Older Demographic Moves to Mobile

New mobile marketing studies have pointed to older individuals as the fastest-growing demographic for mobile and social media usage. According to a Nielsen Company report, mobile media is attracting 45- to-64-year-old consumers above other age groups, despite the notion that mobile media is solely used by teenagers and those ages 20 to 35.

Companies aware of the increase in mobile usage among older adults can harness this information and use it to create effective mobile marketing campaigns.

The Misconceptions

Plenty of misconceptions surround older adults and mobile/social media use, such as the idea that they barely know what Facebook or Twitter is, let alone have any clue how to work a smartphone. However, the facts don’t lie: in addition to Nielsen’s findings, a new GlobalWebIndex study surveying 31,779 consumers in 31 different countries found older adults as the main reason for growth among social media sites. These include Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. That’s enough to turn misconceptions about older adults and mobile marketing on proverbial ears! 

Older Adults and Your Business

Staying aware of statistics regarding older adults is highly beneficial when brainstorming mobile marketing solutions, and it provides opportunities many may not have considered before. For example, an effective mobile marketing campaign for a doctor or hospital is one that sends SMS appointment reminders to its older patients. These patients would have to opt-in to take advantage of such services.

Another example of an effective mobile marketing campaign is one that caters towards the mobile-savvy grandparents of the world and provides exclusive discounts to parks, zoos, indoor funhouses and anywhere else grandchildren like to go. Such deals and discounts would only be available through the SMS campaign, and could easily drive business to local attractions.

Other options include creating a mobile marketing campaign that offers coupons and sales alerts to older adults who frequently order from a medical supply or herbal supplement site. This could easily transform site traffic and business, as older adults would have access to exclusive SMS deals and discounts they didn’t have before.

These are just some of the endless possibilities regarding older demographics and mobile marketing campaigns! Now that you have the information, think about how you can use it to increase your business and expand your brand. Good luck!