How to Market to Older Adults

Marketing to seniors has changed since most older adults have come to rely on the internet for everything from looking up store hours to shopping for a gift for a grandchild. Your organization might be losing out on opportunities to connect with seniors if you rely solely on traditional marketing methods.

By integrating your senior center’s offline and online outreach efforts, your message will connect with a greater number of older adults in your area. Here’s a quick look at how you can do that.

Five Ways to Market to the Older Generation

Online marketing can help your organization remain successful in the ever-changing marketing landscape. Five of the most effective strategies to market to seniors include:

1. Improve local SEO.
Google revealed that seniors spend as much as six hours per day online. This is your cue to invest in a solid digital marketing plan, and a good jumping-off point for that is local SEO.

If your website appears on the first page of search engines each time someone enters “senior center near me,” it means more leads. But how do you rank on search engines? Understanding user intent can help. Is your target audience searching for information, advice, or products?

Keyword research can help you understand a searcher’s goal when using search engines. For example, an adult child may enter the keywords “senior center for my parents.” Once you’ve generated keywords, you can create and publish intent-based content, like blogs, to improve local ranking.

2. Optimize your website.
Your website is an online portfolio that introduces seniors and their families to your organization. You need to simplify the design and user experience to make sure it’s easy to navigate.

Some changes you can make (if you haven’t yet) are:

• increasing the font size for readability
• adding white space to make your content more scannable
• installing a text-to-speech feature to help seniors with vision loss

3. Expand reach with social media.
You can use social media to share exciting events, such as ongoing programs and behind-the-scenes happenings. Facebook has nearly three billion users, so make sure to set up a Facebook account. Instagram and Twitter are also popular among seniors.

Using social media is an excellent strategy to connect with your target audience. But you can do more with it besides engaging your readers. For instance, if you need ideas for new senior programs, ask your followers on social media for their suggestions and input.

4. Leverage email marketing.
It’s easier to sell to people you’ve connected with before. If you have an existing email list, send newsletters about upcoming programs and recently published blogs to those on the list. You can also invite seniors to follow your social media accounts in your email messages.

Email marketing allows you to personalize your messages, making it easier to convert the people on your mailing list to attendees at your senior center programs. And the expenses involved are minimal, especially if you utilize a free platform, such as MailChimp or Constant Contact.

5. Include video marketing.
Our brain processes visuals much more easily than text. That’s why you might want to consider including videos in your marketing. They are entertaining but can also be educational and informative. Videos don’t have to be flashy or expensively produced, either. For example, you could share a video montage of daily events to give potential members a look at what happens at your senior center.

5. Always have a printed newsletter.

One thing has never gone out of style for nonprofit organizations like yours — the print newsletter. Make sure your newsletter is intentionally and well designed and includes content older generations are interested in. For example, include information about your events, services, staff/volunteers, and topical articles. If you don't have a great newsletter yet and want to print a free add-supported one with us at LPi, learn more here!

Integrated Campaign to Effectively Market to Seniors

By combining traditional marketing with digital platforms, you’ll be well-positioned to achieve your goals. One final tip is not to forget to pay attention to branding as you integrate your outreach efforts. Read “What Is the Difference between Branding and Marketing a Senior Center?” for some ideas you can use to educate the community about your senior center.

Updated on 03-21-2024