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Lately, I have gotten a lot of juice with my technique for reaching caregivers or anyone that is not the end user of a product or service. When I was interviewed for a piece in "Selling for Seniors" the journalist created a three-part series. Here is the first to be published: Tangential Marketing: Marketing to Someone Who Is Not the End User Tangential marketing -- marketing to someone who is not the end user of your product or service -- is a challenge because you must educate the purchaser on communicating the benefits of the product or service to the end user. Adriane Berg, a veteran consultant, author and speaker in reaching the Boomer, caregiver and senior markets, helps clients understand tangential marketing. She has been a guest lecturer on this topic at the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center, Davis School of Gerontology, in a course called Marketing for Gerontologists. Marketing to Caregivers The most obvious type of tangential marketing, Berg says, is when marketers promote products for children. The parents are the purchasers, but the children are the end users and the influencers -- they influence their moms to buy them toys that they see advertised on TV. But in tangential marketing to adult caregivers of seniors, the equation changes because the caregivers are the purchasers and the influencers -- they have to influence their older loved ones to use the product or service. There are 67.5 million caregivers in the United States, and 38 million of them are taking care of older relatives. "That's a huge tangential market," Berg tells Selling to Seniors. There are two components of tangential marketing. "First, the people in your tangential market, the purchasers, have to like your product or service, want it and be able to afford it. Secondly, you have to educate them to communicate those benefits to the older adult end user. "You don't have to teach a kid to want a toy, but you have to teach Mom to want a cell phone," Berg says. "Educating the purchaser is the missing piece most of the time. And in missing that piece, we miss the mark." She advises marketers to ensure that two critical pieces of the puzzle are in place: Give the end users, or seniors, images of their peers using the product, and educate the tangential market on how to communicate the benefits of the product with those seniors, who are, in most cases, their parents. Creating Peer Buzz and Educating the Purchaser "Peer buzz is important to older consumers," Berg says. "When older adults on television tell them that they need burial insurance or a reverse mortgage, they take notice. But it's not usually the senior who calls and asks for the product. It's more likely that their older adult child goes to them and says, 'Why don't you have this?' Marketers are good at that part of it, but many of them miss the mark when it comes to integrating the messages that they give to older adults directly with the education that should be given to the tangential market on how to reinforce those messages." Marketers who are successful at incorporating that educational message into their messaging or websites, in essence, "are turning those 38 million caregivers into their salespeople," Berg says. "Not only do they have to buy your product; they also have to sell it. And that is the challenge. Nobody wants to buy an alert service that ends up in somebody's drawer or causes a fight. So you educate the caregiver on how to present the product or service to the older loved one." Berg says that three steps are necessary for teaching purchasers -- in this case, caregivers -- how to "sell" a product or service to older loved ones. And she advises being forthright -- even blunt, if necessary. - The end user, or senior, must understand the item. To find out if he or she does, ask them to repeat what you told them about it.
- If they have an objection to the item, really listen. Don't just take it as pushback. Repeat to them what their objection is and discuss it.
- Show the older adult why the item is valuable to you, the caregiver, and how it makes your life easier.
Tangential marketing involves anyone who is buying something for somebody else. It could be a parent and child, or a caregiver and senior, as discussed. It could also be spouses, professionals buying for their clients, medical professionals buying for their patients or doctors buying something for dentists to whom they refer patients. Next week, we will describe how tangential marketing is helping Golden Cuisine, a provider of home delivered fresh/frozen meals for older adults, to successfully market packaged meals to seniors, caregivers and geriatric professionals. Info: Adriane Berg, 908/236-8148 908/236-8148 or
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; www.GenerationBold.com, www.AdrianeBerg.com. Berg is the CEO of Generation Bold, a business development consultancy that helps clients reach Boomers, older adults and caregivers. She is also the author of How Not To Go Broke at 102 and 12 other books and is a national keynoter to travel, financial , home and facilities building, healthcare, government and nonprofit groups on topics covering marketing, selling and branding to reach Boomers, seniors and caregivers. Copyright © CD Publications
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