Grandparents 'must be targeted by managed emarketing' 

Friday, March 04 2011 by Kate Billinghurst

Grandparents are too large and influential a consumer segment to ignore completely, and any organisation not actively targeting these people with managed emarketing or search engine optimisation providers could lag behind their rivals.

Such is the view of Nielsen, which claimed that grandparents power much of the US economy. Grandparent households now spend 4.4 per cent more each year than all other homes in the nation and "it's no secret they love to spend on their grandkids," said eMarketer.

Nearly two in five grandparents measured by Nielsen data were found to provide support like clothing or food for grandchildren, and in the next few years this is only set to rise, as the organisation believes the population of grandparents in the US - now standing at 69.6 million - will rise 11 per cent in the next four years.

eMarketer explained that Nielsen's demographic of "expecting" grandparents were involved in many important online activities worthy of website promotion tactics. Around 80 per cent were sending emails and a further third were actively looking for health information, or using social networking tools like Facebook; a half paid bills online.

Estimates from eMarketer confirmed that nearly one in every two 55 to 64-year-old internet users will use social networks in 2011, while baby boomers and seniors will make up a major part of the internet as the generation begins to approach the internet with improved and renewed understanding.

The consultancy website continued: "Youth marketers should be aware of the growing grandparent population and their proclivity to make purchases on behalf of the younger set, while marketers targeting older adults should note the growing role digital plays in their lives, boosted by the increased numbers of grandparents living with children."

Earlier this week, eMarketer discovered that for the first time ever, Facebook has the largest share of US display ad revenues.

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".