leading age 2013 - facts not fads of online marketing for senior living professionals

LeadingAge | October 28, 2013 [email protected] — [email protected] — [email protected]

© Creating Results, LLC 2013

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Seniors are Online— and Making Moves In 2012, for first time, more than 1/2 of 65+ Americans were going online. As seniors become

more wired, senior living organizations become more focused on how they can use the Internet to

motivate prospects to move to their communities.

However the digital marketing landscape changes by the minute. There are more tools and

platforms and choices than ever before. Senior living marketers need to understand HOW and WHY

older adults use the web in their move journey so they can know WHEN and WHERE to focus their

efforts.

In this session, learn how you can improve the effectiveness of your digital sales and marketing

efforts, improve your occupancy and reduce your costs per lead.



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TAKE AWAYS—ACTION ITEMS

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More Seniors Online In 2012, for first time, more than 1/2 of 65+ Americans using web

For older users, web still seen more as a tool and less as

entertainment. Top online activities (per Pew Internet & American

Life Project):

Email

Search

News

Seeking out health information more popular with older users than

youngers

Social, Silver Surfers National study of 800+ Internet users over 40 (ebook at http://

www.CreatingResults.com/SocialSilver2013)

Update of 2010 research; offline intercept studies at locations

attracting more affluent, more educated active adults; online polling

Examine web and social media usage patterns, attitudes

Stats on seniors online usage available for download at www.CreatingResults.com/FactsNotFads



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Web Categories of Websites Visited

Lifestage strongly influences where people spend time on the web

Web & Move Decisions Use of Online Directories in a move journey by Leading Edge

Boomers, 75+ has increased since 2010

Use of Community Websites by Silent Generation and 75+ has

decreased since 2010

CATEGORY MORE POPULAR WITH

Research, Reference

Health, Medical, Wellness

Leading Edge Boomers, 65+

seniors

Those aged 55+

Weather

Travel

Shopping

News

81% of 40-54 year olds (vs 57%

of 75+)

Those aged 65-74

Those under 65 (but it is still a

top category for those over 65,

as well)

Those aged 65-74


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Web & Move Decisions (cont) For marketing senior living, see diminishing ROI with Social Media,

Craigslist and Realtor Websites as respondent age increases

1 in 4 mature movers said they visited a community’s site more

than 6 times before they moved there

Actions taken on Community Websites:

Most users Print Information, (nearly 7 out of 10 of all

respondents) Fill Out Forms (just over 1/2 of all

respondents), Use Internal Search (1/2 of respondents)

Fewest users Share Information with a Friend, or Like/

Follow/Pin

An increasing number of mature movers have rejected a

community based solely on its website



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Top Housing Website “Pet Peeves” All Ages

Requires registration to get information

Don’t say price

Outdated info

Slow site

Older Age Groups

Hard to navigate the site (50% of Silent Generation vs.

22% of all ages)

Incomplete or illegible floor plans (60% of Silent

Generation vs. 31% of all ages)

Favorite Features Top features from 2010 research remain popular with all ages

Printer Friendly Pages

Internal Search Tools

Easy Navigation



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Online Leads Do Not Behave Like Other Leads



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Online Leads Self Qualify for Your Community



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Case Study: Willow Valley Self-Qualification Analysis

Isolate digital footprint

Examine every web interaction

Color code content area

Compare to CRM (Customer Relationship Management

database)

Re-engage with Win-Ready Lead

Color Coded Content

Mix Shifts by Month

Month 1: Lead creation & initial exploration

Month 2: Heavy interest in fees and housing

Month 3: Interest shifts to Care & Lifestyle

Month 4: Early validation

Month 5: Close



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Online Leads are Great Leads! “I’m not interested” often means “I’m not ready to talk with you

yet.”

Inactive leads are just not visible to you.

Develop strategies to create Win-Ready leads.

Track and measure everything!

Self-Qualification Process Accelerate Closures Behavioral analytics and a systematic focus are needed

“My leads find me to be more sincere and helpful. It doesn’t feel

like a ‘sales’ call because I can be more personalized in my

approach. They can tell the difference.” - Sales counselor



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Social Media Use of Social by Older Age Groups

Still not used a high percentage of seniors but we are seeing

exciting growth and opportunities

More than just Facebook

More than 200 well-known networks, hundreds more small ones

“Social Media Revolution 4” http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=QUCfFcchw1w

Social sharing tools important—Those most commonly used by 40+:

Email a friend (77% of all ages)

YouTube (72%)

Comments (56%)

Reported use of User Reviews and Comments by all ages increased

since 2010

Youngest age group most fond of comments

Oldest age group strongly favors Email



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Social Media Level of Social Networking Activity

Use by active aging adults on the rise, BUT

Nearly 1/3 of our 65+ respondents and nearly 1/2 of our 75+

respondents aren’t using social at all (in line with other national

research)

Top Online Social Networks for Seniors

Facebook. (89% of all ages of survey respondents)

The older the respondent, the more likely to see email as a social

network



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Why Marketers Use Social #1: Increase awareness / Generate Leads Branding, name recognition

Lift and substitute for traditional advertising

Drive traffic

Drive web traffic

Other benefits:

Monitor, recruit, provide customer service

Listen/learn

Improve relationships with stakeholders

Find vendors, sources, partners

Find inspiration

Why Seniors Use Social To Connect with Offline Networks of Family/Friends

NOT to Connect with Brands

Q: Do you want to be a brand’s friend/follower/fan?

The older the social networker, the more likely they are to say

“no” to online social engagement with a brand.


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Social Media Engagement Challenges:

Desire to keep social media social (not commercial + Concerns

about privacy, intrusiveness = lack of interest in engaging with brands

on these platforms

Opportunities:

Increase in number of older people trying social out of curiosity, or

because of a friend’s invitation = hope for marketers

How To Lead Folks to “Follow”:

Keep expectations realistic

Keep in mind the audience frustration with time consumed by social

media and aversion to “selly-sell” messaging

Demonstrate the value of engaging socially — from the user’s

perspective

Address privacy/security fears

Don’t be too salesy—content should be thoughtful, relevant, useful

Integrate social opportunities into all parts of your digital plan (and

offline vehicles, where possible)


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About Your Presenters:

Todd Harff - Creating Results [email protected]

Todd Harff leads a talented team of marketing, public relations and advertising professionals that has marketed 106 age-qualified communities in 15 states during the last 20 years. NAHB’s University of Housing hired Todd to develop the day-long course: “Marketing to Active Adults.” Creating Results' clients have been honored with dozens of awards from the National 50+ Housing Council, the National Sales and Marketing Council and Mature Media awards. Creating Results conducts research to better understand and influence mature consumers. Todd & Erin’s insights have been featured in Brand Week, Ad Age, Marketing Charts, The Wall Street Journal and Marketing Sherpa. He also shares his thoughts through the agency’s blog, www.MatureMarketingMatters.com. Todd has contributed to Sales and Marketing News, 50+ Magazine, Selling to Seniors, Housing to Seniors, 50+ Housing News, Nation's Building News, Active Aging and has spoken at Leading Age national and state annual meetings, International Council on Active Aging, Building for Boomers, Boomers and Beyond and other national conferences.

April LaMon - Lead InSite [email protected]

April has serious marketing chops bringing experience honed with blue chip companies like Kraft, Pepsi and Armstrong. In addition, she formed her own strategic marketing shop consulting with a wide array of clients, including in the senior living space. Having worked with senior living organizations on branding and marketing, she noticed that the not-for-profit sector lacked some of the critical marketing metrics that she had relied on to make sound marketing decisions. This led her to co-found Lead InSite which provides senior living organizations with data on how their prospects are interacting with their websites and how they can capture more leads. April enjoys applying sound strategic thinking, savvy marketing skills, creative insights and pragmatic style to help LeadingAge members become more successful.

Erin Read - Creating Results [email protected]

Erin Read (Ruddick) researches, writes and speaks to regional, national and international audiences about seniors and digital marketing. At Creating Results, Erin spearheads PR and digital marketing (web, email and social media marketing) for clients in senior living and other industries. She leads the digital efforts for North Hill senior living among other clients. The North Hill online marketing strategy won the Gold Best of 50+ Housing award and the Platinum Generations Award in 2013; its website won two additional Gold Generations Awards for excellence in design and overall functionality. Erin is the principal blogger for MatureMarketingMatters.com; find her on Twitter @CreatingResults.

leading age 2013 - facts not fads of online marketing for senior living professionals

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