eMail marketing articles.
Make your eMarketing 50+ friendly
The over 50s are the fastest growing group of web users in the UK but web marketing is invariably designed by the young for the young.
What can be done to appeal to this audience?
Research done by Nielsen Norman, the web usability consultants, found web users over the age of 65 took 66% more time completing tasks than those aged 21-55.
What causes this decline in web competence? Firstly there is the physical deterioration that accompanies getting older: cognitive, vision and psychomotor abilities are affected. Secondly, many older people have spent most of their working life without computers or the internet. Someone born in 1940 would have been 50 before PCs became a common part of the workplace.
Despite these problems the over 50s are increasingly using the web and now represent 25% of the UK online population. In Scandinavia the figure is closer to 40%.
What can we do make our marketing more friendly to 50+?
Let's dispell the myth of larger type for an older audience - research has actually shown that 'text size does not significantly affect performance for any age group of web users'.
Use of language and imagery
Assume the user has minimal technical knowledge, keep jargon to a minimum.
Is the language and imagery of your web marketing suitable? Could the older person interpret the text as condescending and stereotyping? Does the language in your marketing convey a 'value system' more appropriate to a younger generation?
How comprehensable and relevant is the language of your web marketing? This factor applies to all age groups, but is more significant to the older person.
Try to avoid
- words that are specific to the company and its industry but mean nothing to the user
- too many ‘sales messages’ and too little factual information
- a writing style that is more suitable to an annual report
Design Elements
The text fonts, colour schemes and level of animation have a significant influence on the impact and extent of interaction your web marketing receives. These elements combine to make your email marketing easy to see, fast to load and relaxing to use and navigate from.
To get the right combination of design elements remember this simple rule – 'older users prefer fast loading, simple and uncluttered web marketing'
Navigation from your web marketing
The likely ultimate aim will be to get the user to navigate to your web site and convert them as a customer.
Older users tend to prefer 'goal centred' navigation. Navigation should anticipate the user's questions and provide a simple way for them to get the answers.
For example an email promoting a services or products should lead the user directly to the most suitable product. Why not provide the information to aid a decision anticapting questions such as 'which product is right for you?'. Try to avoid navigation that reflects the structure and priorities of the company, rather than potential customers.
Common navigational errors to avoid
- Easy return to home page
- Unclear positional signposting
- Multiple styles of navigation
- Forcing the user to navigate through long pages of text
Remember, employing the best practices in web marketing will aid all users. The only difference between the old and young user is the latter are more adept at coping with problems.
