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Over the last few years, Millennials and Generation Z have been the focus of marketers and digital providers. However, older generations provide a major opportunity that many have ignored. Americans over the age of 50 spend more than $3.2 trillion dollars every year and account for half of all consumer spending. This group also spends an average of 2.5-4 hours shopping online every week. To cut to the chase, if your online business is not making a deliberate effort to reach senior shoppers, you’re probably making a big mistake.

Pew Research Center recently released their latest report on technology adoption among seniors (in this report, senior means 65+). Here are some of the key findings:

• Individuals over the age of 65 make up 15% of the current population
• 42% have smartphones
• 67% use the internet
• Of those who are online, 75% use the internet daily
• 50% have the internet at home
• Those who are 80+ are half as likely to use or have the internet, and 4x less likely to have a smartphone
• Seniors with higher income and education levels are more likely to have the internet and smartphones
• 32% have a tablet
• 45% of those ages 65-75 use social media
• 70% of those who use Facebook use it daily
• 25% play online games

When marketing to seniors, it can be helpful to segment by age; the rate of technology adoption varies greatly within the 55+ set. Good segments would be 55-65, 65-80, and 80+. This group is also primarily composed of two generations: Silent and Baby Boomers. Here are some of their more commonly cited characteristics:

The Silent Generation (1925-1945)
– Tend to value hard work, rules and stability, thrift, fairness, history, tradition, and loyalty
– Once they are committed to a company or brand, they stick with it
– Use formal titles, manners, and proper grammar when addressing them
– Want to be respected

The Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
– Tend to value equality, vision, mission, teamwork, and are rebellious and hold anti-establishment sentiment
– More likely to buy now and worry about it later
– Use first names, direct and friendly communication style
– Want to be needed

For marketers, some of the most helpful differences here are wanting to be respected versus wanting to be needed, and valuing history and tradition versus vision and mission. By segmenting these customer groups, you can tailor your marketing messaging around these values.

There are a few other things to think about when creating marketing programs for seniors. First, the primary reason why many people don’t shop online, including seniors, is a lack of trust and concern about security. To help ease these fears, include your security pages prominently throughout your site, especially at checkout. If you are asking a customer for their email address, tell them what kind of information you’ll be sending them and how often, and let them know that you won’t share their information. Include a privacy policy on your site and make it easy to find.

Similarly, don’t go too overboard on personalization. While almost all shoppers want a personalized experience, make sure your tactics are not coming off as creepy; for those with less understanding of the ways that companies gather and use consumer data, some personalization tactics can seem extremely intrusive.

Finally, don’t ignore this demographic just because your products or services are not exclusively designed for seniors. Older adults often have a wide group of people they may buy gifts for, including friends, children and grandchildren, other family members, and more.

Traditional Marketing Tactics
At first glance, it might seem strange to use traditional, offline marketing techniques when you run an eCommerce store. However, this is the kind of marketing that most older adults are used to, as is often more effective for them than other groups. Older adults tend to spend more time watching TV, they grew up listening to the radio, and they still enjoy getting mail. The key here is to use these offline techniques to bring them online.

Direct mail is one of the best and easiest ways to bring offline seniors to your online store. Depending on your industry, a coupon, catalog, or other special offering can help drive brand awareness and increase online traffic. Those with larger budgets may also find success in TV or radio ads. For any of these tactics to work, make sure to include a clear CTA, specific instructions about where they should go on your site, and how to complete the desired action.

Digital Marketing Tactics
One of the most important factors in eCommerce for seniors is site design. Although more and more seniors are getting online, many of them do not feel confident in their ability to successfully use technologies on their own. Make your site more accessible for older adults by implementing a simple navigation menu and using large font sizes. Also, consider the use of assistive devices when creating your design. Make sure you site is compatible with screen readers and other tools for those with hearing, visual, or other impairments (more on that here). To demonstrate the safety of your site, make sure your security badges are prominently featured. Finally, unless your products are exclusively designed for a young demographic, include older adults in some of your marketing/product photos.

Other common digital marketing tactics can also be effective with this demographic. Seniors who shop online are likely to have an email address, meaning email marketing can be a great way to reach them. This is an area where segmenting by age or generation can be very helpful. Those who are part of the Silent generation would probably prefer an email that addresses them by “Mr.” or “Ms.” and more formal language and complete sentences in the email copy, while those of the Boomer generation may respond better to using their first name and more casual copy.

With internet adoption among seniors on the rise, more and more older adults are also using social media. In fact, 62% of online seniors use Facebook. Engage with older adults on Facebook by sharing relevant phots and videos, talking about how your company gives back to the community, running Facebook ads written specifically for your target demographics, and answering questions and quickly as possible.

PPC campaigns are another common way to find potential customers. When creating PPC campaigns for seniors, use Analytics to determine what time of day and what days of the week seniors are visiting or making a purchase on your site, as well as what their other interests are. This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of a well-designed landing page, which should be helpful, easy to navigate, and relevant to the content of the ad.

Are you ready to tap into this burgeoning demographic? ParadoxLabs can help with email marketing, social media, PPC, or targeting and retargeting solutions.