Marketing To Seniors

Seniors watch more television than any other group. But unless you've got a ton of cash, let's uncover the more cost effective ways to market to seniors. You can affordably build an effective senior market campaign around newspaper, radio and direct mail. Let's go well beyond telling you that for senior sites or direct mail you should use a big font, simple paragraphs, etc.

First, let's realize we cannot define "senior" by age and if I see another writer define seniors as someone age 55 or better, I'll punch them. With people living to age 85 routinely and life expectancy increasing at by one month each year, age 55 is middle aged. Let's use the term "senior" and "retiree" synonymously for this article on marketing to seniors.

Seniors Like to Learn

Of primary importance is that seniors like to learn. The largest travel company in the world is Elderhostel. The company designs learning trips for active seniors and it operates around the globe. What does this mean to a senior marketer? It means you can attract seniors with educational opportunities.

For example, the financial services industry capitalizes by attracting seniors through seminars. These seminars are typically daytime meetings on a financial topic and are used as a primary tool for many financial professionals to meet new senior clients. The medical industry also uses seminars to win new clients. Seniors attend because they want to learn about issues important to them—finances and heath. But seminar offerings can be expanded into many fields as a way to capitalize on senior market's desire to learn. Additionally, seniors have time to attend while working people do not. No senior marketer or professional who should overlook this method.

Seniors Like to Read

Similarly, seniors like to read. They have the time to do so and the most recent research shows that the senior audience is the largest reader group of daily newspapers. The point is this—your newspaper advertising goes farther when targeting the senior market. For one real estate professional targeting seniors, I designed an ad that we ran on the day when the supermarkets insert their ads and coupons. We placed the ad in the food section and this new realtor got 62 calls.

It's clear that if you want to market to seniors, the newspaper is a fabulous place for advertising. The rates keep getting cheaper as the papers reduce their prices to try and survive and as time progresses, a larger percentage of readers are seniors. So for the senior marketer, the "cost per thousand" is decreasing making the newspaper a fabulous advertising medium.

Seniors Listen to Talk Radio

Next, seniors make a loyal group of radio listeners, particularly talk radio stations.

But take this beyond advertising—in the financial services industry, smart marketers get their own radio show. They either buy the time or convince the station they can bring in advertising dollars. How much more credibility can a marketer to seniors have then having their own radio show? Ask the rich financial advisors who have done this. They then use the show as a direct response mechanism to fill live seminars or get people to call in for educational information, thereby generating a ton of warm senior prospects. There's plenty of room in this market for healthcare professionals, lawyers, real estate agents, and almost any professional to gain superior credibility with a radio show.

Direct Mail

Working people sort mail over the trash can seeking to toss out as much as possible. We don't have time and don't want to be bothered with any mail that does not demand our attention. We had a long day at the office and the last thing we want to look at is junk mail.

Not so with seniors. They take time to look at their mail and consider each piece as they open huge amounts of junk mail and are reluctant to throw out anything. When I practiced as a financial advisor, it was common for a senior to come to a meeting with a bag of financial junk mail they had saved up and ask me, "Should I keep this?"