The elderly may be an increasingly viable market for SMS marketing, after new research found the older generation are becoming increasingly tech-savvy.
More modern marketing methods such as email and SMS were thought the be best suited for those targeting a younger audience, as they’d be the most receptive to it. Now, research by film producers 20th Century Fox has found that grandparents are turning to their electronic devices more regularly than ever before.
Texting was among the most popular ways Fox found grandparents communicate with their younger relatives, with around half using SMS messages to keep in touch, dailymail.co.uk reports. This saw text messages as more popular than email (46 per cent) and Facebook messages (15 per cent) among the older generation.
The report also found that more youngsters were becoming aware of their older relatives’ technical prowess, with two thirds of young people saying their grandparents were more tech-savvy than they were five years ago.
“The stereotype is that grandparents are a bit out of touch with technology and are behind the times,” director general of Saga, Dr Ros Altman told iconocast.com.
“Many people over a certain age may shy away from embracing new technology, so it’s encouraging that increasing numbers of grandparents are in touch by using the latest technology. We hope to see many more adopting new technologies and encourage younger generations to take the time to teach their grandparents about these things.”
