In recent years, the older generations have taken to using the internet more and more often. Their adoption speed may appear slow, but it’s an impressive rise compared to the way it was 18 years ago. Only 14 percent of seniors used the internet back in 2000, while currently, 70 percent of those aged 65 and over use the internet on a regular basis. These stats alone should be enough to pique the interest of any serious marketer.
For far too long, marketers have been excluding older consumers from online marketing campaigns because of the difficulty in reaching them online. But now that things have changed, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t also be targeted as potential online consumers.
This is because baby boomers, just like the younger generations, have particular interests that are vital to them like staying healthy. If marketed to correctly, they would potentially be willing to pull out their wallets and spend abundantly.
Furthermore, here are three great ways in which seniors’ growing interest in the digital world can help your marketing endeavors:
Widen your customer base
It’s in every company’s interest to attract as many consumers as possible. Since it’s both simpler and faster to reach tons of people with online marketing, having seniors come aboard the internet usage bandwagon eases the process of engaging with them, and thus, making sales.
Take, for instance, the fact that 66 percent of older people use the internet to search for health-related information. And so, by incorporating educational health information in your adverts, you will speak to their core interests and get them to buy your product or service. All of the stats we’ve given you here come courtesy of MedAlertHelp.
Also, seeing as some seniors would love to use the internet but are put off by the perceived difficulty of using new technologies, tech companies should work more on persuading them in buying tablets and ebooks. Touchscreens make tablets more intuitive and easier to use than regular PCs, and their displays are bigger and easier to read than cell phones. This makes them quite popular among the older generations. Video tutorials and instruction manuals facilitate the learning curve even further.
Easier marketing
It’s not only cheaper but easier as well to target consumers online and thus increase your customer base. For instance, did you know that seniors are 19 percent more likely to share content on Facebook than any other demographic? It would, therefore, be prudent for advertisers to use information like this to market their products to this demographic.
Moreover, by using Facebook to advertise your products or company, you can easily reach this group of people since it allows you to specify your target demographic and their geographic location. On top of religiously using Facebook, 91 percent of boomers like sending and reading emails on a daily basis.
So, in order to effectively use email marketing, you need to ensure that seniors can easily read the content by using:
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Bigger font sizes (14-16)
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Easy-to-read typefaces such as Times New Roman or Arial
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The terminology they can easily understand
Although calling something “sick” can easily be understood by younger people as a cool thing, older adults might misinterpret it and thus fail to understand your real message.
Put your business in front of an affluent demographic
Studies show that most of the seniors who use the internet often are those that are younger, more educated and more affluent. In fact, it’s believed that some of these older people are more tech-savvy than millennials and even use the internet together with tech devices more often than them.
Moreover, this group is known to be generous with its money since it has a disposable income. Hence, it’s a matter of putting up a convincing online marketing strategy, and you’ll see the dollars smoothly rolling in.
Internet usage amongst older adults might be relatively low compared to other generations, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot benefit from them. Target full force those who are online and, if possible, entice others to go digital by easing their fears. With that, you will see your sales skyrocket because this is a generation that largely comprises of wealthy people.
About the author: Nikola Djordjevic, MD, Community Manager and Head of Content at MedAlertHelp.org. Coming from Serbia, Nikola is a doctor of medicine who started this project in 2018 out of his passion for helping others, particularly seniors. Apart from reviewing medical alert systems, he also writes a blog dedicated to health, aging, retirement, and other senior-related topics.
