Latitude 53

In the 21st Century, it is easy to assume that everyone with whom you are seeking to communicate has access to email.  Promotional offers to customers increasingly require that the beneficiary has an email address to download a voucher.  But what if your target audience does not universally have access to email and/or the internet?

Barbara Dinsdale runs a health-screening service and is currently seeking specifically to target the over 50s with a one-stop-shop health screen for diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol.  Over to Barbara…

“Whilst our health-screening is offered to people of all ages, we realise that blood-pressure and cholesterol in particular are more significant concerns for older people.  We were aware that there are older people out there using the internet – the so-called ‘Silver Surfers’ – but when we looked into the statistics we were shocked at the extent to which older people are still excluded from what we might term the digital age.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) states that over 9 million people in the UK aged over 55 are excluded from computers and internet.  The total number of over 55s is just over 15m so that means that, still, 60% of the UK’s over 55s do not have access to technology.  For us, in trying to talk to this market, we need to go back to more traditional means of communication.  Email promotions will only have limited value.

The strategy we are taking forward is to use direct, personalized mail with telephone follow up calls.  Speaking directly to people allows us to offer alternative dates and venues and allows people to ask any questions they may have.  We are also looking to use cards as a method of sending out the annual reminder.  A light, humorous touch in the cards we believe helps to remove some of the stress from what is a potentially serious medical subject.  We expect to pick up significant business through word-of-mouth and so making our clients feel comfortable with us is central to our marketing efforts.  We are certainly looking as we go forward to using some form of thankyou card to all of our new customers.”

For more information on Barbara’s health-screening services visit www.health-yourself-screens.com or call Barbara on 01274-688774.

For more information on using greeting cards as part of your marketing and customer loyalty strategies visit www.latitude53.co.uk/cards4business or call Andrew Helm on 0844 504 5353.