A Gen Xer, Boomer, Silent and WWII GI Walk onto a Golf Course
How Storytelling can help you increase sales
Monitoring Mother
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/monitoring-mother/
Discounts for your residents/Clients
http://www.seniordiscounts.com/reallycurrent.htm
The Mayo Clinic – Leading the way in Social Media
Yesterday, I got to experience the joy of dental surgery, a treat I rank right up there with preseason football, flea markets and piano recitals. Don’t worry, I am not going to detail the procedure or what the dentist found in my mouth (although the Louisiana license plate was quite a find). What did get me thinking were the three options to correct the problem. Often in business, we run into issues, opportunities, budgeting, etc., where we have multiple options to solve the dilemma. Here is how I related my choices to running a business or department:
Option 1 – The least expensive and least painful option. In many cases it is tempting to choose this way. It is usually also the quickest fix. But, in the long term, there was additional hassle to make it work and it was only a short-term fix being used long-term. If you are planning on being in business for a long time, why not fix the issue or create a plan for the duration. Spend a little extra time and/or money, build a strong foundation and know that in the future what you create will still be producing results without having to put in extra time and effort that could be spent elsewhere.
Option 2 – Tear things down to the ground, fix the foundation and then build a better solution for the future. This assumes that you can isolate the issue and it doesn’t directly relate to any other projects aspects of your business (see option 3). You can leave the rest of the successful parts of your business in place and focus on this one issue. For example, let’s say you are getting a good return on your print and radio/TV marketing, but your online marketing plan isn’t working. Instead of carelessly adding dollars until you get traffic, you might need to stop everything you are doing, invest time into reviewing all online marketing efforts and then build a new plan, encompassing social media or other avenues, maybe even building a new web site. It’s expensive and time consuming, but you current site might already be outdated and the new site can last for years and be easier to update.
Option 3 – Look at your entire operation. While you might think you only have one area to shore up, others might need some help. It may be more profitable for the future to invest in long-term repairs to the entire operation while taking care of the main issue. If everything else is healthy, don’t throw it away, but while you are making major upgrades, look at the big picture, as additional upgrades in your company may not be too costly and might pay big dividends.
Hopefully, you won’t have to endure dental surgery anytime soon, but we all face decisions on how to fix issues or take advantage of new opportunities on a frequent basis. When those times arise, look at your options. Depending on your budget and time constraints, any of these three could apply. It’s a good day to write, but a bad day to talk and eat. Cheers, Doug
I’ve read so much lately about sites being the “leader” in generating leads, and ROI on leads, that it lead me to look into our cost/lead.
Full-page advertisers receive leads nightly consisting of the end users who have ordered a copy or viewed a guide online (See this new feature). New LifeStyles has gathered >13,250 leads so far this year, averaging over 100 leads per month in many markets. This is not counting the calls & emails our clients receive from their ads.
New LifeStyles also offers online leads to those adding an online option. Our online leads consist of end users who register on our site to use the advanced functions such as saving searches, results, sending a result or recommendation to a friend, and other options. We average > 350 online leads/mo., at only $12/mo. for most of our online options, the cost for these leads averages $1.20/lead. Again, this does not include those who link to, call or email a client from their ad.
The search traffic and leads vary per market. If you would like to know how many people are searching our site for the type of community/service you provide in a certain area, let us know. And as always, New LifeStyles can provide you with a username & password so you can log-in to check your online traffic, including impressions/views, leads, links, etc…
If this sounds like a good deal to you, contact us for more details.
Prior to 2000, marketing in the senior communities, care and services industry was pretty simple. There were a number of good print options (yellow pages, guides/directories, newspapers and magazines), that thing called the Internet (which was new and kind of scary) and a lot of word of mouth work in the community. Now, ten years later, the options are almost endless, with people coming at you with new choices every day. It can be overwhelming and confusing. Companies can make numbers say a lot of things, tempting you with new choices in unchartered waters.
What can you do to make the right choices? How can you make sure you are spending your dollars on effective marketing lead sources that fit your company or community? Here are a few suggestions:
- Seek out voices that you trust. We all have business associates that we respect and most of them are willing to give advice. If they are heavily invested in social media and you are hesitant, set up a lunch. Get them to tell you both the good and the bad experiences, then relate them to what you are trying to accomplish. There are also both local and online networks for sharing information.
- Understand the numbers! There are many ways for companies to present their product in a way that makes them sound great. Online traffic numbers can be tricky (hits, traffic, views, etc.). Many can sound like the same measurement, but they are vastly different. Pick one that is most important to you and stick with it when evaluating competitors.
- Don’t shift resources from your traditional marketing resources if they are working. Many people hear about the dramatic popularity of new things, think they must keep up and change directions without evaluating the new option vs the old option. Should you keep your eyes open for the latest thing? Yes. Then make sure it’s a good investment, if so, take advantage.
- Online marketing allows you to hit a broad audience through many different platforms. But, research show that you need to hit that audience a few times before your message sticks. So, make sure your message is consistent and hitting your target numerous times.
- Test and evaluate, constantly. Whether it’s print, online, TV/radio or social media, evaluate on a regular basis using clear and understandable tools and results. No matter how traditional or cutting edge your marketing sources are, they must produce a solid return. Don’t try too many new things at one time, it may make evaluation impossible (hmmm, possible movie title?)
Contrary to all of the bad news we continue to hear about the economy & how the senior housing and care industry is suffering, Clients still find value in getting listed with New LifeStyles guide to senior communities and care options. See a few of those coming on board with display ads at
http://www.newlifestyles.com/resources/pressreleases/PR_2010_07_15.aspx
Learning From the Ones That Got Away
http://www.m-d-s.com/StrategyOfTheMonth.htm
Include Local Banks in Your Referral Network
http://www.m-d-s.com/StrategyOfTheMonth.htm
Marketing Tips of All Kinds
http://www.marketingwithcare.com/public/department15.cfm
Trends in Video Chat for Seniors – New Roles for Families, Caregivers, Senior Living Communities
Mind your Ps & Qs – Manners matter in the senior care industry
http://www.mcknights.com/mind-your-ps-and-qs/article/174436/?DCMP=EMC-MCK_Daily
Are your marketing efforts staying “hot” during the summer months or did you experience a “meltdown”? Now is a great time to turn to New LifeStyles for help. Our distribution remains solid and our online traffic continues to grow in both quantity and quality.
July is the space reservation deadline for the following markets:
New copies of our guide should be arriving for the following markets:
- Houston
- Fort Worth/Tarrant County
- San Diego
- Central and Eastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
- Utah
For more information, contact us immediately!
New LifeStyles took 12 newly designed or re-designed website live in June. In July, we take to great new sites live, featuring Veritas and C.C. Young in Dallas, as well as many others. To get the lastest information on our web design division, friend New LifeStyles on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter.
Thanks for spending some time with our blog. Call us! We will be an effective part of your marketing campaign.
Doug
Do you have a brochure that is dynamite, attention grabbing, your best piece? If so, get the most out of it by offering a digital copy online.
For $12/month*, you can have your brochure hosted on NewLifeStyles.com so people can download & print it.
This is great option for those without a web site, those that are listed on a corporate site, but don’t have a lot of information specific to their senior community/service, and/or if you want to provide more information on a specific service, like rehab.
Check out these examples (click on Download Brochure):
http://www.newlifestyles.com/facility/facility.aspx?id=163793
http://www.newlifestyles.com/facility/facility.aspx?id=115089
Let us know if you would like more information on posting your brochure at www.NewLifeStyles.com.
