Older buyers are one of the most underrated audiences in ecom right now.

People in their 50s, 60s, and 70s have more disposable income than any other demographic.

They have less exposure to online content and ad formats…

So they haven't built up the same resistance to ads that younger buyers have.

They watch videos without the skepticism.

And they don't immediately tune out when something looks like an ad.

Because of that, creatives that look a bit rough, like AI-generated ads, can perform really well with this group (more on this later).

On top of that…

Very few brands are actively going after them compared to younger demographics.

As a result, ad costs are generally cheaper.

Now, let me show you how to tap into this audience segment.

The thing about older buyers is they don't consume content the way young people do.

They're not scrolling TikTok all day…

They don't find the same type of short-form content entertaining.

So your ad placements and formats need to match their behavior.

From what I’ve seen:

These are 3 places where you can reach them profitably right now… that not many brands know about.

1. In-stream YouTube Ads

These are long-form video ads that play before or during a video.

There's no supporting copy or images, the video has to do all the selling.

It works really well for cold audiences and products that need some explanation before someone's ready to click.

Here, you target by age group to focus on older buyers.

The creative format we've seen the most success here is 3-minute VSLs.

They follow a classic direct response structure:

To make the creative more effective, you can have a credible figure delivering it, like a doctor for a health product.

This audience grew up trusting that kind of authority.

So when you put the right person in front of the camera, it does a lot of the heavy lifting for the sale.

Also…

Older buyers haven't been exposed to enough AI-generated content to recognize it.

In fact, a lot of them have no idea what AI videos are.

Because of that, AI creatives do well here. We've seen many brands hit 6 figures per month with this format. 

2. Google Discover

If you've been following my content, you've probably seen me bring this up a lot lately.

And there’s a good reason for that.

This is a placement we cracked a few months ago, and it's been delivering great results across our client accounts.

We're seeing 3-4x ROAS on complete cold traffic.

For those unfamiliar with Google Discover…

It’s Google’s content feed, where people scroll through articles and news.

The audience skews older. They grew up reading newspapers and magazines. They trust editorial formats.

That’s why native-style ads work really well here.

They look like they belong in a real publication, which fit naturally into what they consume and trust.

3. Bing Ads

Bing is basically a smaller version of Google with an older user base.

The average Bing user has a 7-figure net worth and from our data, CPCs tend to run lower than Google with better ROAS.

It also operates almost the same way as Google.

Same pay-per-click model. Similar campaign types (Search & Shopping).

If you're already running Google Ads, you can import most of your campaign setups and launch within a day or two.

The main limitation of Bing is that it doesn’t match the search volume of Google.

So the ceiling for scale is lower.

Still…

I believe most brands should test it as it’s a great support channel for your Google campaigns.

One that acts as a profit layer with lower competition, higher ROAS, and an audience your competitors are completely ignoring.

So those are 3 underrated channels that do a great job reaching this demographic.

Now, this isn’t an exhaustive list.

And you can obviously get in front of older buyers through Google Search, Shopping, or Meta Ads.

But the 3 above are where most brands aren’t tapping into.

And to be fair, how well this audience converts will depend a lot on your product category.

However…

A lot of brands aren't thinking about how their products could appeal to this demographic.

And I believe there're many more ways to position toward them than people assume.

So I’d recommend you to find those angles, then use these placements to test.

And if you're already targeting older buyers, these are 3 channels worth adding to your mix.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn.

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