When "liking" turns to loving

Borrowing from the boomers' own Ronnie Dove song from the 60s, social media "liking" can indeed turn into a love affair as you watch your marketing outreach blossom with each new "fan's" news feed. Are you feeling the love yet?

Boomers are in!

As a senior care manager, any way you slice it, your target demographic is decidedly the baby boomers -- at the young end, as children of parents needing care, and at the older end, as potential residents.

Fortunately, you don't have to reinvent the wheel or coerce most people into getting online. It took some boomers a little longer to concede that the digital age was here to stay, but according to Pew Research, over 75% between 60-69 are Internet users, and 45% are on social media platforms. And counting. Keeping up with children and grandchildren may have been the initial motivation to create a Facebook page, but once habitual, baby boomers may find that social media adds a little spice to life. The boomers are there - you just need to let them know you are too!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

There are many ways to have an online presence, but just creating a Facebook page for your community can go a long way in getting your name out and promoting your features and benefits. Creating a page is simple (check out this video tutorial). Best of all, it's free! Use your page to share information about your community, blog, recognize staff, celebrate facility accomplishments, share topical articles, promote fundraisers and other special events and even share the occasional silly meme. But be sure to follow all HIPAA Privacy Rules and State Survey requirements when it comes to any posts or photos relating to residents.

To optimize social media as a marketing tool, invite everyone you know to "like" your page, and watch the web weave its magic. While that may be a slight oversimplification, there is no questioning the viral potential of social media "likes." The right message, liked by the right person, at the right time can indeed work magic.

Minding the (cyber)store

Keep in mind that you do need to apply a level of commitment to this whole endeavor. Whether you are on Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or another platform, someone needs to own the responsibility for updating posts, responding to posts, spellchecking and running the "reasonable man" test on anything written. Internal policies limiting how information is shared online are a must (one errant tweeter can spell DOOM-- in under 140 characters).

You may also want to use analytics to determine how effective your efforts are, for example, in bringing people to your website, completing a contact form, reading the article you posted, responding to an invitation. Also, consider contracting with someone to handle your search engine optimization so when people Google "senior care facilities" in your area, your site pops up high on the list.

Bring on the love

Baby boomers are more connected than ever, via cell phones, iPads and computers. If your target demographic spends time communicating online every day, shouldn't your senior living community be a vital part of the conversation?

If you need assistance creating an online advertising plan, the marketing and social media experts at LeaderStat can help you develop a sharp, focused and welcoming online presence. When today's surfin' boomers think senior care, you can make sure they are saying, "What is that place I saw online...oh, yeah...! People just LOVE it!"