For many, marketing to seniors can be a challenge, not in the least because this age group has less time to engage in advertising than younger generations do. Mailing lists help you target your message, but they only work if your list is accurate and up-to-date. To successfully market to seniors via direct marketing means you need to know their preferences.
If you’re targeting baby boomers or members of other senior groups with different needs and interests, knowing what they like will help you create relevant messages that generate leads. Direct marketing to seniors is a viable, powerful way to get your message across, but it’s important to know how to reach out and engage with an older audience. Read on to discover some of the best direct marketing methods to use with seniors.
Senior Living Direct Marketing Solutions
Seniors comprise an extremely large demographic, but for many senior living companies, reaching out to them can be difficult. Seniors tend to appreciate receiving hand-written letters over mass emails or phone calls; they love getting personalized messages from organizations they support. However, seniors also have limited time and attention spans compared to younger people—so it’s vital for your message to be concise and to the point.
Make your marketing simple for seniors by using large, bold fonts that are easy to read. Assume that your senior recipients have limited time and attention spans—they may prefer one-page letters over email or a phone call over a letter. Keep your messages brief and concise but also meaningful—try including humorous anecdotes about yourself or the company you’re representing.
Seniors are often lifelong learners; they value stories that can teach them something new about their field of expertise.
Marketing for seniors means paying close attention to tone—be polite, but don’t overdo your use of formal titles like “Mr.” or “Mrs.” Try to talk to them on a personal level by including anecdotes about yourself or other employees working at your company. Assume that all of your recipients are interested in staying up-to-date with industry news and trends; include relevant articles from reputable sources about healthcare reform or new government programs.
Seniors often value peace and quiet—if you can offer it, this might be an attractive feature of your advertisement! Some seniors have been known to enjoy being able to help others in their community, so consider including a way for them to volunteer or donate.
Direct Marketing to Seniors: How to Market Senior Housing
One of the biggest concerns that businesses have when trying to market to older adults is how to get their attention. The key is in utilizing direct marketing because it means your business can target a precise audience and make sure you’re reaching exactly who you want.
To market senior housing to seniors, be conscious of your tone to avoid being disrespectful or condescending. Seniors want the information to be:
- Concise
- Easy to understand, and
- Persuasive yet honest.
- Be straightforward with a mature audience, using plain language.
While younger generations prefer receiving promotional messages via email or social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, seniors might appreciate other ways of receiving information from businesses. Target seniors by reaching out through other forms of media such as:
- Television commercials
- Radio ads
- Direct mail campaigns
- Telemarketing calls
You should be able to better pinpoint your intended demographic with these methods. In addition, these traditional methods are proven effective at generating high numbers of leads for companies that use them properly.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is a direct marketing tactic that is underutilized in comparison with email or social media promotions. This form of communication allows you to deliver personalized messages to seniors when they are most willing to listen.
Through this process, an elderly person is more likely to pay attention and remember what you have said if they are in the middle of watching television, cooking in the kitchen, or in another relaxing activity.
A telephone call can often have a better personal impact than text messages, emails, or letters because telemarketing allows you to speak directly with the intended recipient.
When calling older people for business reasons, your pitch should be carefully planned out. First of all, ensure that you will indeed have their undivided attention by calling during off-peak times like early morning or during their leisure hours. Avoid interrupting the elderly while they are working on a hobby or an important household task.
You can also make telemarketing work for you better by avoiding trying to sell products directly over the phone, but instead try to qualify your leads first – that is, find out if a person really fits into your target market before trying to sell them something.
Text (SMS) Marketing to Seniors
Spending on direct mailings in the US has dropped significantly in recent years, both due to changes in demographics and marketing technologies. Despite this drop, there are still some types of businesses that will never stop using direct marketing.
Text (SMS) marketing to seniors is one form of direct marketing that is the least effective with this demographic. Although text (SMS) marketing is growing in popularity, it has yet to truly take off with this age group.
Only about 42% of Americans over the age of 65 own smartphones. As such, many seniors will not be able to use SMS services. If your business does plan on sending out text messages as a form of advertising, you should find ways to market through social media or send out eNewsletters instead.
Social Media Marketing to Seniors
Social media marketing to seniors is a relatively new market for businesses to tap into. Facebook is still the most popular social media platform, with over 43% of all seniors using it;
Although many prefer Facebook, they do not necessarily gravitate towards it in the same way as other age groups. In fact, seniors tend to look mostly at posts from family and friends rather than any advertisements or business pages. However, you can reach them through sponsored ads on Facebook if your business targets this demographic.
Direct Selling to Seniors
Direct selling is also a common strategy that businesses use to reach seniors. Perhaps the best-known direct selling companies are Avon, Amway, and Tupperware;
This type of marketing does not involve using social media; rather, it consists of running in-home presentations about products. This is done by those who work for the company and earn commission based on how many sales they make.
The problem with this style of marketing is that there is no consistency in targeting materials. It may be hard to track which potential clients were influenced by your company’s representatives because everyone in town can attend one of their shows, even if they are not really interested in purchasing anything from you.
Direct Mail Is Ideal for Marketing to Seniors
Direct mail campaigns can be highly successful if segmented properly using demographic information or consumer preferences from existing customer lists. In fact, many businesses reach out to consumers with direct mail more often than not since these messages usually contain coupons or other items that add value beyond simple advertisements.
To ensure success when reaching out to senior citizens with direct mail, it’s important that companies segment their lists based on demographics or existing customer preferences in order to target exactly what each group wants to see – this will make sure your message gets through.
How Well Do Seniors Respond to Direct Mail?
Direct mail still plays a significant role in the United States. We live in an age of immediate gratification and information overload. Having to physically read through letters is not something people are willing to do anymore. However, for seniors who generally have more free time on their hands, direct mail is valued higher than other types of marketing mediums which has led to better response rates.
Statistics indicate that senior citizens are a highly desirable demographic to reach with direct mail – and for a good reason. Compared to other age groups, they have a higher income and more free time making them very valuable consumers.
One recent study conducted by the United States Postal Service showed that nearly half of Americans 50 or older prefer receiving offers through direct mail advertising, with a reading rate of 48% to 50% among seniors.
Email Campaigns Aren’t As Efficient With Seniors
Targeting seniors specifically over email might be difficult because they might have a diminished ability to input data into webforms on company websites compared to younger generations who grew up. At the same time, computers were the center of the home. Direct marketing campaigns should include an alternate method for older consumers to provide their information and potentially purchase products or services through other methods like over the phone.
Targeting seniors with email campaigns is challenging since they might have diminished computer skills compared to younger generations who grew up while computers were the center of the home. The best way to reach these potential customers is by providing coupons or other items in direct mail campaigns that add value beyond advertisements alone.
Is It Ethical to Market Senior Citizens?
It is thought by some that this approach may be seen as an invasion of privacy depending on the way data is collected and shared with others.
By using information like an age to target individuals, there is also concern over whether or not the information collected could lead to discrimination against seniors in other areas like insurance prices or employment opportunities.
Additionally, many older individuals are still capable of managing their own shopping rather than over-relying on retailers and brands targeting them directly.
The best way to avoid these pitfalls while also reaching potential customers is through detailed surveys about customers’ interests and habits that help determine where they would be receptive to advertisements.
One advantage of marketing specifically to seniors is the ability to plan for their future needs and current purchasing power, which can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s advantageous because it allows retailers serving seniors’ needs to accurately predict demand for items like hearing aids or home service providers.
However, it also increases the vulnerability of older individuals because they become a target for marketers promising deals that may not actually benefit them in the long run. In order to ensure that marketing exclusively towards seniors is ethical, businesses must make it clear what information will be used and why before collecting data from customers.
Tips for Direct Marketing to Seniors
By knowing the general preferences of seniors, you can improve chances of generating leads by using direct marketing methods such as postal mailings and telemarketing. Since seniors have limited time and less patience than younger consumers, try to keep messages short and simple, so they don’t lose interest halfway through reading.
Some tips for direct marketing to seniors include:
- Have a clear and concise message
- Don’t try using different tactics, such as humor or sarcasm
- Use benefits in your messages that seniors can understand and appreciate. For example, say “our company provides health insurance,” instead of saying “our company saves money.”
Be very conscious about having too much text in your letter. If the reader feels overwhelmed with the amount of information you’re giving them, they will stop reading before getting to the most important points.
Aging is often accompanied by deteriorating vision and memory capacity, so try not to use smaller font sizes than 10 point when creating letters aimed at seniors; this makes it easier for them to read your message.
Conclusion
When it comes to marketing senior housing, some companies make the mistake of using generic direct mail campaigns instead of customizing their message to fit this audience. Fortunately, by taking a few measures and utilizing various tools and technologies, you can create custom direct marketing solutions for seniors that will generate more leads than ever before.
Using direct selling or direct mail marketing is the solution to reaching this demographic and making them aware of your senior housing community.
Sources
https://www.semrush.com/blog/7-tips-for-marketing-effectively-to-seniors/
https://pentera.com/blog/direct-mail-marketing-works-middle-aged-donor-prospects-too
