1. The Silent Migration
6 insights into engaging seniors in the online space
Rob Reger,
SVP, Data
Solutions
Epsilon
Steve Schlumpf
SVP, Marketing
Haband
Trish Mathe
VP, Database
Marketing
Life Line Screening
Denis McSweeney
Director BS&A
AARP
Kevin Sacher
President
American Mint

2. How well do you know your seniors?
1. What makes them different?
2. What are the challenges marketers face
when encouraging seniors to transact
online?
3. What opportunities are available
to migrate seniors online and have
them embrace the change?

3. Insight 1: Engaging seniors online is a real challenge
• Studies show that consumers over
65 continue to prefer offline
communications and transactions.
• Epsilon’s Channel Preference Study
has consistently found that direct mail
is the more trustworthy marketing
channeland is preferred by older
audiences.
• Most organizations struggle to
persuade seniors to convert their
offline behaviors to online. How do
you migrate the seniors audience to
the online space?

4. Trends in online & offline senior shopping behavior

5. The shift in channel preference
80%
2010 trends
80%
Online
70%
Offline
2011 trends
70%
60%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
20%
Online
60%
50%
Offline
20%
10%
47% 53%
43% 57%
70% 30%
0%
42% 58%
40% 60%
68% 32%
0%
Abacus Cooperative 50-65 Year Olds
Average
80%
10%
2012 trends
66+ Year Olds
Abacus Cooperative 50-65 Year Olds
Average
70%
Online
70%
Offline
2013 trends
60%
60%
66+ Year Olds
Offline
Online
50%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
40% 60%
38% 62%
67% 33%
0%
37% 63%
35% 65%
66% 34%
0%
Abacus Cooperative 50-65 Year Olds
Average
66+ Year Olds
Abacus Cooperative 50-65 Year Olds
Average
66+ Year Olds

6. Insight 2: Seniors do not all behave equally
55 to 65 and 66+ engage differently
 The online channel is experiencing growth
each year across the board
 Overall, more than 60% of purchases
are made online
 In the last 4 years, seniors ages 55–65
have increased online shopping by 8%
 In the last 4 years, seniors ages 66+
have increased online shopping by 4%
 While these are small YOY increases,
the younger senior group’s increase
doubled the older senior group

7. overall purchase behavior
18%
Abacus Cooperative Overall
16%
20%
50-65 Year Olds
18%
16%
14%
14%
12%
12%
10%
10%
8%
8%
6%
6%
4%
4%
2%
2%
0%
0%
2011
$
2012
Trans
14%
HHs
AOV
2013
$/HH
Trans/HH
66+ Year Olds
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
2011
$
Trans
2012
HHs
AOV
2013
$/HH
Trans/HH
2011
$
Trans
2012
HHs
AOV
2013
$/HH
Trans/HH
Key findings:
 All KPIs are up over the previous year
co-op wide
 The 50-65 year old market is outpacing
the national average in sales growth and
active households
 The 66+ year old market is still
growing, but at a slower-than-average
rate

8. Insight 3: Segmenting your seniors is a good idea
55–65
 Boomers entering this category
 More online savvy
 More credit affinity
66+
 Universe is still increasing
 Boomer migration
 Higher life expectancy
 Still pay through the mail
 Use checks or money
orders
 Some as high as 80% (50%
plus the norm in most)
• DTC offers
• Sweepstakes
• Collectibles
• Fundraising
• Publishing

9. Insight 4: Senior online purchase behavior is increasing!
60%
50%
40%
2010
30%
2011
20%
2012
2013
10%
0%
50-65 Year Olds
66+ Year Olds
 Both age groups are
comfortable
online, showing
growth each year
 The % of households
converting online
is accelerating in
the most recent
12 months

10. Insight 5: Capitalize on data trends for 50–65 year
olds when targeting online offers
2% growth
0% growth
Arts & crafts
Tools & electronics
Collectibles
Backyard gardening
Positive growth
Children’s apparel
Fundraising
Health & wellness
Home décor
Media
Sports
Active wear & outdoor
Gifts
–4% decline
Senior health goods

11. Insight 5: Capitalize on data trends for 66+ year
olds when targeting online offers
2% growth
Children’s apparel
Negative
fluctuations
Gifts
Arts & crafts
Health & wellness
Collectibles
Home décor
Fundraising
Senior products
Garden & backyard
Sports
Active wear
Outdoor

12. Insight 6: Let data drive your senior targeted
segmentation strategy
BEFORE
SENIORS 50+
AFTER
50–65 50–65
66+
66+
70+
Active
purch in
C
Active
purch in
D
Active
purch in
E
OFFER | LIST | CREATIVE
Active
purch in
A
Active
purch in
B
Lifestyle
A
Lifestyle
B
High $
Low $
Prospecting segmentation!

13. Case in point
Steve Schlumpf
SVP, Marketing
Haband
Trish Mathe
VP, Database
Marketing
Life Line Screening
Denis McSweeney
Director BS&A
AARP
Kevin Sacher
President
American Mint

14. About Haband
“You’ll never get a better deal!”
That’s been the motto of the Haband Company
ever since it’s beginning back in 1925.
Originally, the company sold handmade ties at a
few local banks. But once the founder got the
great idea to take photographs of the ties and
mail those “advertisements” to banks, the
business was off and running.
Today, Haband is the headquarters for savings to
over 5 million customers, and it’s still growing.

15. 4 steps to understanding your senior buyers
1
Break out your senior
group by age
2
Show what items are
selling best to the
different groups
3
Generate data
regarding what is being
bought by your
customers
4
Cater your marketing

16. 1
Break out your seniors by age
Given the population growth in the 65+ age group and
different performance at various age groups, you need to
break out your customers by age groups—don’t stop at
age 75!
0 to 12 month 2X+
# of Cust
Response %
AOV
$ Per Cust
Age
%
Index
Index
Index
0 to 54
6.1%
99%
106%
91%
55 to 64
10.7%
99%
107%
92%
65 to 74
20.4%
97%
107%
101%
75 to 84
33.5%
102%
98%
104%
85+
16.8%
102%
93%
100%
Unknown
12.4%
99%
98%
98%
100%
100%
100%
Total

17. 2
Research which items are selling the best
to different age groups
Break out product
purchases by age
group
Find the % of the
demand
For example:
•
•
•
Age 75+ is 50% of the demand
Age 75+ group comprised 55% of the
demand for dress shirts
Therefore, dress shirts are being bought
proportionally better by the age 75+
group
Compare the
differences of each
individual age
group and their
purchases
Consider doing this age
analysis by style and
merchandise categories
Show the differences to the
marketing, merchandise, and
creative departments

18. 3
Analyze data to learn what is being bought
by customers in the age group segments
Lifestyle
differences
Order
incentives
Sweepstakes
Continuity

19. 4
Cater your marketing
Copy is important
Use relevant headlines
Remember, members of this
group are readers!

20. Checklist for increasing online demand penetration
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
• Increased order incentives
• Make a benefit slogan the feature of your advertising
• Be specific about benefits (e.g., more SKUs, faster shipping, more clearance, etc.)
• Utilize targeted alternation if seniors are responding better to a specific item or copy
• Seek out partners and drop ship programs that offer other items that your seniors want
• Seniors are especially active in the fundraising area, so use your company’s activities to
generate content for blog posts or in print
• Gather email addresses! Incentivize phone operators and include in print advertising.
• Use some catalog space to promote online as a special information source

21. GET THE
RECIPIES
shown here at
williamssonomoa.com

22. About Life Line Screening
Since our inception in 1993, we have screened
nearly 8 million people, and currently screen 1
million people each year at over 16,000 screening
events nationwide.
Through this experience, we often identify serious
health issues and have helped save thousands of
lives. We are dedicated to providing the highest
quality preventative screenings at affordable
rates.

23. Life Line Screening, Inc.
Who we are
• Life Line Screening, Inc. is the leading provider of
community-based preventative health screenings in the
U.S.
• Our mission is to make people aware of unrecognized
health problems and encourage them to seek follow-up
care with their personal physician.
Why screen?
• Disease can be present before symptoms occur
• Doctors do not prescribe testing for asymptomatic
individuals without other relevant risk factors
• Resulting problem: Individuals remain at risk for a
catastrophic event.
Solution
• Preventative screenings
• Life Line Screening, Inc. screens over 1 million people
annually on 3 continents and holds over 20,000 screening
events each year.

24. Screening process: The patient experience
Screening
scheduled
•
By phone or online
Participant
screened
•
•
At a local venue
(church, community
center, etc.)
Results reviewed by a
board-certified
physician
Results letter
mailed
•
•
•
Within 3 weeks
Advised to share with
physician for appropriate
follow up
If anything critical is
found, patient is provided a
“Doctor’s Review Kit”
immediately and advised to
go to physician or ER within
24 hours

25. Social strategy
Last year, Life Line Screening evolved
toward social-based community to
support our future retention goals.
•
•
•
While email marketing has proven effective at driving
repeat customers, social provides a level of
engagement that cannot be matched.
This also helps us create an army of defenders where
we can point media inquiries.
Better engagement will lead to:
– Higher rescreening rates
– One-to-one customer interaction
– A platform for word of mouth marketing to allow our
members to share their experience with prospective
customers

26. Focus on longevity & healthy living

27. Community advocates

28. Connecting our members with others
Crowdsourcing discussions
allow our members to get
support and learn from others
Members can ask questions that may
be answered by our Community
Advocates or by other members of
the site.
All questions are answered within 24
hours.
Marketing reviews the discussions
and other user-generated content for
ideas on products & services.

29. Educating our members
Keeping health top of mind
throughout the year
We want to keep our customers engaged in
managing their health throughout the year.
Our editors pick articles that are easily
digestible by our audience.
Of our 1 million email subscribers, over
95,000 read this news story featured in our
Life Long Health newsletter.

30. Content that engages users

31. Creating “superfans”
Earning status in the
community
All members are allowed to post
articles, create discussions, and
respond to posts. However, it’s
the “superfans” that drive the
content and friendships within
the community.
We continue to reward the
superfans by allowing them to
earn badges through actions
taken in the community.

32. Personal pages

33. Engagement & usage

34. About AARP
Founded in 1958, AARP is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization
that helps people 50 and over improve the quality
of their lives.
AARP’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for
all as we age, leading positive social change and
delivering value to members through
information, advocacy, and service.
Membership dues are $16 for a one-year term.

35. Caregiving-themed month
campaign results
Overview
1. Caregiving facts
2. Campaign analysis
3. Questions on
engaging the 50+
audience

36. Caregiving facts
 32.6 million aged 40+ individuals
are caring for someone aged 50+
• Parent or relative: 82%
• Spouse or partner: 8%
• Friend or neighbor: 12%
 Overtwo-thirds of caregiving
situations are long term

37. Caregiving facts
 On average, caregivers spend 20.4
hours a week providing care
 For caregivers…
•
15% care for someone more than
an hour’s distance away from their
home
•
35% have a heavy caregiving
burden

38. Caregiving facts
Informationis a key need of
caregivers:
• Managing time:
caregiving v. other
responsibilities
• Dealing with emotional
stress
• Arranging backup
resources
• Financial burden from
providing caregiving
services
• Keeping their caregiving
recipient safe

39. Campaign analysis:
Caregiving themed month
OBJECTIVE
• Increase engagements: as defined by page views
to the caregiving content of aarp.org during a
one-month period
STRATEGY
• Execute a consistent, integrated member
experience, demonstrating AARP has the
resources and tools to make it easier to manage
caregiving
AUDIENCE
• 50+ caregivers
• AARP email newsletter subscribers
• aarp.org

40. X
X
X
Balancing Work and Caregiving
Caregivers Can Get Paid
X
Long-Term Care Cost Calculator
X
Caregiving Community
X
Drug Interaction Checker
X
Home Modifications Every Caregiver Should Know
Webinar
X
Paid Search
X
X
8 Rules for New Caregivers
Tools to Help Caregivers Communicate with Health Care
Professionals Webinar
X
Billboard
Ads
X
AARP Tips
Caregiving Resource Center
Health
News
Member
Benefits
Caregiving Resource
Web letter
Email
Campaign analysis: tactics
X
X
X

41. Caregiving email
results
Email 1
Audience: Caregiving model
Subject line: Get help caring
for those you love
80% of
clicks
Share of clicks:
• 80% resource center
• 10% living will
• 3% webinar
3% of
clicks
10% of
clicks

42. Caregiving email
results
Email 2
Audience: Female boomers
(ages 50–64)
Subject line: Make taking care
of a loved one easier
84% of
clicks
4% of
clicks
Share of clicks:
• 84% resource center
• 6% financial help
• 4% webinar
6% of
clicks

43. Caregiving email results
 Similar open rates
 The female boomer audience
had a higher CTO
What we learned
 Resource Center “how-to”
guidance generated the most
interest
 Audience selection impacts
the level of engagement (as
measured by CTO)

44. Member Benefit Alert (MBA)
monthly newsletter email
2% of
clicks
6% of clicks
Caregiving
11% of clicks
2% of
clicks
34% of
clicks
5% of
clicks
5% of
clicks

45. MBA newsletter results
 While the MBA newsletter had a broader
audience, discounts and savings messaging
completewith social benefits messaging
(including caregiving)
 Caregiving accounted for 2% of the total
clicks, similar to the Medicare open
enrollment webinar

46. Top 10 caregiving content pages
Caregiving Resource Center
Balancing work & caregiving
2 emails & MBA
Get paid as a family caregiver
New caregivers rules
Health News
Getting started
Legal & financial matters
Providing care
Housing options
Long-term care center
Get paid as a family caregiver (2)
Email #1

47. Caregiving resource center traffic
Visits
Page Views
Email #2
Change in visits:
Email #1
+340%
MBA
Change in page views:
+33%
Themed Month

48. Conclusions from caregiving month
 Overall, the caregiving-themed month was
judged to be a success: 66% increase in
overall traffic
 Follow-up testing has focused on targeting
and audience selection—relative to the
payback from added data costs
 AARP views caregiving as an important part
of its social mission

49. Questions on engaging the
50+ audience
What types of online and offline engagement with AARP
are most meaningful to each 50+ individual?
 How does this vary by segment?
 How does this vary by generation (e.g., Baby Boomers
v. Gen X)?
 How does this vary by financial health?
How can AARP link online and offline engagement to
provide meaningful benefits to each 50+ individual
and, over time, build and deepen their relationship with
AARP?

50. Questions on engaging the
50+ audience
In engaging the 50+ segment, how does AARP best
balance different expectations of the AARP brand?




Social mission/advocacy
Discounts
Information
Insurance & health services
What is the best tradeoff in paying for information to
increase the accuracy of targeting v. allowing individuals to
self-select based on needs and interests?

51. Questions on engaging the
50+ audience
How can AARP best improve member experience and level
of engagement?





Personalization
Targeting
Communication frequency
Online/offline mix
Member control of the level and type of
communications received
 Digital infrastructure for meeting tomorrow’s needs of
the 50+ age group

52. Questions on engaging the
50+ audience
How can AARP increase the percentage of members who
give AARP permission to engage with them digitally and
wantAARP to engage with them digitally?
What is the role of social media and mobile devices in
engaging the 50+ segment?

53. About American Mint
Located near historic
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, American Mint is a
leading provider of high-quality collectible
coins, knives, die-cast replicas, and other
memorabilia. As an international direct mail
marketer, American Mint serves millions of
serious collectors around the word.
American Mint guarantees commitment to
quality, product authenticity, and product
exclusivity.

54. American Mint: A tale of non-migration and why

55. Q&A
Download the infopaper:
www.retailcmo.com/premium/
silent-migration
For more information:
Rob.Reger@Epsilon.com
www.epsilon.com
@epsilonmktg