The Business of Aging

SeniorCareMarketer.com Named as a Member Benefit for International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN)

Online marketing and public relations service provider SeniorCareMarketer.com has entered into an alliance with International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN) to make SeniorCareMarketer.com's proprietary online marketing software available to IMMN as member benefit.

A direct response to America’s growing senior population, SeniorCareMarketer.com combines a database of web-based marketing and public relations (PR) opportunities with press release distribution tools and SEO campaign management and measurement abilities.

“As IMMN develops our strong strategic plan for the organization, our partnership with Senior Care Marketer is one of the new ways we are providing members with greater value moving forward,” said Lori Bitter, president of IMMN.

“The aging of the population worldwide is not just a trend—it’s a demographic tsunami that is creating millions of dollars of business opportunity,” said Mark Willaman, founder of SeniorCareMarketer.com. “With that business growth comes the need to better understand and communicate to these demanding and complex consumers.”

Press release here.

 

New Media Relations Functionality Added to HRmarketer.com and SeniorCareMarketer.com Software

 We have a number of really cool new features being added to our HRmarketer.com software and SeniorCareMarketer.com software this summer, starting off with the just launched Media and Relations module that enables marketing and PR professionals to centrally manage, track and report on their media and analyst outreach campaigns.

Currently, you can distribute press releases, send pitches and monitor editorial calendar inquiries directly from the software's media database, which profiles journalists, analysts and bloggers in the HR and senior care/boomer markets. Each profile includes the journalist’s preferred contact method, specific coverage areas, social networking accounts and an up-to-the-minute listing of their “Tweets.” Detailed editorial calendars are also shown for their related media outlets.

This new media and analyst relations feature allows users to centrally track their outreach activities, including press releases sent to the respective contact, pitches and inquiries. You can also track follow-up activities with scheduled reminders that can be seamlessly added to your s personal Outlook, iCal or other third-party calendar software.

I recorded this little demo from my home office the other night - pardon the informality - which provides a nice overview. This video is recorded from the HRmarketer.com platform.

Enjoy - if you are at SHRM next week stop by our booth #318 for more info or just to say hi.

Print Media Dying a Slow Death. Get Social and Get Online.

Erica Morris from PR Week wrote an article about a 2010 Media Survey they worked with CA Walker to conduct. Data is based on completed surveys from 268 media professionals and 285 PR professionals during January 11-19. Results were tested at a confidence level of 90%.

The findings were very interesting. A few findings stood out for me:

1. Growing importance (and acceptance) of pitching to journalists through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
2. Half of surveyed journalists say that only 0-25% of pitches they receive are related to what they cover.
3. Nearly 40% of journalists say pitches incorporating multimedia and high res photos help them better understand a story.
4. 84% of journalists consider email the best way to receive pitches.
5. Nearly 60% of journalists expect a further decline in print circulation and growing importance on the Web and other online channels. A blog post I made yesterday on HRmarketer discussed how the S.F. Chronicle circulation dropped 22 percent in last year! While there are exceptions we are seeing a definite trend of dropping circulations amongst print media.  

My reaction to these points:

• Senior Care vendors must do a better job at connecting, following and using social media in their media relations. Our SeniorCareMarketer.com customers have plenty of tools available to facilitate this including our database of social networking account information for senior care and boomer media and our real-time feeds of their media tweets. But they are not being used to there maximum value by most vendors.
• Knowing journalists prefer email is a plus for companies using SeniorCareMarketer.com because they can send media releases to senior care and boomer journalists. But many vendors still do not engage in ongoing media relations. This is a missed opportunity. 
• Finally, the fact that 50% of journalists say that only 0-25% of pitches they receive are related to what they cover is shocking to me. Elrond Lawrence, one of our media relations experts at our sister product HRmarketer, wrote several articles on effective media relations - read them here. And SeniorCareMarketer.com customers should review the notes we compile for journalists before sending them news releases (e.g., what they cover, what they want, etc.).

The bottom line is that print media is dying a slow death as online visibility grows in importance. More and more data is confirming this fact. As a result, companies targeting seniors and boomers  must aggressively invest in social media, SEO, SEM and other tactics that result in online visibility, web site traffic and sales leads.

Here are some free resources from SeniorCareMarketer that discuss many of the above points.

Day Three - Aging in America 2010 & Boomer Summit

Today was our final day of exhibiting. Tomorrow we spend the day at the Boomer Summit.  As a marketing firm in this marketplace, three powerful themes resonated from this year's ASA event. I'll focus the two of those themes the next two blog posts. These themes include:

1. As a company selling to seniors you will fail if you rely only on traditional marketing.
2. The concept of "retirement" is going through a transformation.

Many sessions, workshops and hallway discussions were about the issues facing society as populations age. This is the third theme I took away from this event. While I will not focus on this theme in these blog posts, all of us in this space - vendors included - must never lose sight that this is the core of what these events are really all about.

Let's first look at theme #1 - As a company selling to seniors you will fail if you rely only on traditional marketing. Three points I want to make here. First, you need to be allocating a significant part of your budget to non-traditional internet marketing - SEO, SEM, PPC, etc.  A good model to follow is from our sister company HRmarketer - The Lead Generation model.

We were talking to one vendor who said his company didn't really need to worry about online marketing because their customers - the aging demographic - would rather hold a physical brochure in their hands and would be unlikely to go online to get information.

OK.

These were some statistics released last year by Pew Internet & American Life Project - they will only increase as Boomer's age.

•  74 percent use the Internet
•  62 percent have broadband at home
•  72 percent use a cell phone
•  43 percent connect to the Internet wirelessly.
•  91 percent of boomers use search engines
•  78 percent search in health care
•  30 percent use online ratings
•  38 percent share video feeds
•  26 percent read blogs
•  17 percent share creations
•  16 percent have a social network profile
•  7 percent blog.

Maybe this company's CURRENT target market isn't online (even that is debatable) but they will be soon. And if you delay building your online visibility it will be too late.  Just ask Porters of Racine.

Secondly, the messaging you used in your marketing last decade will not work with aging Boomers. Old people playing checkers and smiling will not sell your assisted living community. Many thought leaders have written about this topic including most notably David Wolfe in his book Ageless Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New Customer Majority.

Finally, your marketing must account for the fact that most of the products and services relating to the care of an aging individual will not be purchased by the individual. As a result, you must also build brand awareness with numerous purchase "influencers" including the children of aging parents, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, care managers, in-home care companies, etc., etc. etc. This what our SeniorCareMarketer product is all about.  Even employers and human resource departments  may be involved.  

My next blog post will focus on the second theme I took away from the ASA event - The concept of "retirement" is going through a transformation.

Recommended Event: Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit.

SeniorCareMarketer.com is a sponsor of this years Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit & Business Plan Competition.  The Facebook page is here.

Mary Furlong & Associates co-produce this event and they do a sensational job. This event attracts some very prominent VCs (including corporate VCs) and some of the sharpest business/marketing minds in the senior care marketplace.  

Some of the event's highlights: 

• Learn why VCs are investing heavily in the boomer  market - hear from VC portfolio companies
• Learn from key analysts how they segment the market and evaluate opportunity
• Hear all Business Plan Competition finalists present their business ideas to the blue ribbon panel of judges

Who is attending?

• Investors and venture capitalists
• Corporate strategists and marketing experts
• Analysts who track segments of the market
• Organizations that serve the boomer consumer
• Media that report on the marketplace
• Entrepreneurs who serve this market

Our economy is going through unprecedented changes as are the demographics of the world (aging population) and every company must think about how they will react to these changes.  Events like this inspire great thought about how your business may adapt to these changes.

As I mentioned, SeniorCareMarketer.com is a sponsor of this event and we are speaking. But even if we were not, I'd still recommend this event to any business targeting boomers or selling elder/senior care type services. The networking alone is worth the registration fee.

I hope to see you there.

Either way, at your next strategy meeting give some thought as to how your company can evolve to better meet the needs of an aging population. There will be lots of opportunities.

SeniorCareMarketer.com and The Senior List® Team to Help Senior Care Suppliers Grow their Businesses

Chris Clark, founder of The Senior List, and myself (founder of SeniorCareMarketer.com) worked out a pretty interesting partnership that we believe will be of interest to this blog's readership. The details are below. If you have questions contact Chris (advertising@theseniorlist.com) or myself (info@seniorcaremarketer.com). Incidentally , if you are interested in exploring a similar partnership please send me an email.

----
SeniorCareMarketer.com and The Senior List®  have formed a partnership that will give senior care providers cost-effective tools to increase their company’s online visibility, Web site traffic, sales leads and search-engine rankings.

Under terms of the partnership, senior care companies with an ‘enhanced’ listing on The Senior List will receive a free one-month trial to SeniorCaremarketer.com, an online service that combines a database of marketing and public relations (PR) opportunities with press release distribution, campaign management and social networking and SEO services.

The Senior List is an online resource that helps match people with senior-related services in their local communities. By visiting www.theseniorlist.com and choosing a state, users can browse, add or rate local businesses. Launched nationally in 2008, The Senior List has over 10,000 businesses in its growing database.

“We developed The Senior List to bring the highest performing businesses together with consumers who are searching online,” says Chris Clark, president and CEO.  “By giving our customers access to SeniorCareMarketer.com, we are providing them with a powerful marketing tool to help them grow their business’ online visibility.”

"The Internet offers limitless sales potential, and this partnership provides senior care companies with increased visibility to both consumers and  providers of senior care services,” said Mark Willaman, founder of Fisher Vista LLC, the owners of SeniorCareMarketer.com.  “Suppliers can now benefit from two cost-effective marketing tools to boost Web site traffic, sales leads and improved search engine rankings.”

New Facebook Group for Senior Care Companies

If you sell products or services that relate to the Boomers or aging population, you'll be interested in these two (free) social networking sites:

1. Senior Care Marketing Facebook Group:  The senior care industry is booming and it's just getting started. From home care services and medical products to senior housing options like assisted living, the demand for products and services relating to the care of older Americans is growing exponentially.  Senior Care Marketing is a group for companies that sell products and services relating to the aging of America.

2. The SeniorCareMarketer Community: Build your company profile in this site's Buyer Guide and upload your corporate logo, tags, company description and syndicate your content (white papers, articles, research, blogs, webcasts, etc.).  This will help build your online visibility and improve your search engine rankings.

Enjoy. 

Seniors Fuel Increase in Career-Site Visitors. The Bigger Picture.

I posted this blog on our suster site's (HRmarketer.com) blog earlier today but it also has great relevance to this audience. Enjoy.

------
A few days ago Marketing Charts  posted an interesting article on how visitors to US career-development websites increased 20% year-over-year to 49.7 million in January 2009.

This was fueled by a surge in visitors ages 65+ who are apparently still in the job market, according to data from Nielsen Online. In fact, the number of unique visitors age 65 and older to career development websites grew 41% year-over-year, increasing from 2.5 million in January 2008 to 3.6 million in January 2009.

Chuck Schilling, research director with Nielsen Online had this to say about the data:

“While 65 used to be considered the age when most people retired, we are seeing a trend toward later retirement or partial retirement,” Schilling said. “Much of this desire to stay employed longer can probably be attributed to the fact that people are living longer and feel the need to keep generating income and sock away more retirement savings, especially in light of the current economic climate and its effect on people’s nest eggs.”

At Fisher Vista, LLC we operate what we initially believed to be two totally different businesses: (1) HRmarketer.com and (2) SeniorCareMarketer.com. Yet, as we speak with senior care and HR vendors we are realizing these two services are quite complementary.  Who would have thunk? 

And this is giving us a unique perspective on the aging population's impact on corporate America.  In particular, how every company (yes, yours too)  will have to:

(1) Rethink recruitment and retention, employee benefits design, and general staffing decisions to attract and retain an older workforce.  This means everything from how you source candidates, their job descriptions, the benefits you offer them, their work schedules (e.g., job sharing), how to train and manage them, etc.

(2) Rethink how your products or services are relevant to an aging population. Whether you realize it or not, your target market is expanding to include "Boomers" and "Seniors" and smart companies are finding ways to either (a) tweak their existing offerings to have more relevence to this market and/or developing new product lines specifically designed for the aging population (e.g., Phillips Electronics Lifeline products  and Jitterbug's easy to use cell phones).

Number one (recruiting, etc.) gets all the attention these days. But number two (product development/marketing) is equally if not more important in the long term. Our economy is going through unprecedented changes as are the demographics of the world - and every company must think about how they will maintain relevance in the next economy. To get you thinking, check out Ed Wallace's brilliant article When the Boomers Stop Buying.

I'm already seeing some senior care vendors enter the HR space by introducing their products/services to employers - usually as some form of employee benefit to help employees dealing with elder care issues.  And more HR executives are noticing the impact elder care has on employees (think presenteeism) and beginning to do something about it. 

But there are also opportunities for HR vendors (e.g., EAPs and work-life companies) to enter the B2C space or pursue other distribution channels for their services within the senior care marketplace. Lot's of opportunities.

Which ones have relevance is yet to be seen but one thing I know for sure - the HR vendor landscape will look a lot different ten years from now.

Breadth and Depth of Senior and Boomer Marketplace. And More Trade Shows.

One can often diagnose the health of a market or industry by the number of conferences and trade shows.  And if this is the case, it appears the senior care and Boomer markets (they are interchangeable) are quite healthy - in spite of the economy.

One obvious reason is  that people have no choice when it comes to aging. And when deciding whether to buy another big screen TV or computer gadget versus an emergency response system for mom or dad (or other health care need), the later will always win out.  So a lot of the companies we see doing well these days are companies that produce stuff that people genuinely need.

And as the chart on this page shows there is quite a bit of breadth and depth to the boomer and senior care marketplace.  On an aggregate basis, this $2 trillion+ dollar market appears to be a recession proof - care giving and elder care needs don’t go away in a down economy.

Anyway, back to events.

SeniorCareMarketer.com tracks hundreds of boomer and senior care conferences and trade shows across North America (as well as media outlets, advertising oppourtunities, journalists, associations, direct mail lists, buyers guides, award competitions and more) and three great events that we're going to include the following. We hope to see you there.

NCOA-ASA Aging in America Conference. March 15-19, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV

Boomer Business Summit, March 19, 2009 at Bally's in Las Vegas, Nevada

Design for Living - May 7, 2009 in Santa Clara, CA

Marketing to the Aging Population. A Checklist.

In Mary Furlong & Associates most recent newsletter she discussed a recent panel she hosted where Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project gave an update on the changes of "boomers" regarding 2.0 media.

By the way, if you don't already subscribe to Mary's excellent and informative Boomer/Senior Market Report newsletter, I highly recommend it. It should be on your short list of regular reads if your business relates at all to the aging population. Mary knows this space as well as anyone.  Subscribe to it here.

Lee presented the following facts concerning boomers' use of 2.0 media in 2008:

- 74 percent use the Internet
- 62 percent have broadband at home
- 72 percent use a cell phone
- 43 percent connect to the Internet wirelessly.
- 91 percent of boomers use search engines
- 78 percent search in health care
- 30 percent use online ratings
- 38 percent share video feeds
- 26 percent read blogs
- 17 percent share creations
- 16 percent have a social network profile
- 7 percent blog.

These statistics should be of no surprise to anyone in marketing. The takeaway is that marketer's can no longer assume the Internet and the latest social networking tools are only relevant to the younger population.  It's now a part of everyone's life and if you market to seniors, your marketing must reflect this fact. Unfortunately, too many senior care vendors are not using the Internet effectively in their marketing.

Other key demographic statistics Mary writes about include this about the aging population:

- increasing numbers of singles
- the effects of delaying retirement

Mary then very astutely says "These trends and needs are important to the organization's new strategy for products and services related to travel and entertainment, discounts, health and wellness, lifelong learning, technology products and services and pets".

Mary gets it and kudos to Mary for sharing her insights in her recent newsletter. But what impressed me the most about Mary's newsletter was her list of questions for marketers in the senior care space. These are brilliant questions and we 100% agree with them. They include:

• Do I have a strategy for buying Google key words? Is it working?
• Do I have a strategy for using user ratings to engage customers and prospects?
• Do I have a sales strategy for partnering with non profits to leverage the trust and relationship of their members?
• Do I have an integrated communications strategy that includes radio?
• Do I have a sales and communication strategy for email newsletters?
• Do I need a retail chain strategy?
• Do I have a portal placement strategy?
• Do I have a strategy for reaching caregivers to reach the needs of seniors?

I would add these "must have" requirements for any company in the business of selling products or services relating to the aging population:

• Am I blogging on a regular basis?
• Am I reading other blogs and getting into the conversation by posting comments to these blogs?
• Do I actively participate in social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook? 
• Does my company have a Facebook"Page" or relevent Facebook Groups?
• Is my web site search optimized?
• Do I monitor social networking sites to review what consumers/buyers are saying about my company and/or product?
• Do I produce original content (articles, white papers, research) and use this content to enhance my site's SEO and for lead generation purposes (e.g., direct email marketing)?
• Do I send out regular search-optimized press releases?

The bottom line is that as more consumers/buyers (B2B and B2C) rely on the Internet for information and to make buying decisions is is critical that your company be easily found online and have a web site that is designed for lead acquisition.

The key marketing metrics we like to monitor and what our product SeniorCareMarketer helps you accomplish are (1) web site visibility (2) web site traffic (3) qualified sales leads and (4) search engine rankings (organic).

If you answer "Yes" to all the above questions you will likely score well on these metrics - and your business is likely growing and well positioned for future growth. If not, you need to make changes so that you can confidently answer "Yes" to most of these questions.

To guide you along this process, we recommend you download our free eBook titled How to Reach and Engage Buyers of Senior Care Products and Convert Them to Leads: A Three-Step Guide to Achieve Increased Publicity, Web Site Traffic, Improved SEO – and More Sales Leads.