Social media has forever changed the way we communicate, and the way in which we expect to be communicated to. Agnes Stawicki of Comfort Life and comfortlife.ca discusses the multitude of social media platforms & tools available and the opportunities they offer retirement homes and senior care providers as communication and marketing tools.
This webinar includes
- stats about Canadian seniors online
- how seniors use social media
- an overview of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube.
- Three case studies to show you how Canadian retirement homes are using social media in their marketing and communication plans
Watch and listen to the webinar recording at http://www.ourkidsmedia.com/marketing/retirement-living/webinars/social-media-for-retirement-living-industry-the-right-tools-for-the-right-impact-2015-11
5. Internet usage
Canadians are the biggest online addicts in
the world.!
!
• 87% of Canadians use at least one social
network!
• Canada has the highest social media
penetration in the world!
6. Internet usage
• 60% of seniors (65+) were already active
online!
!
• 90% of seniors with a household income of
$75,000+ are active online!
!
• 46% of online seniors use social networking
sites on a daily or nearly-daily basis!
Source:
Pew
Research
Centre,
April
2012
7. Connecting
with families
Why social
media?
“Social
Media
isn’t
a
nuisance
–
it’s
one
of
the
greatest
gi6s
your
business
could
ask
for.”
- Salesforce.com
8. why social?
“Social marketing eliminates the need for a
middleman, providing brands with the unique
opportunity to have a direct relationship with
their customers.”!
!
- Bryan Weiner, CEO at 360i (digital agency) !
9. why social?
1 new marketing channel!
2 turn customers into
personal evangelists!
3 build relationships and
trust !
4 stay top of mind!
!
10. why social?
Strengthen your online voice!
!
“An online community is a group of people with
common interests who use the internet (websites,
email, social networks…) to communication, work
together and purse their interests over time.”!
!
- Lee Lefever, The Common Craft Blog!
11. why social?
Reputation management!
!
“… originally coined as a public relations
term, the advancement of computing, the
internet and social media made it primarily an
issue of search results….”!
!
- Wikipedia!
12. why social?
Build trust!
!
• 81% of shoppers conduct online research before
buying (60% beginning with a search engine)!
• 61% will read product reviews before making a
purchase!
• On average, shoppers visit 3 stores before making
a purchase!
!
14. social channels
Why are there so many social channels?!
!
• Each channel serves it’s purpose and allows you to
communicate in a different way!
• You don’t have to use them all, however some work well
together!
• Choose channels that you !
– Have time for!
– Fit your community!
– Fit your goals!
15. social channels
Social media is simply a tool!
!
“You don’t need a social media strategy – You
need a brand strategy that leverages social
media. Don’t get off the brand strategy just
because there’s a new communication channel;
that’s how you lose the plot as a brand.”!
!
- Chris Kirubi, Chairman, Coca Cola!
16. social channels: blog
Is it worth the time investment?!
!
• Marketers who have prioritized blogging are
13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.!
• Companies that blog receive 67% more leads!
• Blogs have been rated as one of the top
trusted online sources of information!
Source:
Hubspot,
March
2015
17. social channels: blog
Content is the foundation of your communications
and marketing strategy. !
!
• Think like a publisher!
• Position yourself as an expert and build trust
with prospects!
• Drive users to your website!
18. social channels: blog
Successful blogging!
!
• Understand how it fits into your strategy.!
• Start with your objective. Ex: improved SEO, lead
generation, brand recognition.. etc)!
• Use stories that will spark emotion in users with photos and
video where possible. Stories engage readers and are far
more memorable (think word of mouth).!
• Be consistent (a minimum of 1x per month)!
Source:
Hubspot,
March
2015
19.
20. social channels: facebook
Source:
webmarke@ng.com
Why
seniors
use
facebook
connect
with
family
share
photos
play
games
contests/promos
21. social channels: facebook
!
• Be where your customers are (women aged 55+)!
• Your greatest opportunity for real-time
conversations and feedback from customers!
• Keeps you top of mind (word of mouth)!
• Provides a glimpse into life at your community!
!Source:
Hubspot,
March
2015
22. social channels: facebook
Being successful on facebook!
!
• Understand how it fits into your strategy. What are your goals and how is your
audience? !
– Families of existing residents!
– New prospect residents and their families!
– Partners and media (PR)!
• Share valuable information for your audience or audience segments. !
– Your content!
– Photos, videos, stories!
– Good information from third party sources!
• Listen and respond to positive and negative feedback!
!
• Be consistent (a minimum of 1x per day)!
24. social channels: twitter
!
• You are what you tweet. Find your brand’s voice.!
• What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What
happens on twitter, stays on Google forever.!
• Media is on twitter (PR)!
• Twitter is for conversation, engagement and
sharing of information!
!
25. social channels: twitter
Being successful on twitter!
!
• Understand how it fits into your strategy. What are your goals and
how is your audience? !
– Families of existing residents!
– New prospect residents and their families!
– Partners, real estate agents and media (PR)!
• Use hashtags and @username to broaden your reach !
– #retirementhome #seniorcare!
– #toronto #vancouver #montreal!
– #senior #stroke #Alzheimers !
!
• You can’t tweet too often.!
26. social channels: YouTube
!
• 2nd largest search engine after Google (also owned by
Google)!
!
• Free hosted video library !
• People use YouTube to watch videos !
– ‘How to’ and review videos!
– Random funny cat videos!
– Stories about your brand or residents!
– Thought leadership !
27. social channels: YouTube
Being successful on YouTube!
!
• Good keyword rich title and description are key to
ensuring your video is found!
• YouTube can be used as a library, so distribute the
videos on your website, blog and facebook channels for
added reach!
!
• Don’t expect a huge traffic flow from YouTube to your
website, but do link to it in every video post.!
28. social channels: Pinterest
!
• 85% of users are women!
!
• Lifestyle focused, a true visual
representation of the brand!
• Drives peoples interest in purchasing!
29. social channels: Pinterest
Being successful on Pinterest!
!
• Watch what people are pinning!
• Have a mix of various boards (consider branding each board):
!
– ABC Retirement Chef’s recipes!
– Life at ABC Retirement!
– ABC Retirement Caregiver heath tips!
– ABC Retirement Super Seniors!
!
• Engage with other brands on pinterest to grow reach!
30. social channels: LinkedIn
!
• Business oriented networking site!
!
• Users are the oldest and have the highest income of all social
networking sites!
• The adult daughters and sons (decision makers) are likely on
LinkedIn!
• People use LinkedIn to connect professionally!
– Recruitment!
– Thought leadership!
– Industry connections!
!
31. social channels: LinkedIn
Being successful on LinkedIn!
!
• Can use it to connect with decision makers and learn about
their lives!
• Don’t sell, but rather share your knowledge on your topic!
• Join groups and conversations on relevant topics!
– Senior care!
– Retirement trends!
– Real estate!
– Local groups!
32. Case Study: Schlegel Villages
- ‘Village Voice’ blog that features resident stories 1-2x per week!
- New prospects are signed up to receive the Village Voice newsletter
(once per month) that features some of the stories!
!
- Stories are shared via facebook pages (one corporate page &
individual community pages !
- Community facebook pages share photos of what’s happening, share
upcoming event invitations along with local community news.!
- Variety of news, stories and announcements shared via the corporate
twitter account. Often retweeted by local media and partners. !
33. Case Study: Sunrise Senior Living
- Offer extensive resources online (guides and
ebooks) and also post a new blog article almost
every day!
- Blog offers ability to socially share each article easily!
!
- Articles are shared via facebook, twitter, pinterest
and linkedin!
- LinkedIn used primarily to update news about the
company (HR and recruitment)!
!
34. Case Study: PARC Retirement Living
- Publish quarterly newsletter that is mailed out,
plus posted online and then shared via social
media channels!
- Did a great job with an integrated ad campaign.
Ran a print ad campaign and used the same
stories and images on their corporate facebook
page, twitter and website. !
!
35.
36. Summary
! Canada leads in internet usage!
! Social channels are simply tools you can use as part
of your entire marketing, communications and sales
strategy!
! You don’t need a large staff or do huge things to be
remarkable!
! Build your communities around your objectives and
goals!
! Community managers are the eyes and ears of your
organization!
37. Summary
!
! Blogs:!
! Great for SEO and driving traffic to your website!
! Provides you with content to use in sales and marketing via social,
email, etc.!
! Build authority and showcases your expertise!
!
! Facebook!
! Great way to communicate with existing prospect families!
! Allows you to fully control your brand message!
! Offerspaid advertising options!
!
38. Summary
!
! Twitter:!
! A communication channel best used to share knowledge!
! Found greatest success in generating press coverage and connecting
with industry experts or partners!
!
! YouTube!
! Video is most powerful and engaging content medium!
! Great place to create a channel to host any videos you create!
! #2 search engine after Google!
!
39. Summary
!
! Pinterest:!
! A visual representation of your brand, quick and easy to use!
! Highly used by female audience!
!
! LinkedIn:!
! Professional networking site!
! Builds authority and instills trust in partners, prospects and existing
resident families!
! Good for employee retention and/or recruitment!
!
40.
41. About Comfort Life
! Canada’s #1 guide to retirement & care (annual
print guide and online at www.comfortlife.ca )!
! 100% target audience of decision makers
searching for information about retirement
communities and care!
!
! Daily interactions with decision makers via:
website, social channels, email, calls, monthly
eNewsletter…!