Having a mentor can be a great way to help you grow your career. However, many people envision having a mentor that works at the same company as them or went to the same institution as they did. But the fact of the matter is that you can learn a lot from people who worked in your industry, especially in areas like marketing, decades ago. So if you’re looking for this type of mentor, someone who can take time away from their life in their senior living community to share some of their pearls of wisdom with you, here are three of the biggest things that you can learn about marketing from an older mentor. 

Learn From Their Experience

There are a lot of things about marketing that haven’t changed much in the last few decades, especially when it comes to reaching people and connecting with them over products or services. So if you can find someone who’s spent years and years of their life perfecting this part of marketing, learning from their experience could be a great opportunity for you. 

Their history in marketing likely has allowed them to learn all about people and what makes them tick. So if you haven’t had much experience learning from people as individuals and as a collective, taking some of this knowledge from an older marketer can serve you very well. 

Learn About Building Relationships

When you work in marketing, not only do you need to learn how to build relationships with the people that you’re targeting with your marketing, but you also need to learn how to work with people within your company that will be adding assets to your marketing strategies. If you’re able to effectively work well with these people, your marketing campaigns may prove to be much more effective. 

Many modern workers don’t realize how vital it is to build relationships with others within their market. So if you can learn this lesson from an older marketer and see just how important this was to them in their career, it may help you to see why you should be focusing a lot more of your attention on relationship building. 

Learn How To See From Different Perspectives

For most people, it can be hard to see outside of their own perspective. This is one of the great things about having a mentor, especially one from an older generation. It will allow you to learn something about your field of work from someone who’s been around the block a time or two and who has a similar interest as you while also coming from a completely different background. With this knowledge, you could become a much better marketer and be able to come at marketing campaigns with all kinds of different perspectives that will help you to better connect with people. 

If you know someone who’s older and has worked in marketing for years, consider asking them to be your professional mentor and see just how much you can learn from them. 

The advertising world has changed a considerable amount since the way it was 50 years ago. For this reason, effectively marketing to people over the age of 60 requires specific tactics. After all, for any marketing method to be effective, you have to appeal to someone’s values, and interests. 

It goes without saying that senior citizens aren’t going to have the same response to an advertisement as someone between the ages of 20 and 30.  Therefore, to help you appeal to your older target market, here are some of the best tips to keep in mind.

Use Relatable Language

It’s important that you choose your words carefully when trying to appeal to the older generation. The same buzzwords and slang of today’s younger generation aren’t going to make any sense to two people from the baby boomer era—the same goes for your content. 

While a funny meme may be quite effective for someone under the age of 30, it’s probably not going to strike the same way for someone older. Use relatable and easy-to-understand language that doesn’t leave them scratching their heads about what it is you’re trying to say.

Encourage Loyalty

One of the best ways to inspire brand loyalty is to encourage it. Give your older customers a reason to continue shopping with you. Whether you give out loyalty rewards, or you offer a discount after a certain amount of purchases, provide your customers with an incentive for choosing you over the competition.

Highlight How You Can Improve Their Life

Don’t just expect your older prospects to take your word for it. Show them why you’re the best choice for your service or product, and sell them on how useful you are. Highlight how your brand can improve their lives, and solve their pain points. The more you can appeal to the specific kinds of issues they’re hoping to solve, the more likely you will be to win them over.

Always Add a Call to Action

Regardless of whether you’re marketing to seniors or teenagers, you should always include a call to action in your marketing materials. The idea is to encourage your customers to take additional steps after coming across your advertisement. Whether you ask them to sign up for your newsletter or visit your online store, the idea is to prompt them to make their next move. Don’t just expect them to take action— encourage them to do so.

Personalize it 

Nowadays marketing software allows you to personalize your marketing materials in a way that makes your potential customers feel like you’re speaking directly to them. Statistics show that if you send an email that includes the first name of your potential customer they are significantly more likely to open the message. 

If you can add a sprinkle of personalization to all of your marketing materials, then you’ll significantly improve your chances of your marketing efforts paying off.