Marketing to seniors - ideas needed

[Zlatan]

I provide kitchen makeovers (new doors on existing carcases) primarily and our target demographics are generally retired folk who like the idea of a kitchen facelift in a couple of days. The company is fairly new and I'm looking for cheap ways to market our product aimed at our target market. In a former company we had a large budget and so could afford to go in the papers every week but this isn't an option with our current cashflow. A4 directories, PPC, Facebook advertising didn't really work for us in the past. Would appreciate any ideas you may have that could help. Thanks in advance.

 

[ethical PR]

Cheap and effective aren't always the same thing.

It would be useful for you to start by breaking down your target audiences. What do you mean by 'seniors'. Over 50? Over 60? Over 70?

Where do you operate?

What do you know about the sort of 'seniors' who are likely to buy your product? social demographic? consumer habits? media channels?

For example if your target audience has a CD social profile there would be no point advertising in upmarket home interiors or women's magazines. If the decision maker is a man there is no point advertising in media mainly read by women.

Before you look at any marketing, be clear on the benefits of buying from you rather than competitors and from having new doors rather than a kitchen refit.

There is lots of information out there on marketing to the 'grey £' market but you need to have a clear idea of who you want to market within it, before investing your marketing budget.

Saga, Gransnet, Choice and Yours (magazines aimed at older women) are all publications you could target.

You could also look at sponsorship of sections in some of the home magazines popular with your target audience.

Another idea is to look at advertising through third party partners who already target, your target market.

 

[Liquid11]

Maybe create flyers and leave them in places where seniors go. Some charity shops, antique shops, etc. You should know your targeted area better and can figure this out.
But it looks like you have to focus on offline marketing. No point in doing digital if you want to engage the elderly.

 

[fisicx]

I asked my dad (who is 137) and he said he uses Google to look for things. So that's where you need to market your product.

Except of course there are loads of kitchen makeover companies already doing just that.

 

[ethical PR]

Wow and you look so good for your age @fisicx

 

[ethical PR]

Maybe create flyers and leave them in places where seniors go. Some charity shops, antique shops, etc. You should know your targeted area better and can figure this out.
But it looks like you have to focus on offline marketing. No point in doing digital if you want to engage the elderly.

1. Charity shops and antique shops won't let a third party leave advertising in their shops

2. I don't agree that you need to go offline, there are increasing amounts of older people who use the net, you just need to understand which online channels are most effective. All the media I mentioned in my post above targeting older people are either exclusively online or have an online as well as a print version.

 

[fisicx]

But it looks like you have to focus on offline marketing. No point in doing digital if you want to engage the elderly.

Many seniors now do almost everything online. I do some work with the U3A and everything is done by email with links to appropriate websites.

 

[Nochexman]

Based on what you've said, I'd do door drops in a local area with a sales promotion.

 

[deniser]

I am old but not retired. I had one of these kitchen makeovers recently because, although I wanted to upgrade and update my kitchen, I couldn't see the point of replacing perfectly good carcasses with identical new ones . I was very impressed with it.
I saw the ad in those free local glossy magazines that come through the letterbox. I had also seen the vans around town with the adverts on the sides. The name of the business also made it very clear what they do.
Before committing myself to it, I visited the showroom and looked up the online reviews.

 

[Alyson Dyer]

I am old but not retired. I had one of these kitchen makeovers recently because, although I wanted to upgrade and update my kitchen, I couldn't see the point of replacing perfectly good carcasses with identical new ones . I was very impressed with it.
I saw the ad in those free local glossy magazines that come through the letterbox. I had also seen the vans around town with the adverts on the sides. The name of the business also made it very clear what they do.
Before committing myself to it, I visited the showroom and looked up the online reviews.

I was just going to suggest the local mags. We are Will Writers so our demographic is similar, (although we do deal with younger clients as well) the local mags bring us a lot of business, it won't happen in the first few months, people like to know you're not just a flash in the pan.
Don't dismiss the internet though, I'm now in Saga's target market (though I refuse to acknowledge it) and would be sorely offended if you suggested I couldn't use a computer! Also, lots of this age group will talk it over with their kids who are definitely I.T. savvy.

 

[fisicx]

And again eventdomain shoes his ignorance of just about everything. Sorry, I meant traffic_ace.

 

[ethical PR]

Again, as with all forum posts advice on 'what to do' but 'not how to do it'. With Seniors, (and I'd suggest the age group is 50 plus) and if your a biz that's truly serious about long-term advertising - there's quite a few 'Senior' targeted websites that deal specifically with that group.

These tend to be either a mini Yahoo for Seniors or Senior dating portals - there's a number of .Gov sites too for seniors/retired, so their worth a look. It took me 10 mins to scout those types, and there's likely more out there, which clearly don't stand out on Google, which suggests they don't need to rely on Google for they'll have their own select large audiences, so forget what fisicx says as he knows nothing about Market Segmentation, and I do as I studied it in College.

Google doesn't work well for many sectors. Try directories as these will list Senior type sites a lot better than Google can.

E.D. AKA traffic_ace studying something at college many moons ago doesn't make you a marketing expert.

The suggested age group for older people is NOT 50+. The Saga Generation is 65+ and are not referred to as 'seniors' by marketing people.

I've already flagged the top consumer 65+ website for this market in my earlier posts. Yahoo and .gov sites are not where older people would go when looking for replacement kitchen doors.

They are likely to a) ask friends and family b) look at local monthly glossies c) look at lifestyle sites and consumer sites aimed at 65+. d) and yes as @Fiscix says they might start off with a Google search if they don't know where to look.

Your post unfortunately once again shows a real lack of marketing insight.

 

[webgeek]

Flyers, canvassing, flyers, phone calls.

Old folks respond to human contact much more than younger generations.

If you can make a favourable impression with a flyer, a few words on their doorstep, another flyer, maybe even a call, you'll have a shot.

I'm not a big fan of inbound in this instance, since many don't yet know they want a kitchen makeover. You're entering the field of demand generation and to do this, they need to see your results.

Sure, you could put displays in malls or do paid ads via PPC or social. Probably high cost relative to the conversion rates. Organic SEO could do well, but you'd need to splash some cash, then reap rewards over an extended period of time. Patience pays off.

 

[Awinner2]

Before going full pelt at the web based promotions, you need to think as to whether you are serving a local market or a national one, If local only your promotions need to be targeted very tightly to eliminate people that you don't want to respond. Otherwise that will be annoying for them and you.

 

[Ian J]

The suggested age group for older people is NOT 50+. The Saga Generation is 65+ and are not referred to as 'seniors' by marketing people.

I've already flagged the top consumer 65+ website for this market in my earlier posts. Yahoo and .gov sites are not where older people would go when looking for replacement kitchen doors.

They are likely to a) ask friends and family b) look at local monthly glossies c) look at lifestyle sites and consumer sites aimed at 65+. d) and yes as @Fiscix says they might start off with a Google search if they don't know where to look.

I am well into the Saga Generation and agree with you where I would not look as I don't suppose I have looked at one of the sites quoted for years. I would also not deal with anyone that referred to me as a senior.

I've never had a kitchen makeover but did have a complete kitchen rebuild and did exactly what you suggested and asked a friend who did theirs

 

[ethical PR]

Flyers, canvassing, flyers, phone calls.

Old folks respond to human contact much more than younger generations.

If you can make a favourable impression with a flyer, a few words on their doorstep, another flyer, maybe even a call, you'll have a shot.

I'm not a big fan of inbound in this instance, since many don't yet know they want a kitchen makeover. You're entering the field of demand generation and to do this, they need to see your results.

Sure, you could put displays in malls or do paid ads via PPC or social. Probably high cost relative to the conversion rates. Organic SEO could do well, but you'd need to splash some cash, then reap rewards over an extended period of time. Patience pays off.

I wouldn't recommend direct door to door marketing/telephone sales with this audience. There is far too much negative publicity associated with door to door and telephone sales people trying to rip off older people for this to be a useful marketing channel.

All the latest market research around the grey pound market shows that older people are just as happy as younger generations to shop and look for consumer goods online, so I wouldn't necessarily agree that they are more likely to respond to human contact.

 

[webgeek]

If you wait until people know they want a kitchen redone, you've already lost the sale to all the competitors who are putting flyers in their door each month. Every person in our neighbourhood that has had some work done (conservatory, drive, fence, window cleaning), that I've asked about it, either found their provider via referral from someone else who's satisfied, or via flyers in their door/box. Admittedly that's a small pool of examples, but it's enough to shape my opinion.

 

[Kev2017]

STOP. Change your mind set. I am 35. I deal with lots of businesses as a client and a lot of clients through business. These range from ages 16 (I am senior to them) to 72 (they are senior to me).

How would I feel if I saw an advert on any platform aimed at me as "A senior" or "A Junior"? I would click on something else and disappear NEVER TO USE YOUR SERVICES!

There is a N.O.B.S book "selling to the affluent" that addresses this very well. If I were you I would research some more.

Setting an avatar for your customer is a good thing when designing your advertising, keeping them in mind and advertising to their needs. Just be very careful how you address them.