The holidays are well and truly over and users are back in front of their screens, whether in the office or in their free time. So this is no time to relax your sales strategy! The marketing period known as back to school is an opportunity to boost your sales and finally get the end of the year off to a flying start.
To help you get on or back on the road to success, I’m going to show you that your target audience may not be who you think! Intrigued?
Discover my tips and tricks in this article!
Seniors and e-commerce? Not so incompatible!
It’s a fact: you don’t consume in the same way as your neighbour or colleague. And this also applies to each generation. Gen Z do not have the same consumer habits as the baby boomers! There are many articles on marketing techniques and consumption methods for the generations of digital natives (millenials, gen Z). But what about silver surfers? Have you integrated them into your strategy?
Thanks to confinement, senior citizens are consuming more and more via e-commerce! What started out as a change in consumer habits has in fact become a well-established habit for some. In fact, after the shops reopened, 69% of people who continue to shop online are over 50!
Silver surfers” could well be the key to increasing your leads in the run-up to 2022. But how are they different from their younger counterparts?
Consumer habits: baby boomers vs gen X
The part of the population that interests us here straddles 2 generations with slightly different consumer habits: the baby boomers (1943-1964) and Gen X (1965-1980).
On the one hand, baby boomers are the section of the population with consumer habits that are furthest removed from those of the younger generations. They have different needs and requirements, and are much less thrifty than the generations that follow them. Their consumption habits are both traditional and digital. They are just as likely to shop physically, in shopping centres, or online, in a web-shop (this point will be developed later in the article).
On the other hand, Gen Xers have their own way of consuming: “ROPO” (Research Online, Purchase Offline). They can spend hours researching products on the internet and then go into a shop to make a purchase. This generation has given rise to the concepts of customer satisfaction, loyalty and customer relations.
This comparison highlights the growing common interest in e-commerce and the digital customer journey in the eyes of these 2 generations grouped together under the term “silver surfers“.
How do you reach silver surfers?
While it is true that there is still a digital divide in the over-75s population, web marketing is no less effective with this demographic. Many senior citizens (in the broadest sense of the term) are active on the Internet. For example :
- every week, 63% of the over-70s spend almost 11.5 hours on the Internet
- several times a week, 33% of 60-69 year-olds watch videos on YouTube
- 43% of over-65s are registered on social networks (Facebook, Twitter or Skype)
- 21% of the over-80s use social networks at least once a week
A few things to bear in mind when planning your strategy for targeting silver surfers.
First of all, the preferred medium for this segment of the population is the computer. And why is that? They consider it more reliable and secure than a smartphone or tablet. One of the advantages of this medium for this generation is, of course, the size of its screen, which makes it easier to see. So, even if most marketers and web designers tend to think “mobile first”, the desktop version of a site should not be neglected. Among “silver surfers“, studies show that 39% of users visit via a computer, compared with only 9% via mobile.
Think mobile first? Yes. Neglect the desktop version? Certainly not!
Secondly, even though many of them are starting to move towards a full distance-selling experience, the preferred service for your senior consumers is still “click and collect“. With this in mind, the customer journey for this generation is becoming omnichannel. It is therefore divided simultaneously between digital and physical shops. If you opt for an offline strategy for your senior target group, you will lose some of your potential prospects. Similarly, an online strategy will also muzzle you.
Finally, the adage “Your brand must be present where your target is” has never been truer than for this segment of the population. Just like Gen Z or the millenials, just under 50% of seniors use social networks on an almost daily basis, but they don’t use the same ones!
In practical terms, how do you communicate? Here are some of my tips!
- Provide clear and transparent information
- Talk about the benefits of the products
- Offer the option of telephoning an advisor
- Simplify the purchasing process by avoiding, for example, adding numerous steps
- Attach great importance to the security of payment methods
- Add “advice” type resources, which will make you seem more legitimate and reliable
- Don’t neglect user experience and SEO. Each segment of the population conducts its searches according to standards that are not always common to others. So a site that’s userfriendly for a 19-year-old might be a bit tricky for a 65-year-old.
Ready to boost your leads?
Did you know that almost 20% of Europe’s population is over 65? Depriving ourselves of senior citizens is a huge loss of earnings! By making certain adjustments, you can win a large number of leads and gain legitimacy with all segments of the population.
So target everyone, yes, but do it properly! Marketing and advertising are first and foremost tailored to the target audience. It’s obvious that silver surfers are not receptive to the same catchphrases as gen z. Each generation of consumers has its own codes and consumer habits, and its own marketing preferences! Reflection and strategy are the key words.
Passionate about social networks and writing, Mathilde is part of our team of experts in Community Management and Social Media Advertising. As the guarantor of DJM’s and its partners’ e-reputation, she makes it a point of honor to follow the latest trends related to social networks and the digital sector at large.
