Why Facebook Makes Marketing Sense To Reach Women Over Fifty-five

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By Alice Murray

Yes, the bloom is off the rose. I don’t spend as much time with Facebook as I did when I first joined. It’s no longer the first thing I check when I sit down at my computer in the morning and the last thing I do while the dog is out each night.

I’m much more selective about who I allow to be my friend than I was at first, and I’ve learned how to “block” the gazillions of “quizzes” that get shared. 

Despite this, I still love staying in touch with my friends on Facebook. I remain in awe of a technology that lets me keep up with global gossip without picking up the telephone.

Because of Facebook: 

  • I’ve tracked down several high school classmates I haven’t seen in decades, and even a long-lost friend from the third grade. 
  • I no longer have to email photos to friends; I simply post snapshots I want to share on my page. 
  • I can check on community events quickly and get them on my calendar. 
  • I no longer have an excuse to forget a friend’s birthday.

It seems that I’m not alone in my enjoyment of Facebook technology. The news reveals that I’m part of the online community’s fastest growing demographic. And since at 55+ I’m also a prime target for companies to reach with their marketing messages, I thought I would share some of the reasons I love Facebook and offer some suggestions that companies can use to reach people like me.

It’s easy to understand why women “of a certain age” log on with increasing frequency. We have lived long enough to have friends scattered all over the world. If we have children, they are grown and most likely out of the house. We have more free time than we’ve had in decades. 

While Facebook is seeing massive increases in users aged 35-65, the fastest growing demographic is women over 55. As of July 2009, Facebook reported a 513 percent growth in users 55+ in the first six months of the year. 

That’s a heady market for businesses. According to the web site www.she-conomy.com, my demographic controls a net worth of $19 trillion, own more than three-fourths of the nation’s financial wealth, and control 85 percent of all brand purchases. 

Those facts make Facebook—and other online communities—a perfect marketing platform for all types of businesses. But it’s going to take creative thinking and new marketing ideas to effectively reach us. We value honesty, trust recommendations from our friends, and can spot a scam a mile away. This new world of marketing opportunities requires a new way of thinking for marketers. 

According to Paul Chaney in his blog for www.marketingprofs.com, companies have to embrace the fundamental values of the social media mindset in order to be successful in the brave new web world. 

You have to be willing to lose control of your message—a scary thing for marketers—in order to experience viral success. According to Chaney, because “social media has given anyone with access to the Internet the opportunity to become publishers of content, not merely consumers, message control is out the window anyway.”

When you’re willing to relinquish control and open the doors for new ways of doing business, you’ll be ready to embrace the marketing opportunities Facebook has to offer.

For my demographic, it’s important to be both clever and honest. We look for quality, value, and innovative ideas. Businesses offering those to Facebook users can expect tremendous online success. Think about the reasons users in my demographic like Facebook, and you’ll have a starting place for your creative marketing ideas.  

  • It helps us stay in touch our children, and extended family, despite geographical distances.
  • It allows us to reconnect with old classmates from high school and college.
  • It’s an easy way to keep in touch with friends, share photos, or spread silly stories or jokes.
  • It’s easy to make new friends and connections.
  • It’s a great way to promote causes we believe in.
  • We can easily join specific groups for interests and discussions.
  • It is borderless, and genders and ages mix very freely.
  • We find it to be a fascinating and enriching way to interact with people.
  • It helps us “stay young.”

Think of Facebook as a superhighway rather than a destination. Lots of cars, trucks, and motorcycles speed across the highway every day. You will successfully connect with that traffic when your messages become the mile markers, exit signs, and billboards that help travelers get where they want to go.

—Filed under Marketing by Alice Murray