Business Learning Center

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my business target customers or clients who are over 50 years old?
2. Am I marketing to this target audience online?
3. If the answer to #2 is no, then ask yourself why not?

Companies marketing to a senior demographic have traditionally put most of their energy and money into traditional media. There is a long-standing belief that people over 50 are either not on the internet at all or are only going onto sites like AARP.com or WebMD.com.

The fact of the matter is that seniors control 70% of America’s disposable income and they are far more web savvy than most people believe.

Recent Studies show that 70% of the 50-65 age brackets use the internet, while 38% of those over 65 are online.
Of the “wired” seniors:

• 94% use the internet for e-mail
• 77% shop online
• 71% are looking for health information
• 70% use the internet to read news

A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that older Americans are also adopting social media at a remarkable rate of growth.

The study, Older Adults and Social Media, showed:

• 47% of internet users ages 50-64 are using social networking sites
• 26% of internet users over 65 are using social networking sites

While these numbers may pale in comparison with the 18-29 (86%) and 30-49 (61%) groups, it should be noted that as of November 2008 (a short time ago) only 16% of the 50-64-year-old group and 4% of the 65+ group were using social networking sites.

What does this mean for your online marketing strategy?

Simply put, if you are not already marketing to seniors online, then you should immediately get on the bandwagon.

Advertising

Many companies whose clientele are heavily weighted to the senior market are already marketing and advertising online. According to Quantcast, 62% of the visitors to Sears.com are over 50. In an effort to attract more seniors, Sears advertises on a number of “senior friendly” sites, including Senior.com (see below).

Another example of senior-targeted advertising is Bayer Pharmaceutical, which chose the PGATour.com site to advertise the erectile dysfunction drug Levitra. According to a Scarborough Research report, 68% of men’s golf fans are over 45 and men’s golf fans are 33% more likely to be over 65 than the general population.

Once you’ve successfully driven “senior traffic” to your site

If you expect a significant portion of your potential clients or customers to be seniors, then it is important to understand that the senior audience presents specific challenges in terms of design and messaging.

Suggestions for making your website “senior friendly” include:

• Make sure your font size is large enough for easy reading. Laptops and most monitors are relatively small, making reading difficult for many seniors. I suggest a minimum of 12 point.
• Keep the navigation as simple as possible.
• Age appropriate photos and graphics. This should be obvious. If you are trying to get an older audience to buy, then make them feel comfortable and welcome on your site.
• Understand the market. Marketing to seniors is a sub-specialty. Most internet marketers tend to be quite young and don’t quite “get” the market. It makes sense to add at least one person to your marketing team that has worked with the senior market in the past.
• Create landing pages specifically targeted to the senior audience. If your online advertising is geared to attract a senior audience, then it makes sense to create a landing page or alternate home page specifically geared to that audience.

In Conclusion

If your business courts senior clients or customers, it is time to begin investing time and effort into courting that target audience online. At Blue Fountain Media, we work with clients on targeting a variety of online demographics, creating websites and marketing strategies best geared to attract the specific target audience. If you are interested in attracting the senior demographic or have other specific target audiences, please give us a call at 212.260.1978.