Marketing messaging can be overwhelming and confusing to senior audiences, which only leads to frustration and disengagement. When marketing to seniors, the message that is being used to deliver information should be simple, clear, straightforward and easy to understand. Seniors respond to messaging that is more authentic, genuine, credible, trustworthy and emotional. Because, based on their life stage and all the tactics they’ve seen over the years, they are more resistant to persuasion and less influenced by overstatements in advertising.
Using our over 25 years of experience marketing to seniors and the 50+ audience, Coming of Age has compiled the following list to make sure that your messaging resonates with aging audiences.
To maximize results, creative and messaging designed for seniors should:
- Include eye-catching graphics and copy designed to attract and retain attention, but be balanced to avoid packing in too much copy or overstimulating graphics
- Mirror audience values and motivators, which evolve in the 2nd half-of-life
- Create an emotional experience with copy and imagery that tells a story
- Communicate relevant customer benefits quickly, directly and authentically
- Use warm conversational copy in basic and easily understandable terms
- Use relatable imagery that is realistic and not patronizing
- Be positioned as a “gateway to meaningful experiences”
Wherever possible, supporting information with testimonials can help tell stories that are more focused on experiences, with an emphasis on enjoying life and doing the things you love. Seniors value experiences like time spent with family and friends, giving back and helping others. This shift in messaging to 2nd half-of-life motivators has prompted us to help clients provide a better experience to seniors in advertising, leading to better outcomes for them and our clients.
Finally, it’s important to make sure that your message is consistent across all communications that are delivered to the senior audience. Because while older adults still like to get their information from offline media that is familiar to them, seniors are also digital savvy and like to do a lot of their own research online. Seniors have more time to engage with media and are omni-channel users, so keep in mind that disjointed, fragmented messaging is not as easily remembered and is detrimental to your results. Regardless of the channel, it is important to connect with them consistently and reach them with messaging that is straightforward, credible and clearly understandable.
