-59 age group watch a YouTube video or movie at least once a day.

This clearly indicates that video marketing can easily encapsulate senior marketing campaigns in its activities without missing targets or overemphasizing.

Understandably, video content has the potential to clearly explain topics, simplify complicated tech minutiae and real-world applications, and enable user engagement in a quick fashion.

Brands can hit the jackpot by using video marketing for seniors and bridge the gap between online and offline user journeys.

Final thoughts!

Ageing citizens hold as much an untapped marketing potential as the younger age groups in the digital world. In order to extract the maximum output, marketing companies and professionals need to learn how to effectively target such older people.

Try to revolve your entire marketing strategies around informational, educational content with defined results for the senior citizens.

 

Author Bio:

Steven Is Digital Marketer. He manages the whole software development team at CMOLDS. He is a talented different kind of Game Development Company worked. He is experienced in business administration and mass communications, as well as havng a great love for self-improvement.