Seniors are the fastest growing age group when it comes to social media – which makes sense since they have one of the lowest penetration rates currently. Statista has a great visual chart of the changing usage levels by age group for Facebook:
What does that mean for businesses that cater to seniors? Their customers are online and using the internet to seek out information before they buy. Google and Ipsos Reid conducted a study of senior and Boomer internet usage behaviours and some of the most interesting findings include:
- The internet is the number one choice for searching out information
- 54% watch online videos with the Evian baby ad as the number one most popular video for Seniors at the time of the study (retailers – if it’s entertaining, they’re interested!)
- They are extremely involved with causes and seniors’ advocacy online – 2 in 5 who are involved with a cause and online will post information and communicate with others about it
What does all this mean? Seniors are online and looking for information which can drive purchasing behaviour when done right. When they care about the information they will communicate that to those around them so creating a platform for that is important. Seniors are advocates! They want to share their knowledge and thoughts and to be successful companies with senior users need to take advantage of that with healthy Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube campaigns that allow their consumers’ voices be heard.
