Online Marketing to older demographics

Like any demographic, the senior citizen market in developed countries is a huge market with enormous amounts of money to spend.   Online marketers face difficulty in targeting this demographic because of their limited use of the internet.  There are some ways they can do so.

a)       define what their elderly demographic means.  Is this everyone 50+, 60+, 70+, etc.  This is important as there are significant differences between these age segments in terms of statistically significant differentiators and also formative experiences (the great depression, the 2^nd world war, etc).  Also, women have longer life expectancies than men and as the targeted age increases the sex ratio also changes. 

b)       identify different needs of the elderly.  While younger generations are more fadisn and are receptive to new things, older generations are drawn to concepts of value. 

websites which the elderly frequent.  These would include sites like the AARP or others related to retirement, age related health issues, etc. 

c) market to the baby boomer children of the elderly, who would then pass along the messages to their parents. 

d) make text more easily readable and reduce the number of add-ons and bells and whistles on a site.  The elderly are less digitally savvy than their younger counterparts and designing a site for them means simplifying the interface and presentation of the content.  Simplify the navigation of a site. 

e) ensure that graphics and media relate to the elderly demographic…  Use stock pictures of older people is better than using younger ones. 

f) It is important to understand that seniors have different browsing habits and email reading habits than their younger counterparts.  Younger people will bounce around between webpages and content faster, where as older demographics will stay longer and view fewer pages.  As anyone who has watched their parents read email can attest, they’re also more likely to spend longer time reviewing emails before deleting or disregarding them.  So email can be a more effective medium of engagement.

g) Many seniors also lived through different times than current younger demographics.  Some might be more receptive to things like convenience, risk aversion, and value (as opposed to newness, or extra features, etc), and thus such ideals and themes should be emphasized in content.  They are also more likely to be risk adverse, and scare tactics (in political advertising, for example) are effective.