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Appealing to the 50+ Market Online Most web sites are still built for the young, by the young. But mature internet users are among the most attractive target markets around – so your web designer should be well aware of how branding to 50+ online consumers is accomplished. Though web activity is increasing fastest in the 50+ age group, many companies with active online presences are failing to modify their approach. Brand values need to be clearly conveyed on websites, in email newsletters, in online order forms and online checkouts. But if you tailor your expression of these values to a teenaged or twenty-something target market, you risk squandering the interest of the very lucrative consumers in the 50+ range. It's not easy to accomplish effective branding online. Unlike a television, radio or print marketing campaign, which can be timed and styled like a sort of performance, a website is, often, only as good as the internet connection and web browser used to view it. An inexperienced web user may also fail to appreciate the impressiveness of an impeccably-designed site; problems navigating are frustrating and can alienate a visitor in spite of your best efforts. Fortunately, good web designers can usually work around the possibility of poor technology and user inexperience – if you emphasize that's what you want. Web designers may be, quite naturally, inclined to try out new features with a high "wow" factor. As appealing as whistles and bells may be to web or programming aficionados, older internet users have been shown to prefer simplicity. If your target market is mature consumers, consider scaling down the display in favor of user-friendliness. If your target market is broad and encompasses all kinds of web users, you may need to compromise. Indeed, designers don't always understand the way mature internet users differ from younger ones, which is understandable – it's not their job to understand. Most sites are built by the young, for the young. If your branding is targeted partly, primarily or exclusively at mature consumers, it's up to you to communicate the need for age-appropriate web branding. The number of older people using the Internet varies widely by country. In the US nearly 70% of 55-64 year olds are users, while in Spain only 11% are connected. But new older users are coming online everywhere, and once people are connected to the internet their age becomes less of a factor in determining their level of use. Internet users 50+ shop online just about as much as younger users, and often spend more hours surfing the web each week. Plus, the over-50 internet users are the wealthiest and best educated of their age cohort. For many companies, they are a prime target market. Back To Mature Market News → Go To The GenerationTarget.com Mature Market Bookstore → |
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