The Business of Aging

Free Article: Using Original Content to Generate Online Visibility, Web Site Traffic and Sales Leads.

The latest marketing and PR article from SeniorCareMarketer.com explains how companies selling products/services relating to the aging population can use original content and integrate it within ongoing marketing and PR campaigns.

Second in a three-part series, the article is titled “Using Original Content to Generate Online Visibility, Web Site Traffic and Sales Leads” It’s now available as a free download from SeniorCareMarketer.com, an online marketing service for companies that sell to the rapidly-growing Boomer and senior care marketplace.

The article walks companies through the various types of original content, including white papers and reports, webcasts, tip sheets, bylined articles, podcasts, blogging and more. A checklist of common missteps is included, plus an overview of what topics will most interest buyers. It’s all designed to help senior care companies increase their Internet visibility, Web traffic and search engine rankings—which translate to increased sales leads.

Download it here.  Other highlights include:
-    What to write about
-    How content aids online visibility
-    Tips for developing quality content
-    Success stories

The final article in the series will focus on ongoing marketing and PR strategies to maximize online visibility.

The first article in the series was "SEO and “Marketing” Web Sites: Internet Best Practices for SeniorCare Marketers. " 

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.

Nonprofits and Senior Care Companies Adopting Web 2.0

Great article in a recent DMNews issue titled Nonprofits adopt social media.  The article cites AARP and The Arthritis Foundation as examples of nonprofits that have recently revamped their web sites (with great success) to incorporate more social networking features.

Key points are:

• Nonprofits have discovered the appeal of social networking applications, especially their ability to offer constituents better ways to communicate with one another and the organization.

• As their audiences become more tech-savvy, the web sites of nonprofits need to be more dynamic such as being able to allow members to create and custom­ize their user profiles by posting photos, video and journals and tags.

• Incorporating social media enhances the nonprofits online pres­ence.  This can be quite valuable for fund raising. Or, as Delia Carter, a group VP of strategic communications at the Arthritis Foundation says:

"The social media platform gives the non­profit “direct access to the people whose hands we need to be getting information into. It provides a way to develop a relation­ship with people that may not know about us but who come in through a friend's page. That's important, because we need to create awareness and people with arthritis tell our story a lot better than we ever could.”

Whether you are a for profit or nonprofit the benefits of web 2.0, online social media /networking are the same in that they give your organization increased (1) online visibility, (2) web site traffic and (3) sales leads  (yes, even nonprofits need sales leads). 

Our recent report Where Senior Care Suppliers Spent Their Marketing and PR Dollars in the Last 12 Months and What’s Ahead confirmed many of these same findings.  

And this is why every company needs a search-optimized web site that incorporates web 2.0 and social networking technologies, as well as ongoing marketing and PR activities that leverage these investments and help to support the goals of visibility, traffic and leads.

New Report: Trends and Best Practices for Marketing to the Senior Care Industry

SeniorCareMarketer.com has released it's latest research report that covers the latest trends and best practices for marketing to the senior care industry.   

The senior care industry is about to enter a cycle of unprecedented growth (many experts say it has already begun) as the baby boom generation cares for their aging parents and require care themselves as they transition into their own senior years. While many companies focus on the marketing of products and services to the aging "boomer" generation, a larger market will develop with regard to the caregiving needs of older Americans - the parents of the Boomers and eventually, the Boomers themselves.  As America ages, the demand for products and services that relate to the "care" of these individuals  will grow significantly, from home care services and medical products to housing options and financial / insurance related products.   

This new report, “Trends in Senior Care Marketing: Where Suppliers Spent Marketing and PR Dollars in 2007, and What's Ahead in 2008” represents a broad spectrum of senior care companies.  Key topics in the report include:

- What marketing and PR activities were most important to senior care suppliers the past year, and their budgeting plans for the next 12 months;
- How senior care suppliers measure the success of their marketing and PR;
- Who and what suppliers rely on to stay knowledgeable about the marketplace;
- How optimistic suppliers are about the overall health of the senior care marketplace.

To download a free copy of the report, visit the above links or type this URL into your browser. http://www.seniorcaremarketer.com/downloads.htm

Enjoy.