When you picture your target, what do you aim for? The bullseye? Anywhere on the map? The white rings? The red rings? It’s a lot to think about. You target your product to men or women or young adults or families. You target to a certain race or ethnicity or religion, a specific state or city, maybe region. But is there a target you are missing? Is there a group of people out there that nationwide could benefit from your product and have money to spend but you haven’t made the effort to even market towards them? Yes!
You are missing the target if you forget about this group: seniors. No, not high schoolers, I’m talking about the upper aged, retired grandmas and grandpas. They have worked their entire lives to be at this point, retired and relaxed; done fighting the struggle of debt and ready to live out the rest of their days. Not targeting a full market of individuals is just one of the many marketing missteps businesses make. Don’t make this one of yours.
Why aren’t companies marketing to them? Maybe they think it’s a dying market. (No pun intended.) With people living longer and modern medicine becoming more advanced to help them do so, maybe businesses think the money to spend isn’t in this market. While you can generalize all senior citizens together, there is a mass population of them that have invested and saved their entire lives and with their new found work freedom, they live a little and buy more, whether for them or for their friends and family.
On board with me? Okay, now how do you market to this group? Advertise the right way. Keep your message simple. You will want to play to the market’s sympathy and emotions. Very importantly though, avoid new technology. This isn’t to say that seniors haven’t broken the mold and signed up for email and Facebook accounts, but if you really want to reach the largest group of them, make sure you take phone orders. Make sure you have a website listed in addition to the QR code. Have a standard webpage and not just a Facebook page. You don’t have to avoid technology all together to reach the older customers but you may want to have a lot of options. Having these options leads to sales which is what you’re aiming to do by marketing. Make sure to remember the art of the sale.
As for pricing, seniors tend to be one of the most frugal groups out there. It is important to show the value of your product clearly in your advertising. The price itself does not have to be so low it hurts business but maybe offer a senior discount. On top of that, make sure you share in the ad how much quality your product has with a long life expectancy. They may have been saving since they were 25 but they still won’t overdo their spending. They won’t buy something they don’t think will outlast them. They are constantly holding on to their money, expecting the worst. Their incoming money is typically fixed. Make this purchase worth it to them.
Some may say the extra efforts required to market to senior citizens is not worth the return but let’s face it, there are over thirty million senior citizens in the country, an age group that’s expected to grow by 147 percent in the next four decades. Businesses would be out of their minds to turn their backs on this market.
Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. ChamberofCommerce.com is an online business directory that offers small business solutions.