We quite often get asked whether a heavily digital approach is appropriate when marketing to the over 50’s. Our answer is invariably, “Yes!”.
This market is not particularly social online, spending an average of only 12% of their time on the web using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. But this doesn’t mean they are not engaged with digital.
In fact, recent research points to the over 50’s being far more purposeful about the way they use the web compared with younger people – it’s less of a social experience and more about getting information, organising and answering practical questions. For example, researching product reviews before they buy, reading the news, or making plans for a holiday or trip.
What does this mean for brands wishing to target the over 50’s market?
The research suggests that a high priority should be ensuring that your product can be found within this research/ fact-finding journey, and that it stands out for all the right reasons. This might be through consumer reviews, blog articles, a video product demo or a simple display ad. You will also want to ensure that once you have secured a visit to your site, you keep them there with compelling offers and a great user experience.
There are quite a few software packages that can be used to unearth the consumer journey that leads to a conversion, lead or sale (or not) on your website, which is a great place to start when it comes to developing a really powerful (and cost effective) digital strategy. The rest is all about creating content that is engaging for consumers and reflects your brand in the best possible way.
Talk to us about developing a targeted digital strategy for your brand.
