• According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 16% of the U.S. population was 65 years old or older in 2018.
• "Americans over 50 account for $7.6 trillion in direct spending and related economic activity annually and control more than 80% of household wealth."
• "Bank of America Merrill Lynch projects that the global spending power of those age 60-plus will reach $15 trillion annually by 2020."
• "Senior citizens spend just under 50% of all purchasing dollars in the United States. They comprise more than half of depositors in financial institutions, and control nearly 70% of all assets in the United States."
• One survey found that more than 80% of seniors said they are taking greater responsibility for their health.
•  66% of seniors use the internet to get health or medical information.

Marketing to Seniors

•  82% of adults age 65-69 use the internet daily and shopping is their second preferred online activity.
• "More than half of older internet users watch video content daily, and 75% of adults have taken action based on a video."
• Baby boomers (typically aged 65-74) make up 41% of the eCommerce market.

• "69% of adults between 50-64 and 40% of those above 65 use social media."
•  41% of Facebook users are 65+ and 58% of adults above the age of 56 use YouTube.
• "82% of seniors use search engines to find information on topics of their interest."
• "Make it easy for senior shoppers to call. This includes using call extensions on Google Ads, making “call now” an action on web pages, and including a call option on web forms", as phone calls are also said to convert to 10-15x more revenue than web leads.
• 77% of older internet users need someone to help walk them through the process of learning to use new technologies.

Summary

• For the initial hour, we were able to identify some early insights on the purchasing power of senior citizens and some recommendations on marketing to them.

• We found that Facebook and YouTube are popular among seniors, and could be useful platforms to market health equipment to them. Additionally, it is recommended to assist through phone calls as they typically need someone to walk them through the use of new technologies.
• We can continue the research to create a demographic profile for senior citizens in the US. Please let us know in a comment below if another country or region is preferred. We can also continue the research to identify additional insights on marketing to seniors.
• Feel free to add or select an option below.