Mediaboss Marketing

Feb 15, 2022

Senior influencers nicknamed granfluencers continue to earn heaps of media coverage, possibly offering brands opportunities to reach older and younger social media users.

Among the star older influencers are the The Old Gays, four men from California in their sixties and seventies who use social media to give their perspectives on pop culture and growing up as gay men. The group, with 5.8 million followers on TikTok alone, have been featured on the Drew Barrymore Show and Today show.

A recent New York Times article highlighted three over-50 fashion influencers Grece Ghanem,Lyn SlaterandNina Garcia all with social media followings well past the half-million mark, all rejecting the cultures insistence that women become invisible 50 years before death.

Fifty-seven year old Lonni Pike, who goes by the name Gray Hair and Tattoos, has collected nearly one million TikTok followers and 103,000 Instagram followers with her body and age-positive messaging.

The New York Post last year noted that 92-year-old Helen Ruth Elam, who uses the social tagline Stealing Your Man Since 1928, earns as much as $9,815 per promo.

Its uncertain how many senior influencers are out there, but they may provide marketing conduits for reaching their digitally-savvy peers. Pew Research last year found the percentage of older adults aged 65 and older who used social media grew from three percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2021.

With the majority of TikTok and Instagram users under 24 years old, the bigger opportunity may be reaching the Gen-Zers inspired by the authenticity, wisdom and can-do attitude of their elders.

Speaking to the Associated Press, AARP SVP Alison Bryant said many older creators offer a unique perspective for youth.

Theyre showing that anybody can do these things, that you dont have to be afraid of aging. The 20 and 30-somethings dont often think about that, Ms. Bryant said. The authenticity that were seeing in some of these older influencers is really refreshing. Thats part of the complexity of their narratives.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do elder social media influencers offer big opportunities for brands to reach older consumers? Do you see potential for them to reach younger audiences as well?

"The biggest takeaway here is the not so gentle reminder that on social media, particularly TikTok, brands should not aim to only target Gen Z."

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Are granfluencers a thing? RetailWire - RetailWire