Older people and HSBC business customers

The following article is to be published in the next edition of Small Business Update, which goes out to the entire SME customer base of HSBC, going live on the last day of the month. It contains various quotes from me - and while I love publicity, I'm less keen on reducing complex issues to soundbites. However, I think the journalist, Emma Allen, did a good job, given the limited wordcount she had to work within.

The over 50s are a growing socio-economic group – and one with a large disposable income. How can small firms market their business so they appeal to this audience?

With someone in the UK turning 50 every 40 seconds, it’s little wonder that so-called baby boomers are a powerful consumer force. Yet many older people say they feel patronised by marketing campaigns - or worse, invisible - as businesses fail to cater to their needs.

A quick glance at the statistics, however, shows that firms cannot afford to overlook this age group. Not only does the UK have an ageing population - over 40 per cent of us will be 50 years plus by 2035 – but many older people possess serious spending power, holding the purse strings to 80 per cent of the nation’s wealth.

Recognise diversity
So how can businesses make their marketing strategy more appealing to mature shoppers? First, firms need to recognise that the over 50’s are a highly diverse group with different pockets of consumers, and that defining customers by age alone can be misleading, advises Mark Beasley, partner at marketing agency rhc advantage, which specialises in communications for older audiences.

“Unless you’re selling health or financial products with special age related clauses, you shouldn’t lump everybody together in a one size fits all approach – after all, a 50 year old will have very different attitudes and needs to an 80 year old. Equally, Mick Jagger is the same age as John Major but you wouldn’t necessarily group them together,” he points out.

Instead, he says that businesses need to take a more strategic approach, taking into account different factors such as lifestyle, income, education and occupation. This will give you a much more useful insight into your customers, as well as how they want to receive information and ultimately, how you can best reach them.

Don’t stereotype
Stereotyping older people also paints a false picture. “Not every person over 50 is driven by price, or is into gardening, cruising or sensible shoes. The biggest spenders on fashion are actually women aged 50 to 64, while men over 45 are heavy buyers of music,” Beasley explains.

“Most well-known brands simply don’t cater to these markets though, so there are real opportunities for forward-thinking firms. Think about things like product design, retail environment and staffing – hiring mature employees for example – to make sure you’re meeting the needs of older audiences.”

When it comes to marketing techniques, baby-boomers are fairly sophisticated having grown up with advertising since the 1950s, Beasley says, explaining that the over 50s tend to prefer print media to tv advertising or radio, with direct mail usually the least influential method.

Explain the facts
“Older people tend to be motivated by facts, rather than meaningless creativity,” Beasley explains. “Messages should include clear information on why the product would benefit them and how it works not rely solely on glossy images, as research shows this doesn’t tend to motivate buyers.”

Businesses shouldn’t assume that the over 50s are less technologically savvy, either, as studies show that online influence is growing. In a study by Millennium, emails and website advertising came second to word of mouth as the most important factor when making a purchasing decision for older people. Again, thinking about your customers is key – many of the over 50s will have used computers in their career and will be highly IT literate, and while the over 70s are much less likely to use the internet overall, there are many groups of active internet users in this age group as well. The mistake yet again, says Beasley, is to think only in terms of age - there are other, better, ways of segmenting customers.

Lastly, Beasley advises making sure your website is inclusive to older audiences, by making it easy to read and navigate. He advises using a clear font, a reasonable size type and clean and simple designs, as well as avoiding labels such as ‘elderly’ or ‘old’ or offering discounts to ‘seniors' - this will alienate the younger over 50s and patronises all older people.

For further information: www.rhcadvantage.co.uk