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Marketing to the Senior Community: Best of the Rest

July 6, 2010 Leave a Comment

As the final part to our series on marketing to seniors, We wanted to leave you with a couple additional thoughts and ideas:

Have you ever heard your parents or grandparents say, “whatever happened to….” and name a friend of yours from high school, a stuffed animal you had in your room or a necklace you bought on a family vacation? As marketers, we view this as the very definition of “brand awareness” among the senior community, and is something we hope to achieve for our clients. We want our clients to be chosen first, remembered positively and missed if not around.
Figuring out what seniors want is easier because they not only know what they want, but know how to describe it. However, for new products that they are not aware of, there is the potential to teach them what they will need to know, and if you can be the first to reach their demographic, you will have the ability to achieve significant brand loyalty.
For about four decades after turning 18, a person (especially if they were a white male) is considered the ideal demographic to target for goods and services. As those individuals transition to their senior years, keep in mind what they have been used in years past.
Stay away from funny with your messaging. In general, the demographic wants their products and services to have a professional demeanor to it with facts and information taking precedence over a social component. However, be careful not to fall on the side of cold and indifferent.
Use uplifting images and photography to supplement your message. Nobody wants to see someone in a wheelchair, even someone who is in a wheelchair. Remember that seniors like to be viewed in the light of the best years of their life.
Remember your manners. Don’t be too chatty or overly familiar. Personalization and customization is great, but don’t call them by their first names. Be respectful. Don’t talk to them like children, either in mail, online or on the phone.
Use humans instead of IVR whenever possible. Take the time to explain the benefits of your product. Long copy is OK, as long as it is divided into easily understood, bite-size chunks.

Lastly, remember that while this series was meant to provide you with basic concepts on marketing to seniors, the intricacies behind implementing these concepts properly is for professionals.

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Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Filed under Senior Marketing Tagged with direct choice inc, direct marketing, senior marketing

A How-to on Building Websites for the Senior Community – Part 2

June 30, 2010 Leave a Comment

In our previous post, we discussed the increase in internet use with the 65+ demographic, also known as the Swing Generation. As you might expect, the younger brothers and sisters of this group (the Boomers) have a bit more experience in this medium, with some studies indicating that upwards of 70% of 50–64 year old Americans are online.

The reasons for this are rather simple. A generation that was built on the philosophy of embracing and exploring change, combined with a business atmosphere that has steadily become almost-overly-reliant on computers means that the members of this age group were not just the first that had to use computers, but also the first that enjoyed using computers.

When focusing on this age group, using our guidelines for the 65 + age bracket is appropriate, but not always necessary. Boomers are willing to accept (or rather, less willing to dismiss) something flashy. However, there are two additional recommendations that Direct Choice suggests when creating plans for this generation:

Use life-stage events as a catalyst in strategy and messaging. Retirement, an upcoming significant birthday or a decade change offers a reasonable excuse to message a trigger to purchase. For the over 65 crowd, there is a risk in this because there are only a certain number of life-stage events left in their lives. However, for the Boomers, who have not quite reached that retirement age yet, this can be a useful strategy if used carefully and honestly.
Target wealth, not just income. There are many seniors who have no income but have plenty of money and not surprisingly, internet usage among seniors skews heavily to those who have the greatest financial resources. If your product or service is targeted at lower income buyers, the direct mail strategy continues to be the more appropriate channel, but if you are focused on a more affluent clientele, the World Wide Web should be your focus.

We are fast approaching the point in our society in which every age demographic will be well versed in using the computer for purchasing, and because of this, some organizations are willing to ostracize those that don’t use the internet in exchange for a strategy that can be utilized for years down the line. As an alternate solution, DirectChoice knows how to develop marketing campaigns that can be easily modified to make it accessible and relevant to all. So if you are willing to invest the time to go after the senior circuit, there is money to be made.

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Filed under Senior Marketing Tagged with direct choice inc, direct mail, direct marketing, internet marketing, marketing, swing generation, website design, websites for seniors

A How-to on Building Websites for the Senior Community – Part 1

June 29, 2010 Leave a Comment

Throughout this blog series, we have been discussing ways to verbally and contextually present products and services to seniors. But language is just a component of how to attract this demographic. If the packaging isn’t appropriate, then the words won’t mean a thing.

A perfect example of this is the use of the internet. While direct mail is still the most accepted medium for marketing to seniors, the percentage of the 65 + year old demographic that use the internet to access information, research and even buy products and services has been significantly increasing over the past decade, when it was just 2%.

However, just because 65 year olds and 25 year olds are using the same medium, doesn’t mean marketers can use the same methods to attract the two age groups with an expectation of achieving the same level of success. Seniors didn’t grow up with this technology, and in many cases, are still learning to use it. With that in mind, here are some keys:

Before you can create a website geared towards seniors, you must know how it will get to them. It is almost assumed that broadband or wireless is the standard internet connection in all houses, but according to the Pew Research Center, just 26% of U.S. adults age 65 and older have home broadband access. So, designers trying to reach seniors need to forget Flash, high-density images and gimmicks that can cause sites to load slowly.
Navigation should be made simple. The Tabs and “Next Page” buttons should be obvious and contain large, high-contrast type so that they are very visible and easy-to-understand.
Keep it to a click. To be honest, this is a suggestion for a number of different demographics, but for seniors especially, don’t tell them that they can “get a quote” and then take them to a page that requires them to download a PDF, print it, fill it out and mail it. The vast majority of them won’t do it.
Use the power of the Web to build relationships and community. Most seniors value personal ties, therefore, any form of customization towards local affiliations will provide organizations a leg up.
While we don’t encourage being gender-biased, research has shown that men and women – especially seniors – respond differently to webpage layouts. If the target is male, organize webpages to look like things like newspaper layouts with lots of white space, black type, lists, menus, etc. In contrast, if the target is predominantly female, use lots of color, present relevant information in an uncluttered format and build communities in which they can participate.
Finally, test your online creative with age-appropriate folks before going live. That twenty-something designer and that thirty-something account manager may need an older perspective on what’s “hot” for the demographic.

The development of webpages over the past several years has turned into a battle to find the next creative idea. Even the wide number of webpage template tools that are available offers an organization the opportunity to appear. While these techniques may be acceptable in the future (when ALL demographics will have been using the internet a majority of their lives), in the present there still exists a generation that is willing to use the internet, but is not reliant on it.

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