March already! Did you know that March used to be the first month of the year? A great reason to give for not making progress on those New Year’s resolutions …
Each Monday we resolve to share on this blog a round-up of articles, insights and other resources for marketing to mature consumers. Here are the top
links of the week:
1. MOST CLICKED: TV and newspapers are most influential on seniors http://bit.ly/14nGboA.
This share of an older post was prompted by new data showing that TV ads get a small share of marketing budgets, but are seen by small and medium sized businesses as delivering a large share of results.
See more on Vocus’ findings re effectiveness of marketing channels: http://bit.ly/VZy5yZ
2. MOST DISCUSSION: In an article last week, “LinkedIn: The Ugly Duckling of Social Media,” the Wall Street Journal noted that their stock had reached an all-time high, and that the service is introducing new services to get more revenue from corporate customers. A Starbucks executive was quoted as saying: “Originally it was seen as your mom’s or your dad’s network … Now it also has more young professionals and college-level folks.”
These references to LinkedIn’s user base became the subject of some discussion on Twitter.
Creating Results typically defines “older users” as ages 40 and up, as I shared with Valerie. Why? This includes consumers who tend to be more affluent and educated. As David Wolfe outlined in Ageless Marketing, at this point they’ve passed the time of aquiring the basic skills (social, intellectual) needed to navigate the adult world. They’re looking for opportunities that serve vocational and personal aspirations; they’re looking for life balance. You can see how LinkedIn appeals to this more mature, “older” user.
Well, since you asked, Jeff … Facebook is the #1 social network used by older Internet users. Per the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 52% of boomers are using social networks. 57% of boomer Internet users are members of Facebook, along with 35% of online seniors. (Pew’s data echoes our agency’s Social, Silver Surfers research which found that Facebook had the highest awareness and usage rates among older users.)
As seen above, we’ve loved LinkedIn for a long time as a way to reach older consumers. Check out the related items, and share your thoughts in the comments below!
RELATED POSTS:
Facebook, Internet Users More Similar to Offline Population than Ever
Gaining Consumer Insights from LinkedIn (and other social networks)
5 Ways LinkedIn Can Help You Reach 40+ Professionals
I was thinking about this conversation for quite some time after the tweets and am so glad to read your follow up. I think there is a need to consider more when defining “older users” than simply age. A 40 year old who is a bachelor, or the parent of a 2 year old is at a different place in life (and will respond differently to similar marketing efforts) than a 40 year old whose children are graduating high school… and today you will find many aged 40 at both end of this spectrum. Age, along with gender, family (single, divorced, children) and other lifestyle factors certainly play a significant role in social media use… both frequency and channel, as well as purchasing patterns and decision making.
Interestingly, 2012 research from LinkedIn showed that standard user of LinkedIn is male (57.9%) aged 25 – 54 years (67.7%); and that the fastest growth among LinkedIn users is among those ages 18-24. Simultaneously, Facebook is experiencing very public concerns, because the younger generation is not as engaged as they once were (in part, most assume, because their parents and even grandparents are active users..)
I am very curious to read Ageless Marketing and will look forward to hearing your continued insights on marketing and motivating to the more “mature” crowd!
~VMS
Valerie, your comments are spot on! It’s one of the reasons why when our agency does this type of research, we try to narrow down further by children, marital status, employment, whether they’re a caregiver …
We’re actually re-visiting our 2010 Social, Silver Surfers research right now. Perhaps you and other readers can take 3 minutes and help us paint a better picture of the “mature” crowd! Survey links:
• http://bit.ly/Silver13 (focused on web)
• http://bit.ly/Social13 (focused on social)
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