When people think of leaders in online marketing, they don’t always think “Assisted Living industry .” But one of Relaborate’s first customers was Seattle based Merrill Gardens. Here’s how their Marketing team is leveraging Relaborate to solve a crucial missing piece of their online marketing mix

1. Content Marketing, Simplified
Andy Boyer | Co-Founder | andy@relaborate.com | @aboyer | @relaborate

2. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Merrill Gardens: A Relaborate Success Story
Merrill Gardens is a national leader in the assisted living
industry. The company is the 7th largest senior living company
in the country, with 7,700 residents in 56 communities.

3. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
When people think of leaders in online marketing, they don’t always think “Assisted
Living industry.” But one of Relaborate’s first customers was Seattle based Merrill
Gardens. Here’s how their Marketing team is leveraging Relaborate to solve a crucial
missing piece of their online marketing mix.

4. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Why Is Content Important?
• Online Marketing Lead Generation is an
important part of an assisted living
communities overall Marketing strategy.
Often, leads start as inquiries from the
children of prospective residents. These 30-50
year olds are web savvy, and use online
channels to research as much information as
they can about all the different options
available to them.

5. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Why Content Marketing?
• The potential resident begins their
information gathering process using search
engines and social referrals. Companies in the
rental space employ an SEO agency to help
them make their web site as search friendly as
possible. But recent changes to these search
engines make a blog more important.

6. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate

7. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate

8. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate

9. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate

10. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
AddingContent Marketing to the Mix
Adding
Content To The Mix
• The potential residents begins their
information gathering process using search
engines and social referrals. Most successful
companies in the rental space employ an SEO
agency to help them make their web site as
search friendly as possible. But recent changes
to these search engines make a blog more
important.

11. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
The Beginning
• In 2010 the Merrill Gardens channels
were built. In the beginning, there was
no digital buzz and no fans or following.
• Over a two year month content
marketing strategy, engagement is
happening daily, Twitter continues to
grow, and their Facebook has grown to
over 1,200 fans.

12. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Merrill Gardens & Facebook
Merrill Gardens & Facebook
• The company started their foray into social media like many
companies do, with a Facebook presence
(www.facebook.com/merrillgardens). This page serves as a
hub for photos from all of communities around the country.
The company finds this channel to serve a better purpose of
retention and customer support, than as a source of new
business.

13. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Merrill Gardens: A Relaborate Success Story
Writers Block
• The Merrill Gardens Marketing team was
stuck. They knew they would benefit from
writing more content. But they couldn’t figure
out how to get it done.

14. THE SOLUTION?

15. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Life With Relaborate
Life With Relaborate
• The agency would also use the research tools inside Relaborate to
find background information or identify influencers who had
written about similar topics.
• Relaborate’s feature set would alert the Merrill Gardens team and
ask them to provide answers to specific questions.
• Once the post was completed, Merrill Gardens could circulate the
post for approval or additional comments from the Merrill Gardens
senior team.
• The agency would finish up the edits, publish the post, and
syndicate the link through social media channels like Facebook and
Twitter.

16. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
“Children of our residents love to see that their loved ones are in a happy, safe
place, doing interesting things and actively enjoying life,” says Merrill Gardens VP
of Corporate Communication Loree Wagner. “More than 1,000 people are
following our page, but we see that most of these are already related in some way
to our residents, not potential customers.”

17. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Results – Increased Content
Results – Increased Content

18. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Result : Increased Engagement

19. Three Huge Trends Are SIMPLIFIED
CONTENT MARKETING,
Converging Which Can @relaborate
@aboyer |
Save
You from Content Marketing Failure
Companies Now Ad Dollars
Recognize This Need Are Being Shifted to
to Create Social Media Software
Timely, Relevant, High and Content Marketing
Quality Content
Your Young
Workforce
Understands
How to
Expertly Use
Social
Channels

20. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Relaborate is the premier
application being used by
Marketing Managers
to easily get information from
subject matter experts
that they can then use
in online and social channels.

21. Relaborate is a MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED creation application with
CONTENT web based content @aboyer | @relaborate
1 Writing Guides 2 Collaboration Tools 3 Trending Topics.
These make it easy for marketing managers to Get Content Started.
1
2
3

22. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Where we are going next
Email Contributions
Mobile/Tablet Applications
Social Log-in and Sharing
Semantic Search

23. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Who on Your Team Can Use Relaborate
Your Content Managers, Social
Media and Marketing Managers
Your Industry and Subject Matter
Experts. Property Managers,
Executives, even You

24. CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
Who Has Endorsed Us So Far
• Pillar Properties, Merrill Gardens and more than
100 other companies testing our current beta
• Finalist at Northwest Entrepreneur Network and
Washington Technology Alliance Tech Showcases
• Angel Funded with Advisory board of CEO’s and
CTO’s of Cranium, Zapd, Korrio and
Classmates.com

25. We’re not just a “tech” product.
CONTENT MARKETING, SIMPLIFIED @aboyer | @relaborate
We’re a marketing product that makes life easier.
Before Front Page… Before YouTube… Before Instagram…
you had to be a you had to understand you needed a design
Webmaster to how to configure a suite to add effects to
understand how to build media server to post mobile photos
a simple web site videos online
Before Photoshop… Before Blogger and Writing is the most
you needed a degree in Wordpress… common form of
Graphic Design to You had to understand content, yet no one had
manipulate images how to configure a web been able to successfully
server to have your own develop a tool to make
voice online this task easier for
subject matter experts.

26. Content Marketing, Simplified
Thanks!
Email me: Andy@Relaborate.com
Signup at: www.relaborate.com
Follow us on Twitter: @Relaborate
This presentation is available for download at www.relaborate.com/blog