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Amy McIlwain - How Older Demographics Use Social

How Older Generations (50+) Use Social Media

The growth of older generations using social media has been staggering over the past three years. In fact, the 50 and over age group is the fastest growing demographic online. Not only is 76% of this generation going online on a daily basis (Pew Internet), but they also account for the majority of the online consumer population.

Social Media Use By Older Americans Has Nearly Tripled Since 2009

Social Media Usage Study Older Demographics

How are the older generations using social media?

According to the 2014 Facebook Demographics Report, the biggest population growth for the platform came from the 55+ age group. And, it’s no surprise. Facebook has opened the doors for every age group to connect with friends and family, as well as keeping them in the loop on news and world events.

LinkedIn is another popular social network for this generation, accounting for more than half of all overall users. Many of these users have embraced social media for the power it holds as they shift careers, pursue passions and get industry news.

YouTube attracts a surprising percentage of older users, with the largest percentage in the 45-54 age bracket, followed closely by those aged 55-64.

Twitter has the least number of older users with only 18% reporting to be over the age of 50. Seniors are using Twitter to find health information and follow news / literary publications.

As we know, social media is an easy way to stay connected and up to date on the latest happenings. Older generations report using social media mostly to connect with families, look for news and information, to play games online and to participate in contests. Not only are they highly engaged, they also have a 47 times the net worth of households 35 and older.

 

What does this mean for financial advisors?

Your 50+ clients and prospects are online and they are searching for news and helpful information! Social media is a great channel to engage with these people and position yourself as an expert. Talk to them, share helpful tips and recent news, and expand your reach.

Brand needs to understand how to market to senior citizens before all of the Boomers retire, because they are a demographic that will be more computer literate than any senior generation before.

The number of seniors who own cell phones has jumped a staggering 57% from 2010-2012 alone (Pew Internet). Because of this dramatic growth and the progression to adopt new technologies, we predict that social usage is bound to continue to grow even more in the coming years.

So, if your firm is using social media to prospect and connect with clients, keep up the good work! You will be noticed. If you have yet to jump on the social media bandwagon, now is the time. Your target audience is present and waiting.

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Why Advisors Need To Get Social: 3 Social Media Success Stories To Convince You

Who doesn’t love a good success story? Now that even more financial advisors are using social media, some of the resulting success stories are pretty impressive. Just like winning the lottery, your chances of gaining a $10 million account from one Facebook “like” are pretty slim, but it does happen.

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20 Astonishing Social Media Statistics for Financial Advisors

The last blog we did on social media statistics for financial advisors in March was such a hit that we decided to bring you another round with fresh, new 2013 data.

Have you been wondering if your target demographic is using social media?  Can you reach them?  Do they want to interact with a financial professional on social sites? The answer is YES!  Not only are more boomers, seniors, and affluent consumers using social media, they’re engaged and sharing information.  If you’re not on the social media bandwagon yet, you should be and here’s the evidence to prove it!

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3 Reasons Why a Financial Blog Will Help Your Business

Bloggers have been getting a bad wrap for years.  The term blog began with the connotation of being frivolous, rantish, or just plain gossipy.  Despite the humble beginnings, blogs have become one of the most common resources for Internet research.  Powerful blogs have become books, newspaper columns, personal libraries for readers, and even movies and TV Shows.  Want more proof the power of blogs?  Hubspot found that.

  • Companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that do not.
  • Businesses that blog at least 20 times per month generate 5X more traffic and 4X more leads than those that only blog a few times per month.
  • About 46% of daily Internet users read more than one blog every day.

A recent study by the Spectrum Group found that nearly one-third of investors with a net worth of $5 million or more say they either read or would read blogs published by trusted financial advisors.  If that isn’t enough to get your full attention, let’s look at some of the benefits that indicate blog writing is just a logical choice for financial advisors:

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Klout: I’ll Tell You Mine If You Tell Me Yours.

“What’s your Klout score?” “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”  It’s becoming near impossible these days to have a conversation about social media without the dreaded mention of Klout.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Klout is a program that measures your social influence across many of the most popular social platforms on a scale of 1-100.  It’s become a yard stick by which more and more people measure their social value.  Your Klout score can get you into airline club lounges, discounts at restaurants, and even in one case I heard recently, a raise at your job! But as someone who lives and breathes social media, I didn’t understand the fascination, nay… theobsession that people have with this little number, until I saw the power behind motivating factor first hand.

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Financial Advisors Should Be Good At SEO. Here’s Why.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a hot topic on the web. It seems as though every business professional is looking for an SEO expert to bolster their website. There are a lot of factors that go into creating successful SEO campaigns, as they require a great deal of knowledge and effort.

As a financial advisor, you’re already ahead of the game! Why? Because creating a successful SEO strategy is not much different than creating a successful financial plan for a client—the same principles apply.

Below are some typical strategies and strengths that financial advisors have that can be directly applied to SEO campaign development.

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Content Repurposing for Financial Advisors

Internet marketing has become a pillar in marketing and taken on a life of its own with various techniques and strategies. Great content is the lifeblood of every successful internet marketing campaign from social media to professional blogs.

As financial advisors you understand what a good investment can do for you and how to maximize your investments. You should look at creating content for your audience as an investment into your customers and your business. With all the time, money, and research that you have invested to generate great content you might have forgotten to maximize the return on that investment.

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