Tapping In To The Older Generation

Most advertising campaigns seem to be aimed at the younger generation these days. It’s all viral videos and hashtags, which can be difficult to get to grips with if you’re a bit older. A lot of seniors don’t have access to much modern technology, so if your campaign is based around it, you might be completely missing a huge portion of your potential customer base. Considering they are the ones with the most money, it seems silly to neglect them. It might also be the reason that your customer acquisition is starting to slow down a bit, but there is something that you can do. Redirecting a small portion of your marketing budget towards more traditional marketing strategies could really help you boost sales. If you’re a bit out of touch with the old ways, here are a few tips to get you started. 

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Use Traditional Forms Of Marketing 

The internet has completely revitalized the way that we advertise. The number of people that you can reach has grown so much, and the results speak for themselves. However, online marketing is not as accessible for the older generation, so you need to use something that they are a bit more familiar with. 

Before social media, people used paper to send messages. A good postal campaign can still bring in a lot of custom if you get it right. Make it eye catching, with good pictures to draw people in. Play to your strengths in your newsletter, but try not to overload it with too much text. People will not bother to start reading if they see huge chunks of tiny text on the page. 

Even though your grandad might not be posting selfies online everyday he might not be as out of touch as you think. A lot more seniors are starting to embrace modern technology so you can still use it to reach them, you’ll just have to do it in different ways. Emails aren’t too much of a struggle for older people nowadays so instead of posting them a paper newsletter, you could put it in an email. Use email lists to find potential customers, this way, you won’t be wasting money targeting people that are unlikely to be interested in your business in the same way that you would if you used a traditional postal campaign.

Getting The Tone Right 

One of the biggest difficulties you’ll face when marketing to the older generation is the way that you should address them. If you bombard them with modern terms that they can’t relate to, they’ll soon switch off. 

Avoid calling them old at all costs. They hate that. Don’t use words like elderly, or aged either. Even if you think that you’re respectful, it will just come off as patronizing. That means you should steer clear of any campaigns that are based specifically around appealing to an older market. Target them in the way that you would anybody else, but just make sure to use language they can understand, and get straight to the point.