Are Women Relevant Over 50?

The advent of Social Media as a revenue source has created a new income generating celebrity being referred to as an “Influencer”.  What exactly is an influencer?  The simple definition is “a person or thing that influences another.” But in marketing an influencer is, “a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.”   Guess what?  That’s you! But are women relevant over 50 to advertisers?

The Invisible Majority

As a woman of a certain age, I’ve started to feel more and more invisible.  There are very few lifestyle-type ads depicting middle aged and older women.  If there is an ad with a woman who looks like me, then she is representing a medical product, drug, or device that specifically targets this demographic.  But when it comes to everyday stuff like clothing, food, hair products, basically anything you can think of, the marketing materials focus specifically on younger people.

Recently, we were streaming a TV series on Netflix.  It was a western crime series that had 6 seasons. Wondering why it was cancelled, I did a little online research.  The show ran for 3 seasons on A & E.  Despite being the most watched original series in A & E history at the time, they cancelled the show. According to Wikipedia, the show was cancelled “reportedly because it appealed to an older demographic that was unappealing to advertisers”.  It was picked up by Netflix and was produced for another 3 seasons.  But there you have it.  Even though it had great viewership, it didn’t attract the right demographic for advertisers.  This is where advertisers are treading in dangerous territory and leaving BIG money on the table. 

Women Influence Over 95% of All Purchases

First of all, according to Bloomberg, “women make more than 85% of the consumer purchases in the United States, and influence over 95% of total goods and services purchased.” Secondly, according to AARP, “women over 50 account for 27 percent of all consumer spending – that’s 3% more than men of that age.”  Forbes has called women over 50 “super consumers,” because, with “over $15 trillion in purchasing power, they are the healthiest, wealthiest, and most active generation in history”.

Women over 50 are the Largest Demographic with Incomes over $100k

Forbes cites data from the U.S. Government Consumer Expenditure Survey and Nielsen that shows 50-plus women are the largest demographic with incomes over $100,000; they control 95 percent of household purchasing decisions and 80 percent of luxury travel purchases. Some 75 percent of women this age say they’re willing to pay a bit extra for quality and convenience. A third are also willing to upgrade to a new car model even if their current one works “well enough.”  The same data shows that 82 percent of women in this demo are open to new brands.

Yet, women over 50 are being ignored by marketers.  According to a 2012 Nielsen study, less than 5 percent of advertising dollars are targeted to adults 35-64. The report states that most marketers write off consumers at age 49.  So where are they spending their advertising dollars?  They are targeting the 18 – 34-year-old demographic.  But here’s the problem with that.  That demographic doesn’t have as much discretionary income. Here’s where women are relevant over 50.

Women Over 50 Have More Discretionary Income

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the first quarter of 2020, women ages 45 – 54 have weekly median earnings of $927,  and $922 for women ages 55 to 64. Men and women ages 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, $593 and $583.  This does not consider Student Loans.  The College Investor estimates the average millennial student loan debt to be $30,000. 

According to GirlPower Marketing, American women 50+ are the healthiest, wealthiest and most active generation of women in history. (Source: Demographics by Mark Miller), and Women 50+ control a net worth of $19 trillion. (Source: MassMutual Financial Group, 2007).

Do Women Over 50 Have an Image Problem?

Maybe our image problem comes from the fact that the advertising industry is still largely male dominated.  The ads are geared to attract younger people, yes, but I’m guessing that most of it is geared toward young men.  Take burger commercials, for instance.  Some online commercials have been staged to catch the eyes of hungry young men, with dripping burgers, and bikini models.  Online media is thought to be dominated by younger people, specifically men, even though women in the 50+ range make 70% of their purchases online.

Convinced yet?  Are women relevant over 50? We have the largest purchasing dollars and we have the highest number of purchasers.  We’ve got the power, my friends. But it’s not as simple as that.  This is a very complex issue.  It impacts more than just marketing; it can impact everyone’s impression of our influence in today’s culture…our very relevance.

Support Smart Advertisers

I’m certainly not a social psychologist, but I’d love to see us target our spending toward companies who represent us in their marketing. I’d also love to change our image. We are responsible for how we are viewed in the world, and in the marketplace.  I plan to participate in marketing surveys so that companies can get to know our purchasing habits. I’d love to see more of us sharing our favorite products with each other on Social Media.  I want to matter in the world for years to come, and for heaven’s sake, I’d like to see women like us in ads for something sexier than leaky bladder products. Women are relevant over 50. We need to be more visible.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy my recent post, Pushing 60.

I’d love to see your ideas for bringing our relevance to light.  Participate in the discussion in the comments below.