Seniors are a lucrative segment to target, and gated offers – special discounts and offers available exclusively for target segments – are a terrific way to reach them. Gated offers targeting seniors honor their life stage, and – according to our consumer survey – make them more likely to purchase (87%). Gated offers also boost customer retention. More than 4 in 5 seniors (83%) said a gated offer would make them shop with a brand more frequently.
But there are a few factors that can prevent a gated offer program for seniors from being successful:
- Privacy concerns – Seniors have a keen sense of privacy that can keep them from providing the information necessary to redeem an offer.
- Loss of trust due to discount abuse – Seniors avoid brands that allow ineligible shoppers to redeem the offer.
- Friction – If the redemption process for a gated offer is too complicated or takes too many steps, it creates friction that turns senior shoppers away.
An effective age verification process solves these problems. If you follow a few best practices, you can use digital verification to confirm seniors’ eligibility for your gated offer in a way that protects their privacy (and your margins) while tripling your conversion rates.
Give Seniors Control of Their Data
Data breaches have almost become routine, and they’ve made all consumers – especially seniors – extremely cautious about sharing their personal information with brands.
First and foremost, seniors don’t want to feel like they’re being surveilled. When asked how they wanted brands to identify their interest in a promotion, they rejected any kind of inference-based method, such as tracking web and social media activity.
Ninety-eight percent of seniors were uncomfortable with brands tracking their social media clicks and likes, and 90 percent of seniors didn’t even want brands tracking information they willingly share on social media. And 81 percent didn’t want brands using their web activity to target them for promotions.
In contrast, nearly half of seniors (45%) said they wanted to opt-in to promotions.
Gated offers reflect this “consent-based” approach by inviting seniors to enjoy a special reward, and then letting them decide if they’re interested and what information they’re willing to share in order to receive it. This avoids the limitations of ad campaigns that interrupt seniors with offers they don’t want and may even leave them feeling annoyed by your brand.
Apply Discounts Immediately
Seniors don’t like to waste time or energy. When it comes to gated offers, they want the verification process to happen fast. More than 1 in 5 seniors will abandon the process if it takes more than a minute to verify them. This is true for both low-cost items, such as a movie ticket (21%) and high-cost items, such as a television (22%).
When brands try to verify eligibility manually, it takes more time and increases friction in the customer experience, which reduces conversion. Digital verification removes this friction and streamlines the customer experience. Just be sure the digital verification process:
- Uses a broad range of accurate datasets.
- Verifies buyers instantly.
- Includes a document review step that can verify buyers in just a few minutes, if their eligibility can’t be immediately confirmed.
Avoid Collecting Data That’s Too Personal
Seniors hit the brakes when they’re asked to share too much data or data that’s too personal. When queried about what information they’d be willing to provide to be verified for a gated offer, more than 4 in 5 seniors were comfortable providing their full name (82%) and email address (83%).
But as the information became more private, their willingness sharply decreased. Sixteen percent said they would provide a credit card number and only 5 percent said they were willing to provide their social security number.
The bottom line with seniors: when you ask for less personal information you’ll get more conversions.
Have a Third-Party Verify Eligibility
When it comes to trusting brands with their personal information, seniors have some serious concerns.
Nearly 3 in 4 (74%) seniors worry about brands sharing their personal information without their consent. And 70 percent worry about the security measures brands take to protect their data.
Third-party verification may be the perfect remedy for these privacy concerns. More than half of seniors (52%) would rather be verified for an exclusive offer by an independent third-party than by a brand’s customer service representative. Digital verification by an expert vendor boosts seniors’ confidence in a brand, which makes them more likely to purchase.
Digital Verification Protects Your Gated Offer from Abuse
“Exclusive” offers that aren’t really exclusive can damage a brand. And, unfortunately, there are plenty of people out there who will cheat – 1 in 3 Americans who redeemed an exclusive offer admitted they didn’t qualify for it.
Our consumer survey revealed that seniors are particularly put off by this kind of discount abuse. When seniors see that a brand allows ineligible shoppers to redeem a gated offer, they:
- Lose trust in that brand (85%).
- Shop with that brand less (56%).
- Recommend that friends and family not use that brand (35%).
Digital verification mitigates this issue by ensuring that only seniors can redeem your offer. This builds trust, protects the integrity of the offer, and increases your margins.
SheerID is the Ideal Solution for Age Verification
SheerID’s Digital Verification Platform is grounded in these best practices and helps you create a process for redeeming your gated offer that seniors will happily complete. The platform also protects your margins by preventing discount abuse, which our customer audit showed can be as high as 35 percent.
Authoritative data sources. SheerID uses hundreds of accurate, reliable data sources that allow you to target and verify the more than 109 million Americans who are 50+.
Instant and in-brand. With SheerID, verification occurs immediately and as a natural part of the purchase process, which increases conversions by giving seniors the streamlined experience they want.
Minimal data collected. The SheerID verification process collects the personal information seniors are most willing to provide, which respects their privacy and gives you the data you need to continue cultivating the relationship for greater loyalty.
ROI activated. Every interaction seniors’ have with your gated offers is captured in easy-to-interpret performance dashboards that help you optimize your program.
Ready to Tap into the Wealth of the Senior Segment?
Learn more about how SheerID’s age verification can help you deliver compelling gated offers with 3x conversion rates.
Learn more about senior verification. Or contact us to see SheerID in action.
For more information on how to leverage the power of gated offers to tap into the senior market, read the following blog posts: