Dr. Eboni Green
July 19, 2022
According to research, about 14% of seniors own a business that’s at least three and a half years old. Despite this, senior entrepreneurs may feel underrepresented in business culture, and it’s easy to see why. Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a young person’s pursuit, and little attention is given to the successes of seniors. It may take time to change this, but one of the most effective strategies for combatting the problem lies in seniors’ ability to market their companies. By simply spreading the word about your business, you can stake your claim in the business community and attract the clientele that you need to thrive.
One of the greatest obstacles facing senior entrepreneurs is an unfamiliarity with the wide range of tools that can be used for marketing. Unlike Millennials and Gen Z, seniors don’t have the advantage of being digital natives — but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn. Indeed, learning the ins and outs of online marketing can help entrepreneurs of any age reach new heights of success.
One of the first tools that seniors should learn about is social media marketing. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest offer an incredibly effective way to get your products and services in front of a wide audience. In addition to starting free accounts on these platforms, you can invest in sponsored posts to further widen your reach.
Seniors should also invest in a website so that customers can find them via searching on the web. A website doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective. It just needs to display your company name, offer important details like your hours, the address of your brick-and-mortar location — if you have one — and information about the products or services that you offer.
It should be noted that online marketing isn’t the only tool seniors can use — and, in fact, word-of-mouth is still one of the most effective marketing tools a business can have. That’s why networking, seeking out referrals, and cross-promoting with other businesses are still some of the most popular marketing strategies.
You should also identify your target demographic. You can do this by considering the characteristics of your ideal customer, the channels you can use to reach potential customers, and the reasons why these customers would buy from your business. Without a clear vision of your ideal customer, it’s easy to cast a net that’s too wide and miss valuable client connections in the process.
Once you’ve identified the type of customer you aim to serve, you can narrow down your marketing strategy even further. If you want to reach seniors like yourself, you can connect with your peers at community events, for example. If you are most interested in marketing to younger folks, though, focusing your efforts on social media will likely be a better approach.
Marketing savvy is an elusive skill set, and it may be challenging for seniors who aren’t familiar with websites, social media, and other online tools. If you can start a business, though, you can learn how to market it both online and offline. You simply need to identify your target demographic, learn what they want, and tailor your products or services to meet their needs.
