And You Thought Online Was Just For Young People

You’ve heard it more than once.  Perhaps you’ve even said it.  When people discuss the online newspaper audience the defense comes out, “but it’s not the same audience.  It’s a different audience.”  That may be, but perhaps not in the ways that most people think; and maybe not as different as you may think.  Perhaps the online audience was different from the print audience.  For most, the “different audience” is immediately defined as a younger, hipper audience; the genXers and millennials who weren’t going to read the print edition anyway.  The difference is in the makeup of today’s online audience.

I don’t mean to be a buzz kill, but I’ve got a news flash for you.  There is a group of Web users—defined as “Silver Surfers”, and they’re growing by leaps and bounds online.  They are the fastest growing online segment.  In fact, according to the latest Pew Internet and Life in America Project, more than half of the younger people in the 62-71 age group are actively online.  As a whole, 6 out of 10 so-called Silver Surfers use search engines on a regular basis.  And according to Dynamic Logic, 43% of the group lists gathering news as a regular activity in their online pursuits.  That’s right-forty-three percent.

 

Silver Surfers have a higher income than non-Internet users in the same age group.  They are more likely to be married, they are more likely to be employed, and they are better educated.  They spend nearly twice as much monthly as non-Internet users in the same age demographic.  Maybe it’s just me, but that sounds a lot like newspaper readers.

 

But then, one fourth of the group banks or pays bills online and one-fifth plays video games.

 

There goes the stereotype.

 

It would be easy to assume that Silver Surfers are migrating away from print versions of the newspaper.  I would caution that such an assumption could be flawed.  By indications of activities of the group, it is very likely that these Silver Surfers have an insatiable appetite for news and information.  They can’t get enough news fast enough.   It could be further deduced that the group loves interactivity.  Perhaps they are reading the story in print and going online to comment on the story or follow comments of others.  The best assumption might be that print subscribers are spending a lot more of their time online since the profile is so similar.

 

No matter what the case, this is a group to be embraced.  Embrace them in print and embrace them online.  The Dynamic Logic study indicates that the Silver Surfers are far more likely to notice online advertising than their younger counterparts.  Interestingly, the group demonstrates greater purchase intent for items such as insurance, pharmaceuticals, consumer package goods, travel, and entertainment.  The last time I checked, those primarily service-oriented products were not the bread and butter of the print edition.  U.S. Marketers, according to Anderson Analytics, cite the group as their most important market, ahead of genXers.

 

So—what’s the takeaway?  Recognize that the online audience is changing—and quickly.  Never make assumptions that the online audience is comprised of young people who quickly gulp down headlines before excusing themselves from the news buffet to go on to other things.  The audience is far broader and more complex than that.  One thing is for sure--it’s a different onlineaudience.  And it will be changing constantly.