Tips for Marketing to Older Adults on Social Media

As more seniors find their way to social media, it’s become a great avenue for marketing to this demographic group. Many have the time and interest to explore platforms ranging from Facebook and Instagram to Pinterest and YouTube.

While social media can be a cost effective and fun addition to your senior center’s marketing toolbox, it’s important to keep a few things in mind as you create your messaging. That’s especially true if you don’t have experience promoting products or services to an older audience. We have a few suggestions to help you make the most of your social media marketing efforts.

Connecting With Seniors Through Social Media

• Promote your events and services on multiple channels
  Facebook is one platform where you’ll definitely find older adults in your targeted city or town but, don’t think that’s the only social media channel seniors are utilizing. In fact, you’ll find this demographic group on Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more. It’s worth your time to learn more about each of these platforms and test how they might perform best for you.

• Be mindful of your language and avoid jargon
  Unlike younger demographic groups, seniors are often turned off by jargon, acronyms, and foul language on social media. As you are crafting your messages, be mindful of your language. It might even be helpful to have a few people in your target audience review your content before you post it.

• Have one clear call to action
  This advice holds true for any age group. Make sure that you have only one call to action (CTA) for each post and that it is clearly communicated. When you give people too many options, they may end up not taking any action at all. You should also avoid using the same CTA over and over again. Create unique ones or alternate among a series of CTAs.

• Share written and visual content
  It’s a popular misconception that older adults are only interested in written content. In reality, they consume all forms of content. According to AARP research, almost 60% of all seniors watch and share videos on social media. So it’s probably worth creating a few simple videos (you can just use your cell phone) to share each month. It can be as easy as a team member inviting people to an upcoming event.
  
  Don’t forget to use an image whenever you post something that isn’t a video. Save time by using a stock image library like WeCreate that is custom curated with the needs of centers like yours in mind. Using a library of content like this, packed with images for every event and communication you can think of, will save you time designing your own graphics or taking your own photos and elevate your communications to always look attractive to your followers.

• Tailor your messages to the channel
  If you are new to social media marketing, it might be tempting to create a few messages to post for the week and then copy and paste them to each of your channels. While you can promote the same event or program on multiple platforms, you’ll want to tailor what you say to each audience. For example, Instagram users seem to respond more favorably to videos that have a few lines in the caption to reinforce the message. By contrast, you might have more luck on Pinterest with photos and links to your website.

Wherever you decide to post and engage on social media, we wish you all the best as you curate the perfect community for your center online!

For more social media inspiration, head on over to the Web and Social Media section of our blog.