Marketing tips and marketing trends for retirement communities and homes about marketing to seniors, boomers. [Retirement Industry Meeting of the Minds, November 2010, Presented by Agnes Stawicki]

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.cawww.ComfortLife.ca
Marketing Tips for
Retirement Communities

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
What are your marketing
challenges?
1. Exposure - people don’t know we exist
2. Negative stigmas - location, nursing home, dementia
3. Attitude - stay at home, stay in the garden
4. Online growth - how do we get found in Google

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100
Source – eMarketer
% of people
using the internet
CANADA
2008
60
62
64
66
68
70
72
74
76
0
75%
78
68%
63%
U.S.A.
2008
CANADA
2010
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Canada’s Online Population -
Largest in the world

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Source – Experian Hitwise
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Google has 71%

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Your website
Toronto Retirement homes
Ontario Retirement homes
Luxury Retirement homes
Retirement Communities
Downsizing
Assisted Living
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
80% of website traffic begins with
search engine queries

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Source – Experian Hitwise
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Seniors online (Nov 2009)
#1 Google (10.3 million)
#2 Windows media player (8.2 million)
#3 Facebook (7.9 million)

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
What’s New? What works?
Blogs
Websites
Social Media
Newspaper
Magazine
of online searches are driven
by offline channels
TV
Radio
Signage
Community centers
67%

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Word of Mouth
Referrals
Suggestions
Amplify your marketing
to increase word of mouth
communication

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Empower your network
and trust them
Give them something to talk about
newsletters, print and online
resident blog
photo gallery
expert handbooks
"My mom moved into a
retirement community"
"My friend works with
seniors, I'll ask her"
Delmanor Retirement Communities
RT@brad_dawg My grandmother’s
retirement home has so much
drama.

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Benefits of social engagement
Drive traffic and generate leads
develop branding
increase traditional media exposure
lift search engine results
connect with media

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Social Media and Social Engagement
Definition
Listening to your customers, being helpful
by sharing your knowledge and giving
them interesting content to share.

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Platforms and Tools
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
YouTube, Flicker
Blogs, Message boards, Forums
Podcasts

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"One of the greatest challenges or losses that we face as older
adults, frankly, is not about our health, but it’s actually about
our social network deteriorating on us, because our friends get
sick, our spouse passes away, friends pass away, or we move."
—Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at MIT
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
What do your current residents to
Stay connected
Email friends and family
Share photos and videos

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
How to get started
1.KNOWWHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
about you
about your company
about your competitors
about the industry
TOOLS:
Google alerts, SocialMention, Twilert
RSS and Email subscriptions

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How to get started
2. EXTENDYOUR REACH
Look at what you’re already doing
Find channels to distribute content
Get connected to your community and networks
Engage your community

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Examples
ON FACEBOOK
Google search: “talking to parents about retirement”
#3 results in Google: Caroline Place, Hamilton

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www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Examples
OTHER RETIREMENT
COMMUNITIES ON FACEBOOK
Truro Retirement Village, Halifax, Nova Scotia
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Truro-NS/Welcome-to-Truro-Worlds-Largest-Retirement-
Village/331218177834
Oaknoll Retirement Residence, Oaknoll, Iowa
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oaknoll-Retirement-Residence/120329451312363
Paliside Gardens Retirement Community, Coburg, Ontario
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cobourg-ON/Palisade-Gardens-Retirement-
Community/104426429615901
Once you have 25 fans, you
can create a custom URL
facebook.com/
username
TIP:

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Source: wordstream.com (http://www.wordstream.com/blog/
ws/2009/05/20/seo-is-dead)
www.ComfortLife.ca www.dialogueplus.ca
Online Marketing Trends
Search queries for SEO, PPC and SOCIAL MEDIA

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Reality: Marketing only generates leads
People sell to people
Customer service is most important
Invest in your sales team
Have a consistent message and friendly staff
Respond and follow-up all leads
Q How solid are online leads?

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What is your lead response time?
The two factors that enable you to speak to more leads are
“Inquiry response time” which is the time it takes you to
connect by phone with the lead from the moment they
hit submit. If you can respond within the hour your sales
conversion rate will increase drastically. All inquiries should
be responded to with 24 hours.
Persistence of your re-attempts to connect by phone. Attempt
to call them up to 6 times until you reach them. You’ll reach
more than 70% of you leads within just two attempts.