Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

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With age comes wisdom. There is a tremendous and virtually untapped resource that you should include in your social media marketing campaign. Senior citizens are generally not considered part of the online community. But they certainly are, with numbers increasing.

The social media community, as a whole, has not considered seniors as a valuable group of people who can offer a broad list of skills and much knowledge that would contribute tremendously to social media in its entirety. There are numerous advantages to getting seniors involved with your social media marketing campaign. The following are just some of the more obvious ones:

  • Values: If you think about it (just a little), you will realize that senior citizens have basic values that you would want as part of your social media campaign. They generally have a set of ethics that can be translated into professionalism, honesty and integrity.
     
  • Credibility: When seniors have knowledge in a certain industry, you can feel secure in the idea that they are also credible in that field. You cannot put them in the same category as a young person who is either in school and working toward completing his or her education or just out of school and pursuing entry level positions. Seniors have been around and have accumulated a great deal of knowledge and expertise, which will prove invaluable to your business if you are smart enough to get them involved.
     
  • People skills: Seniors have great people skills. They love to share their life experiences with other people and are happy if they can help others. They also love to take on new challenges, which will keep them active and will get them to focus on things other than their own lives.
     
  • Attitude: Most seniors are not stressed. It may be because they are not generally forced to work on a 9-to-5 schedule and are able to do things at their own pace. Many business people would benefit tremendously if they weren’t always working at such a frenzied pace.
     
  • Compensation: A large number of seniors want to work as opposed to having to work. Because of the fact that they are financially set and don’t have the pressure of having to do anything to make money, they have positive attitudes and will give you more than 100% when it comes to the job.
     
  • Work standards: Nowadays, the work standards are much less rigorous than they were in the past. Seniors, however, are used to those old standards and will work according to them. Because of that, they will be deliver a much better work performance to you on the job.
     
  • A wealth of experience: Many seniors did all sorts of different types of work in their former careers. They have a great deal to bring to the table that you will find valuable in your work.
     
  • Valuable contacts: The older you are, the more people you know. Over the years, they would have build up a substantial list of people whom you can reach out to through social media in order to promote your business and your brand.

Conclusion

Seniors are a valuable and important group of people to include in your social media campaign when you are deciding on staff as well as other aspects of your online presence and business’s reputation. Although you may have to teach them some basic principles regarding actually connecting to social media channels as well as getting those social media channels to work effectively for your business, you will see that they learn quickly and very soon, you will be considering them an important part of your business. They have the potential to contribute a great deal to your success and you will generally find that they have qualities that you often will not find in younger people. For an even broader and more informative idea on this topic, please go to Senior Citizens and Social Media.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team.

Author

  • Carolyn Cohn

    Carolyn Cohn is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Services of CompuKol Communications. Carolyn manages CompuKol’s creative and editorial department, which consists of writers and editors. Her weekly blogs are syndicated globally. She has decades of editorial experience in online editing, and editing books, journal articles, abstracts, and promotional and educational materials. Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

8 Responses

  1. Cari Lyn Vinci says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: On Startups – The Community For Entrepreneurs
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign


    You are so right. I just read "Boom or Bust!" by Carleen MacKay.

    The topic is Boomers finding "work" and continuing to work well past the former typical retirement age of 65. Many of my clients are in that category.
    Cari
    Posted by Cari Lyn Vinci

  2. Jessie Helou says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: ThoseinMedia
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    Indeed Senior citizens are very important for social media marketing campaigns, the Internet has made them more active in the community, moreover to what you had mentioned, their inability to travel for example makes them a good target for e-commerce. So they must be included in social media marketing campaigns.
    Posted by Jessie Helou

  3. Roberta Budvietas says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Social Media Marketing Questions & Answers
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    Seniors today are more active and since many boomers have lost their reserves and their pension plans, many are still working and since one of the few areas they can work is on-line, they are bringing their wisdom there but they are not gullible because they have been bitten by false promises in the past.
    Good points and a market that has discernment
    Posted by Roberta Budvietas

  4. Gabriel Constans says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Authors, Writers, Publishers, Editors, & Writing Professionals (no religious/ political discussion)
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    Thanks Carolyn for this article. I appreciate the many ways you identified the advantage of including elders (which I will be joining soon) into any social marketing or work plans.
    Posted by Gabriel Constans

  5. Anna Jacobs says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Books and Writers
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    I don't think all seniors are wise, just as all people are not wise. But I do think seniors are greatly undervalued in Western society, which infuriates me. Fancy spurning such a wealth of knowledge!
    Posted by Anna Jacobs

  6. Nancy Lynn Jarvis says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Books and Writers
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    I feel like I've just come into my own now that I'm in my sixties. I've become the author of three mysteries and had amazing adventures promoting them including learning that I like public speaking.
    While looking at People magazine during a long wait in a dental office, however, I discovered I no longer exist. The magazine had a feature entitled "What to wear in your 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s." Evidently once we hit our sixties we either don't count any longer or or don't dress any longer.
    Posted by Nancy Lynn Jarvis

  7. Anna Jacobs says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Books and Writers
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    Nancy, you're so right. Add to being in one's sixties, not being slender and not being stupid enough to wear something unflattering because it's 'fashionable' and the choice gets even more limited.

    On a more serious note, in Western Australia they stop inviting you to have a mammogram once you turn 70. They say casually, 'You can make an appointment if you want to, but we won't call you in.' I'm not 70 yet, I overheard this being said to another woman at the screening clinic – but you can bet I'll protest loudly when my time comes.

    Congratulations on getting your novels published – have you applied to join Novelists Inc? It's for multi-published authors http://www.ninc.com
    Posted by Anna Jacobs

  8. Gloria Meehan says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Ladies Lunch Business Networking
    Discussion: Seniors: An Untapped Source for Your Social Media Campaign

    Absolutely agree with your assessment, Carolyn. Older Americans are the fastest demographic coming on-line – and are often the first to be ignored in a media mix.

    As part of my non-profit work, I've been coaching communities of seniors, bringing them into the 21st century. 4 things I've noticed across the board about the folks I've been working with: curiosity, patience, the time – and the willingness – to learn…and quickly!

    Example: I was invited to coach a group of seniors at one of our local facilities. Since there were only 8 PC/desktops, I anticipated a small turn out – maybe 5 to 10 people. What a surprise when 28 people showed up for the first session! And with questions ranging from "how do I burn a DVD" to "I need to set-up a Facebook account so I can see pictures of my grandchildren". That first session was less about PC functionality and more about online community. The next week, half of them had already set-up some sort of Social Media page. Many could learn from the eagerness – and sincerity – of Older Americans.
    Posted by Gloria Meehan (L.I.O.N.)