America's population is aging, and savvy business owners have discovered that senior citizens have money to spend and are willing to do it if the circumstances are right. In many ways, they are interested in the same products as younger people, but have different reasons for it. In order to capture this growing market, you need to use good sense marketing to seniors strategies.
In this new age of soundbites, emojis, limited character online media feeds, and creative spelling, some seniors feel like they are living in an alien world. When you want to get their attention, you have to use the same language they use. A lot of them are suspicious of dramatic jargon and trendy buzz words. To be successful, you need to give them straight talk, and tell them exactly what your product or service is going to do for them.
If you spend all your time describing the bells and whistles of your product, you won't end up selling much. This is true no matter the age of the customer. Instead you need to find out what the customer is looking for and convince them your product will fill the need. Older consumers may be as interested in your service as younger ones, but for different reasons.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with senior citizens is to talk down to them. These are not kindergartners or mentally impaired individuals. Seniors have lived long lives and learned a lot. Many have been very successful in their careers. Nothing disgusts them more or makes them angrier than someone who is disrespectful or condescending. If you are going to market to this age group, you should implant this lesson squarely in your brain.
A lot of older citizens are very technologically savvy. They have smart phones, download apps, and are active on social media. Other seniors have no interest. When you want to appeal to both, you need to make technology an option, but not the only one. Burying vital information in fine print or requiring them to understand icons, will cause you to lose older, paying customers.
You might be tempted to drop your print advertising and concentrate on your website, believing everyone shops online these days. Seniors grew up when landlines and mail were the main forms of long distance communication. They still check books out of the library. Many look forward to seeing catalogs and brochures in their mailboxes, and enjoy the tactile nature of printed materials.
The younger generation doesn't think anything about communicating through automation when they call a business to place an order or get more information. Many seniors hate talking to a machine, and some will refuse to do it. You will gain loyal older customers when you man your phones with polite, knowledgeable, well spoken, live humans.
Senior citizens are a vibrant, viable market, and if you discount them, you will be losing a huge segment of the buying public. You will have to adjust your thinking to attract them. You will also have to uncover what interests them and why.
In this new age of soundbites, emojis, limited character online media feeds, and creative spelling, some seniors feel like they are living in an alien world. When you want to get their attention, you have to use the same language they use. A lot of them are suspicious of dramatic jargon and trendy buzz words. To be successful, you need to give them straight talk, and tell them exactly what your product or service is going to do for them.
If you spend all your time describing the bells and whistles of your product, you won't end up selling much. This is true no matter the age of the customer. Instead you need to find out what the customer is looking for and convince them your product will fill the need. Older consumers may be as interested in your service as younger ones, but for different reasons.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with senior citizens is to talk down to them. These are not kindergartners or mentally impaired individuals. Seniors have lived long lives and learned a lot. Many have been very successful in their careers. Nothing disgusts them more or makes them angrier than someone who is disrespectful or condescending. If you are going to market to this age group, you should implant this lesson squarely in your brain.
A lot of older citizens are very technologically savvy. They have smart phones, download apps, and are active on social media. Other seniors have no interest. When you want to appeal to both, you need to make technology an option, but not the only one. Burying vital information in fine print or requiring them to understand icons, will cause you to lose older, paying customers.
You might be tempted to drop your print advertising and concentrate on your website, believing everyone shops online these days. Seniors grew up when landlines and mail were the main forms of long distance communication. They still check books out of the library. Many look forward to seeing catalogs and brochures in their mailboxes, and enjoy the tactile nature of printed materials.
The younger generation doesn't think anything about communicating through automation when they call a business to place an order or get more information. Many seniors hate talking to a machine, and some will refuse to do it. You will gain loyal older customers when you man your phones with polite, knowledgeable, well spoken, live humans.
Senior citizens are a vibrant, viable market, and if you discount them, you will be losing a huge segment of the buying public. You will have to adjust your thinking to attract them. You will also have to uncover what interests them and why.
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