A hip senior shopping. 87% of seniors aid gated offers increase the likelihood they'll purchase from a brand.
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Make Seniors an Offer They Can’t Refuse

In our previous posts about marketing to seniors, we’ve looked at why they’re such a great segment to target, where they’re spending their money, and how they’re tech-savvy online shoppers. And in our most recent post, we shared some best practices for messaging to them.

But one big question remains: How do you create and deliver promotions that get seniors to respond?

This post will give you the information you need to make seniors an offer they can’t refuse.

Take Advantage of Their Lifestyle

Seniors often have more flexibility with their time. They have the option to eat earlier and take advantage of happy hours and senior discounts at restaurants. They travel off season, go to matinees, and freely pick when they attend a concert. Create promotions that make the most of their flexible schedules — to their benefit and yours.

Reach Out to Them Directly

Seniors want to hear directly from you. While Millennials often look to social influencers like bloggers for information about brands, in our 2018 Shopper Survey, two out of three seniors said they prefer to get information directly from brands through email, social media and relevant online ads — falling second only to  friends and family.

How seniors like to hear about new brands or products: brands themselves - 66%, friends and family - 74%, Peers - 32%, Fellow group members - 29%.

Don’t Chase Them, Invite Them

We all like to be invited. And seniors, like everyone else online, are tired of irrelevant ads that invade their lives and are based on inferences a brand drew from tracking their online behavior. The solution, based on our consumer survey, is to put the power in their hands and let seniors explicitly indicate their interest.

How seniors want brands to identify their interest in a promotion: from social media they willingly provide - 10%; let them opt-in - 45%; from their social media activity (clicks/likes) - 2%.

Give Them What They Want

What makes seniors more likely to purchase from you? You can’t go wrong with great customer service. In our consumer survey, 92 percent of seniors said it would make them more likely to purchase.

When it comes to marketing incentives, though, benefits that make seniors feel special stood out. They like to receive bonuses like free shipping, and they prefer offers designed exclusively for them.

What makes seniors more likely to purchase? Free shipping - 95%; loyalty programs - 89%; gated offers 87%.

Give Them More of What They Want

Acquiring a new customer is critical, but if you really want to grow your business, you have to keep them coming back for more. Interestingly, the same incentives that move seniors to purchase are the ones that will make them return.

What makes seniors shop more with a brand? Customer service - 80%; free shipping - 86%; gated offers - 83%; loyalty program - 81%.

Leverage the Power of Gated Offers

Gated offers – special promotions or offers developed solely for a target group – tap into that sense of exclusivity that makes seniors feel valued and unique. Our shopper survey showed that gated offers are an effective way to promote to seniors — when seniors are given a gated offer, nearly two-thirds (61%) said they feel rewarded.

Gated offers increase the likelihood that seniors will purchase from you (87%), and how frequently they shop with your brand (83%). But they also directly affect senior purchasing behavior.

How gated offers impact senior spending: purchase sooner - 48%; seek out something to buy; buy something they wanted but didn't need - 33%; spend more - 32%.

And gated offers are a great way to leverage social sharing: 95% of seniors said they’d share a gated offer with friends and family.

Ready to Tap into the Wealth of the Senior Segment?

Learn more about how SheerID’s age verification can help you deliver compelling offers with 3x conversion rates.

Learn more

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