Q&A: What If Your Audience is 50+? What Social Media Then?

A couple weeks ago, Chris and Gena ran a podcast series on authors and social media, and shared how many of the social media channels catered to young people. But what if your audience is older? Today, they discuss good news for reaching older audiences on social media.

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Links:

• SeniorTechClub article: https://www.seniortechclub.com/tech-recipe/social-media-for-seniors/
• Post to social media FAST with our favorite social media scheduler, SocialBee, and get 20% off for LIFE with coupon code MOMENTUM20 : https://writing.fyi/socialbee
• Write with us! Join Chris, Gena, and Rene each Wednesday at noon Central and let’s get our writing DONE! https://www.writingmoments.com

Episode 43 Transcription:

[00:00:17].510] - Gena
Hello and welcome to to the Writing Momentum podcast. My name is Gena Maselli and this is my husband, Christopher Maselli.

[00:00:23].880] - Chris
Hey, welcome to the podcast. Glad to be here today.

[00:00:26].530] - Gena
We are so excited to be here. We are going to be talking about social media for the over 50 crowd yes. But before we get to social media for the over 50, we've got some really good statistics and insights that we got about that we got a gift to this week.

[00:00:44].950] - Chris
That's right. We always ask people, we say, hey, if you like this podcast, rate review, subscribe, share with someone else, because we know that's how people find out about it. Many of you have given us five stars. We're so appreciative of that. But this week we got a really nice review that we just wanted to share and give a shout out. This is to David Corby. He's the one who left the review. Great guy. He wrote he said, It's my Happy Place podcast and the one that helps me the most with writing. Here's what David said. He said, stop right here and subscribe to this podcast if you want to learn about writing, marketing, and creating a great writer website. And also just need to be encouraged and feel happy. Writing Momentum podcast is the podcast I never miss. It's my happy place in the podcast world. It always cheers me up to hear Chris and Gena and Renee voices, and I'm always learned something new and come away encouraged. I'm a voracious podcast listener. I've subscribed to over 830 podcasts. Imagine that, wow. So I know a lot about what makes for a good podcast, and this is one of the best.

[00:01:52].170] - Chris
Subscribe now and you'll be happy you did and smarter for it. Thank you so much, David. That really meant a lot to us.

[00:01:58].840] - Gena
It really did.

[00:01:59].580] - Chris
We just we hope that other people find the podcast because of your kind words. We need to have a Writing Momentum momentum train whistle for such a good.

[00:02:11].210] - Gena
This is what we do in our free time is we come up with sound effects and visual effects that we can do on our stuff. It's the creative mind. It never stops, you guys.

[00:02:22].200] - Chris
Okay, so moving on, I just want to say, if you do enjoy this podcast, please do go ahead, rate, review, subscribe. Your words on things like this really do help get our podcast promoted. And we'll give you a frame whistle shout out too. Today, what are we talking about, Gena? What happened there?

[00:02:41].580] - Gena
We had a friend of ours, a good friend of ours who's also a listener, write or talk to us and she asked us a question. She said, what if your audience we've been doing a series now on social media. We've talked about social media and which platforms would be the best for different people, where are people listening? And we gave a lot of demographics, but this particular person said, what if your audience isn't a young demographic? So many social media sites specialize in. What if your crowd in your audience is the over 50 crowd?

[00:03:15].990] - Chris
Yes.

[00:03:16].380] - Gena
And we understand that. We really understand that. We thought that was a great question. And so we went out and we started doing some research on this to find out what is the best platform. And I will say, I think I had preconceptions about what it is. I think even my preconceptions were challenged in some of this as well.

[00:03:39].840] - Chris
And when we talked about those statistics in earlier episodes, and if you haven't listened to those yet, it's episodes 39, 40 and 41, cause let me do a different one because Gena wasn't here and I'm so glad you're back. It's always better if Gena is here. So when we get those statistics, you'll notice that those statistics focus a lot on the younger demographic, because a lot of times media does that because that's what the advertisers are looking for. They want to know where does that young demographic, what TV shows are they watching? And that sort of thing. But yeah, this listener made a really good point that yeah, but what if your reader, the person that you're marketing to once is in an older audience like 50 plus? Where do they go there? The truth is, and just because certain of those platforms are more popular, because they cater to a younger demographic, that doesn't mean there is a huge older demographic also on some of these platforms. And so what are we finding, first.

[00:04:37].720] - Gena
Of all, before we start getting into the percentages, this is my contention when I was looking at this, is that a lot of these articles were saying it's this percentage of Americans or that percentage of that particular demographic, that kind of thing. And I said, but those and the question I kept coming back to Chris with was those percentages have to correlate to a number, an actual number. It doesn't matter if the 25% of the audience 50 plus is on a certain platform. That doesn't really mean anything if you're not really talking about, okay, but actually, how many people is that? Who is that? So we were looking at the statistics. At first, I wanted to start with the statistics of the 50 to 64 year old crowd that represents little over 60 million people. Americans. We're talking about Americans here. But in other countries you would have to look at those statistics. I think the percentages might be similar across the board, but as far as the size of the United States, we are talking about a little over 60 million Americans when we start giving you these percentages.

[00:05:55].840] - Chris
Yeah. And so this is from a Pew Data Research study, and this is really interesting. So you remember we were talking about Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and TikTok, and this Pew Research study has not covered TikTok, so we're going to drop them out of it for this week. But of those remaining Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, most 50 to 64 year olds, surprisingly, are on YouTube. Thank you.

[00:06:28].090] - Gena
It was surprising in one respect, it was not completely surprising in other respects because we both have, although 50 to 64 year old, we fall into the diversity and we use YouTube more than we use some of the others. And I think a lot of people are using YouTube in place of television, in place of like broadcast or streaming television. They're using YouTube for that entertainment value.

[00:07:00].610] - Chris
Yeah, YouTube is different from the other social networks in that, first of all, as we talked about in one of the previous podcasts, it is a search engine, like Pinterest and YouTube are search engines before they are social networks, or the others are social networks first. But as search engines, YouTube is the only one, or social media sites, the only one of all of these that is easily accessible on television sets. Right? So if you're sitting in your living room, we do this all the time. We have YouTube is one of the apps that we pull up on our big screen television to watch videos on each day. And a lot of people do that. And especially when it comes to looking at 50 to 64 year olds, many of them use YouTube on their television, but also on their mobile because it's entertainment, it's easy to access and so it's 68% of 50 to 64 year olds and then of 65 plus, it's 40%. So if you're wanting to reach people aged 50 and above, YouTube is your number one resource. Now. You may not feel comfortable in front of a camera all the time as an author.

[00:08:06].580] - Chris
A lot of us who are introverts. We shy away from this whole camera deal. But really. It's a great way to reach your audience and we'll have to do a future episode on how to be comfortable in front of a camera because really. Once you start doing it. It's quite enjoyable. It's not difficult at all and they really widens your outreach.

[00:08:24].460] - Gena
Absolutely. And it puts a face to your message and it puts a face to your brand. So I think that is important too, because sometimes when you're using some of these other social media sites, sometimes your brand or your face can get lost a little bit, just with the different posts. And the other thing about YouTube, and that's what we said before with YouTube and Pinterest, is that the longevity and the return on your time is huge because they are search engines. When you put a video out or you put an idea post on Pinterest, it stays, or a static Pin on pinterest. It lasts for a really long time, it doesn't go away. So it can live for a very long time. Versus the post on Facebook or on Instagram that people are just scrolling and they're running right by it.

[00:09:16].630] - Chris
So, as an example, if we go and look at our statistics on our YouTube channel that has these podcasts on it, as well as other videos, we have seen that some of those videos that are two or three years old sometimes are still getting active views today. Whereas Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, those older posts, they're just gone, right, they dropped off the feed, they're gone forever for the most part. And so really, that's why YouTube is powerful. Now, as great as YouTube is, there is a super close second. In fact, so close that I think it's within the margin of error to possibly rival YouTube, both for 50 to 64 year olds and 65 plus, and that is Facebook. YouTube is 68% of older adults. Facebook is 65. YouTube is 40% of 65 plus. Facebook is 41%. So both of these, Facebook and YouTube are your key websites that you want to be using to get free promotion, to be promoting your books, to be connecting with your audience. Because remember, marketing is about relationships. You've heard me say that many times. And these are the sites that you want to use.

[00:10:27].250] - Gena
And I thought it was interesting when you were talking about this, when we were looking this up, we were researching it, we were putting together this podcast. Chris, you mentioned that the way people use these sites that are a little bit different.

[00:10:40].360] - Chris
Yes.

[00:10:40].630] - Gena
Can you talk a little bit about that? How is this older generation using these sites versus maybe even the younger generation?

[00:10:50].680] - Chris
Yeah, so it's interesting to look at, especially the social media sites on places like Facebook. It is not as much about the hype and the viral posts and that sort of thing. It's more about probably truly what Facebook was created for, and that is sharing pictures of loved ones. It's about sharing things that have happened in your life. So if you're wanting to reach this older audience on Facebook, you don't want to have a bunch of marketing focused ads, right? If it feels too marketing ish they're really not interested. You've got to write your posts and your ads in such a way that it feels very natural, that is very much like you're just their friend. And I think that connects a lot more.

[00:11:35].860] - Gena
I think also you could work on the shares, that understanding the shares aren't just, I'm throwing this out there because whatever and we have seen this ourselves, these people, if they are your fan, they really will promote you. It's a very loyal audience. They get behind what you're doing. Speaking as a writer, if you are looking for somebody who you want support for your book, for your message, if you can find this audience and they are your fans, they will really take the time to share it with their friends and let you know. So there's that social component here, even more so than maybe some of the others that are more about following influencers or being entertained or whatever. These people. I think this audience is really looking for connection.

[00:12:32].580] - Chris
Yes. So we won't dwell on the other sites a whole lot because there is a sharp drop between Facebook and YouTube to all the other four. The other four Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Pinterest is the highest. Then LinkedIn, then Instagram, then Twitter. But Pinterest clocks in the highest at 26% versus the 65% on Facebook. So really, if your audience is 50 plus, it is Facebook and YouTube pretty much. And that's it, right? You can dabble into these other networks. And I'm sure there are, as we said before, there are niches in all of these networks.

[00:13:09].210] - Gena
Yes.

[00:13:09].670] - Chris
But you're really going to find your audience on Facebook.

[00:13:12].060] - Gena
Well, you too. I think you do have to question if you're going into on one of these social media because you may be somebody who is 50 plus or maybe you're someone who is reaching that audience and you love LinkedIn or you love Instagram. Don't let the fact that only 20% or 21 or 24%, don't let that throw you because maybe because of those numbers, there are fewer people speaking to that audience. There's fewer, there's less competition. So maybe if that's your happy place, to quote David horribly, if that's your happy place, go for it. Be a big fish and a small pond if you need to be.

[00:13:52].620] - Chris
It's worth the test, right?

[00:13:53].950] - Gena
It's definitely worth the test. Don't be afraid to pivot if you need to. That's part of what this business is about, is learning to market in a way and find your audience. So be willing to pivot. But maybe if you're on Facebook and you're doing a successful what, you're seeing some growth on Facebook and you're ready to expand to one of those. Maybe you want to expand to Pinterest, or maybe you want to expand. Although if you're on Facebook, does Facebook automatically post to Instagram?

[00:14:22].990] - Chris
No, only the stories are shared between the two, so everything else is still separate audience. Yeah. If you're like me, I like posting to multiple places at once. I still like to focus on the ones that are my key demographic. But I'll post to all the channels because it's so easy today with a scheduler. And as you've heard us talk about before, one of our favorite schedulers is Social Bee. You could find that at writing.fyi/socialbee and there's a coupon code that's on that page for you that will get you that for even lower cost. For less than fifty cents a day, you can post on all of the channels every time you make a social media post. And that's a real power.

[00:15:00].940] - Gena
It really is actually. As you. I was about to interrupt you and say, but don't forget about Social Bee because it makes it so easy.

[00:15:07].720] - Chris
It certainly does. Speaking of deals, we know that what's coming up, Gena.

[00:15:13].000] - Gena
Black Friday.

[00:15:14].110] - Chris
Black Friday.

[00:15:14].890] - Gena
Guys, I don't think I can totally communicate the excitement that goes on in our house over Black Friday. I get so excited about Thanksgiving because I love to cook, I love to be around family, I love to get people together, all of that. But Chris is, just give me the pumpkin pie and move out of my way because there are deals on the.

[00:15:41].850] - Chris
Horizon, deals to be had. So here's the thing. I've become known as the deal guy, right, because I find some really good deals. For instance, a lot of people pay for their monthly email service for mass email marketing. Years ago, I got a deal. I paid something like $100 for a lifetime subscription to a very popular email service. There are deals like that are out there. Last year we found Microsoft Word for half price plus a $50 gift card. So we love deals. This year, what I'd like to do is if any of you would like to be in on those deals that I find, especially the ones for writers, all you have to do is I've set up a text message service that we can all mass text together, and you can opt in and opt out of it. So you don't have to worry. It's not going to be any spam or anything. What you have to do is to get in it to go to your phone and text deals. D-E-A-L-S deals to 74121. When you text Deals to 74121, you're opting in to my personal deal finder list. And when I find a really awesome deal this Black Friday, I will text it out to our group and everyone can jump in on it.

[00:16:53].140] - Chris
We like doing it by text because first of all, it's very fast and easy. Also, a lot of these deals don't last for very long. Many of them have a limited number of items on them. And so if you want to get in on it right away, you want to be able to have that text that you get immediately, you can jump up, go to your computer, grab the deal. And I can't understand how great some of these deals are. Some of the deals that we find, like I said, they can save you literally hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the years. Many of the lifetime deals that I've gotten on apps and software that helped us with our writing business have been during Black Friday.

[00:17:27].010] - Gena
Yes, it is rare that a year goes by, know that any year goes by when you don't come up with it. I would say at least three really good deals. But there are times when Chris, I'm up getting ready for Thanksgiving, because Black Friday now actually starts before. It starts early, and he'll come up, and as I'm cooking in the kitchen, he's coming up, so you'll never believe what I just got. You'll never believe what I just found. So I'm not even kidding when I say this has been something that Chris has done for probably the last 20 years, and he has shared it with just our close friends. We're part of a mastermind group. He will contact our mastermind members and say, hey, I just found this. I just found this. You guys want to find that? I got that. So he's all over it.

[00:18:17].140] - Chris
So I'll be doing it anyway. You might as well let me be your personal shopper. So if you want to be in on that text deals, D-E-A-L-S to 74121, and you'll be in the group. It's as simple as that.

[00:18:28].180] - Gena
That's it.

[00:18:28].990] - Chris
All right. Thank you so much for listening to the Writing Momentum podcast. If you enjoyed this, please do like David, rate review, subscribe, and share with others. We so appreciate it when you do, because that helps others find it. And don't forget why. Gena.

[00:18:45].260] - Gena
Together. We have writing momentum. Bye bye.