Is It Worthwhile Mobile Marketing to Seniors?

The huge disparity between the amount of attention marketers pay to the over-65s, and many companies do not think it is worthwhile mobile marketing to seniors. There is a common misconception that seniors are  not tech savvy enough for it to be worthwhile engaging them with a social media or mobile marketing campaigns. Many marketers also think that by the time people reach the age of 65 they have already defined their brand loyalties and so aren’t worth chasing. However, the over 65s have significant spending power and should not be ignored. 

In terms of brand loyalty, it may be true that baby boomers retain allegiances to familiar brands. But their sheer spending power allows them to explore new products and services without sacrificing loyalty to brands they’ve used for 20 years. It’s not an either-or situation.

Is it worthwhile mobile marketing to seniors? Definitely! A decade ago, seniors were not very tech-savvy, but a 65 year old in 2015 was only in their mid-forties when the Internet Age got under way, and although the digital landscape has changed somewhat since then, we’re hardly talking about fuddy-duddies here. This generation were some of the earliest adopters of mobile technology. They understand how it works.

In fact, Pew research reckons close to 40 million over-65s have a Facebook or Twitter profile, making them the fastest growing group of social media users. What’s more, they’re using social media for the same reasons as everyone else - and that includes commerce.

Reluctance to engage this demographic has nothing to do with how lucrative it might be, and everything to do with a lack of understanding of how to communicate with them on the part of young start-ups and their marketing teams. The elephant in the room is ignored because businesses (especially technology-based businesses) don’t speak elephant.

What’s Good for the Goose…

Overcoming this communication problem is simply a matter of adjusting the processes by which users engage, particularly with apps (which, admittedly, only started really booming during this decade). The onboarding process should be kept simple, with as few steps as possible. But guess what? That should be the case regardless of the demographic you’re targeting. Apps are supposed to be intuitive and user friendly. Design your app with a 75-year-old in mind and it will appeal to all generations.

Similarly, your text content should use relatable, universal language. Avoid aggressively youth-oriented slang - it won’t be understood by older people, and will be embarrassingly wide of the mark for high-schoolers. Don’t waffle, and try not to sound like you live in a marketing bubble.  

Mobile marketers and social media bods are wrong if they think they don’t know how to reach baby boomers. If they know how to market a product to 30-year-olds, they’re already speaking the right language. So for your next mobile marketing campaign, keep it simple, visually appealing and non-age specific. Cast aside your stereotype of ‘the grey dollar’ and treat all consumers as equal - you’ll find that the over-65 demographic isn’t as elusive as you thought. Start mobile marketing to seniors and you are likely to increases sales significantly!