Marketing to Senior Citizens

Start selling to senior citizens to increase your profit
By Shannon Tani If you're not marketing to senior citizens, you're leaving money on the table. Many people think that seniors aren't interested in anything other than prescription medications or that they don't have the money to spend because they live on fixed incomes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As with any niche group, you need to know how to start campaign marketing to seniors. You need to know what they want and what types of advertising is most effective with them.

Consider the following reasons why you may want to think about selling to seniors:

1. The senior citizen population is growing. As medical advancements improve, the average lifespan increases. When you start senior marketing, you can reach an ever-growing base of customers.

2. Seniors often have money to spend. Sure, they may be living on a fixed income, but in most cases, they have very little debt. This makes them more likely to spend money on things that they want, or things that they want to give their children and grandchildren.

3. Retired seniors have much free time that they can spend on hobbies or travel. If you have a business in these niches, it's time to start selling to seniors.

Purchase market reports to learn about elder marketing

If you're thinking about testing the waters with senior citizen sales, then you should learn some of the current trends through market reports. Market research companies produce these reports after an extensive amount of research. They can help you to form the best plan for selling to elders.
Try:  TheMatureMarket.com specializes in research the baby boomer and senior citizen markets. They have produced a report titled Targeting Senior Consumers, which can be a great help. The Ecuman Age Wave Study also discusses the boomer and senior markets.

Start focus groups to learn more about selling to seniors

It's always best to go directly to the source when you need any information. If you want to learn the things that senior citizens want, set up focus groups so that you can speak directly to them and ask any questions you have.
Try:  Power Decisions Group can help you to build your focus group program. Northstar also provides market research options.

Keep current with senior marketing strategies through newsletters

Newsletters can be a great way to stay up to date with current trends in marketing to seniors. You can learn about new techniques almost instantly.
Try:  Senior Mag is a leader in senior marketing research. Sign up for their newsletter for regular updates. Immersion Active offers a number of newsletter and white papers that help you understand the market.

• Don't forget that a large number of senior citizens are online. Many people make the mistake of thinking that you need to use more traditional forms of advertising when thinking about senior citizen marketing. Make sure that you also create an online advertising strategy for seniors.