There are aspects of marketing we can all overlook. When you are a blogger or you are marketing something to a very specific demographic, you may not think beyond your age. If you are promoting your own blog or products related to you with your followers, this will not be an issue. However, when you plan on diversifying your business, this is when you start to fall foul of marketing mistakes.

Starting to market to people beyond your age range can highlight your inexperience. And when you don’t have the opportunity to undertake market research, what does it take to put the right tactics into place, especially when you’re marketing to people much older than you?

Use Multi-Channel Marketing

Not everybody has smartphones! While the number is gradually increasing, if you are marketing your business to seniors you have to think that they will very likely live their lives offline. If you spend most of your time marketing through online practices, you are going to have a hard time selling anything. If you want to reach the senior market, you have to go through multi-channel marketing. This doesn’t mean you have to avoid the internet altogether, but you have to use a combination of methods. Incorporating direct mail advertising by posting catalogs or brochures can target a senior market more effectively. While you can use online marketing, you must remember the majority of your efforts should concentrate on where the market is actually found.

Using Relatable Language

One of the ways we can fall down when we speak to customers is to not use terms they are aware of. On a very simple level, this means avoiding trendy language, slang, or any teenage jargon, but it’s also about looking at what a certain demographic wants out of their products. When you look at millennials, they will thrive on the drama associated with pitching a service or product. Conversely, the baby boomer generation wants it, in no uncertain terms, how a service or product is going to improve the quality of their life. That doesn’t mean that they want copy that is vanilla or unexciting, but it’s about taking the time to truly appeal to someone who wants less messing around, and demands you get straight to the point.

Personalize the Experience

These days, we can expect things to fall through the cracks, which doesn’t result in good quality customer service. Now systems are automated, and we rely on self-service more than anything else. But, all the generations depended on someone at the other end of the telephone or in-person. So, personalizing the experience or incorporating that one-to-one touch will make a massive difference. It depends on the individual’s preferred method of communication, but when you personalize the experience, they will remember it for a long time. Compare this to the last time you spoke to somebody over the telephone phone with regards to selling a product, rather than actually having to make a complaint!

These are little things, but marketing to people older than you will be a lesson well learned.