Social media advertising is an increasingly relevant tool for many business owners. Like any other form of advertising, these messages work best when they’re targeted to a specific audience. If a significant portion of your customer base is 65 or older, it’s a good idea to think through what you’re going to do to make your advertising especially relevant to these buyers.

[Tweet “39 million seniors had a Facebook or Twitter profile in 2014. #SocialMedia “]

According to the Pew Internet and American Life project, nearly three quarters of all seniors had a mobile device in 2014. 39 million had a Facebook or Twitter profile, with nearly half of them considered active users. Active senior users of social media are using it the same way everyone else is – to connect with friends, to be entertained, and yes, to shop.

When designing social media marketing to reach your senior customers, keep these key points in mind:

Less is More:

Clean design is essential to appealing to seniors. Avoid the urge to clutter an ad with too many images and reams of text. Instead, focus on one emotionally impactful image and minimal text that’s informative and written clearly.

Think Through Your Appeal:

Frame your offers in a way that prioritizes the benefit to the senior customer. For example, a toy retailer may have this season’s most popular game before anyone else, but the value add for the senior may be that they’ll be able to be the cool Grandma by being the first to get it for their grandkids.

Go for the Positive:

After more than 6 decades of consumer experience, seniors have had enough of fear based marketing. Scare tactics or pointing out potential perils doesn’t work with this audience. Instead, focus on empowering messages that reinforce the positive choices seniors can make to make their life better.