Marketing Website to the elderly

Hey, can anybody give me some good pointers as to marketing techniques directed towards the elderly? And maybe not techniques of marketing per se, but techniques of building a website directed towards an elderly group.

I'm building a website for elderly people to do their finances, retirement investments, planning, etc. on but I've never designed a site for the elderly.

Any pointers would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Sure thing. Think about where they hang out. It also depends upon what you define as elderly.

Paid: Advertise on the AARP website, Facebook (many elderly there) and Churches site.

Knowing that many people in their 70' and above don't tend to use the internet much and when they do mostly at sites like Pogo (to play games), Facebook (to keep up with their families), and related types of sites, it could be a tough group to reach.

The site that you create could be combination of the above, includes the most popular types of games, with big fonts and simple, easy-to-follow designs. It could have news, especially that effects the elderly. And maybe a component to keep up with their family members.

Make it very easy to use. Do some of the difficult stuff for them, such as provide choices for them to pick, but they you have 'pre-built', like favorite radio stations to listen to, a news feed to add by selecting a button. I think of those personal pages that Yahoo and Google have built using AJAX.

Also, you could provide a storefront with helpful tools, like those 'reachers' for grabbing stuff, jar openers, etc. Use Amazon affiliate.

 

I heard a great success story about a woman who markets wheelchairs, scooters, and that type of thing. However, lets face it, the elderly are not all that computer savvy. What she was doing was she was going to nursing homes and direct marketing. She had agreements with nursing homes that she would come every couple of weeks and talk to new elderly people in the community. She built the relationship, and their families purchased from her. She does it full time now and makes a killing at it.

 

Make the words really, REALLY BIG.

 

I agree with USAsportstraining. Additionally try to be an active particiapant in forums dedicated for elderly people, you can also promote your website in various events organised for elder people. You can also target people who are 30s and 40s in age as there will be some users who would looking for services for there parents. You need to take attention on your website design also . You should use eye pleasing colours and there should be an option wherein a user can increase or decrease website font.Your website should also be user friendly as most of the elders might be new users.

All the best

 

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