Posted by Brian Geyser on Fri, Jul 02, 2010 @ 09:19 AM
Back in September 2009, I interviewed Noelle Kurth, Corporate Communications Director (and social media marketing machine) for At Home Personal Care based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The article, "Home Care Company Uses Twitter to Build Brand Awareness and More," is one of our most popular posts. At that time, Noelle was helping the company design and build a new website and social media hub to replace their traditional brochure-style website.
Recently I decided to check in with Noelle to see how the new site was serving her and the company. Here's what she had to say:
Thanks for checking in! Wow, our new site has definitely served us well over the last 4-5 months!
When creating the new site, I knew we had to utilize a “contact form” in order to capture data for our leads. This has been the biggest difference. Users can fill out our specific form to include fields like who is in need of care, care level, location, email, phone, etc. Then I can distribute the leads based on location and our care managers can follow up on them. Most recently, our Utah office turned a web lead into a $5,000 a month client!
I have been working diligently at driving traffic to our site and keeping our content “fresh” with new articles, videos, etc. We have seen definite improvements in our Utah and Texas market as far as SEO. I use Google Analytics to track progress. In 4 ½ months, we have had 16,015 page views with an average of 4:23 seconds time on site. 76.63% are new visitors and we have a nice mix of traffic coming from direct, search engines, and referring sites. I use link building tactics, social media, and our email campaigns to help promote the site. I have also redesigned most of our promotional items and print material to include our web address. Some of our material did not have it included previously.
I also implemented some online web “contests." We partnered with a National Gift Basket Company and hold different contests depending on the holiday or time of year. During our Mothers Day Contest, we saw a 700% spike in traffic during the course of the contest, which was about a month. Each market promotes the contest with press releases, social media, and general networking. The Gift Company also promotes the contest on their site and social media outlets, so it’s a win-win. We do other fun things like “Caregiver of the month” etc. and promote with social media.
Not only have our patients and families commented on how well designed the site is, but also our referring partners and community alliances. I have even had competitors comment on our site. Its all very exciting and we are happy with the results thus far.
- Noelle
Now for a look at the new site compared to the old one...
OLD SITE
NEW SITE
The new AHPC website incorporates a search engine, contact forms, social bookmarking and sharing capability, a blog, and ample opportunity to engage visitors on various social outposts like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Hats off to Noelle and the AHPC team for designing a great site that serves as both a resource destination and a social media hub for visitors and a lead generator and relationship builder for the company. As you can see from Noelle's note, positive results do not come easy. She spends a ton of time nurturing the hub and it's various outposts, creating content, building partnerships, monitoring for comments and inquiries, and designing engaging campaigns that - like gravity - pull people into the site's orbit. So, if you think you're simply going to launch a Facebook page and have a volunteer or intern manage it for one hour per week and suddenly get results, think again. Noelle is a skilled social media practitioner with all of the qualities necessary to help her company succeed in this socially networked world.
If you don't have a social media rock star like Noelle Kurth at your senior living, home care, or LTC company, but you want to leverage social media for your business, contact us, we may be able to help. And yes, that is a call to action;-)
Kudos to Colby Wright of CW Design for his work on AHPC site.
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Posted by Jennifer Hill on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 01:19 PM
These days, an increasing number of senior living, home care, and LTC companies are using social media to reach out to social customers and prospects. At CareNetworks, we're always on the look out for companies who are innovating in this space and who are helping to shape social media best practices for the industry. So we scanned the web and found five companies worth taking a look at.
1. Senior Helpers. This non-medical home care company has a well designed website that acts as their social media hub with active outposts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. They also have a WordPress blog
where they post generic articles about wellness, aging, and care giving. Their reach is pretty significant with 2,302 Twitter followers, 488 Facebook fans, and thousands of views of their many YouTube videos.
2. Adeste In-Home Care. This welcoming site is definitely one of my favorites. The non-medical home care company has an awesome blog
that is updated multiple times per month with search-optimized articles such as, "Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Companion Agency for Your Elderly Parents." The blog provides great information and tips, especially for people whose parents need home care. On Twitter, they post tons of informational articles to over 1,550 followers. I was also very impressed with the list of resources they provide. They suggest support sites like Senior Information Network and SeniorNet to help family members feel comfortable and confident with their decisions. Their Facebook page seems to be new with very little content and only a few fans.
3. Emeritus Senior Living.
This national senior living company has definitely made a dent in the social media world. They have one of the best senior living Facebook pages
I’ve seen with over 1,440 fans. There are tons of images of different events they've held or conferences they have attended. It includes discussion boards and personal testimonials about the transition into senior living from both residents and family members. I was also impressed by the “Ask the Expert” portion of the website. Viewers can ask Dr. Vicki Rackner, M.D. any question and have an answer within 24 hours. Emeritus has partnered with an agency called Aging with Grace that seniors and their loved ones can call with questions and see what others are asking. They also have a Twitter page with about 345 followers.
4. Provision Living. This senior living company website includes links to developing Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages, as well as a tab dedicated to their Senior Assisted Living Blog. The blog is updated often and keeps readers informed on current events and happenings in the each of the companies communities. Blog readers have the option to e-mail articles or share them on Twitter, Facebook, Digg and LinkedIn. The blog's most popular article to date is "Green Tree at Post Road Opens New Units and Adds Jobs."
5. Senior Living Communities. While this senior living company has a Fledgling social media presence, what they seem to do very well is video. For example, Donald Thompson, the company CEO, has a series of video blog posts where he talks candidly about everything from the cost of living in one of their communities to the company's stability over the past 21 years. The videos are very well done, except for the fact that there doesn't seem to be a way to share them across the social web - big mistake! Additionally, the company's Facebook page is not very engaging and doesn't take advantage of the great videos they produce. This is a good example of missed opportunity where a company has great social objects (videos) to share, but no way to easily share them on social sites.
If you find other senior living, home care, or LTC companies experimenting with social media and they're worthy of writing about, let us know about them in the comments section below. Also, we welcome your feedback on these sites!
Related Posts:
To learn more about how we can help you build or enhance your social media presence, contact us.
You can also join our free Online Marketing Community for marketing professionals and executives in senior living, homecare, LTC, and hospice. Just click the image blow:
Jennifer Hill
is currently at senior at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She is a Communications major concentrating in Public Relations and Journalism and minoring in Psychology. You can connect with her on Twitter on LinkedIn.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Wed, Mar 03, 2010 @ 12:12 PM
At Home Personal Care, a Utah-based home care company that we've covered here before because of their amazing Twitter prowess just launched a new website with an impressive amount of social media integration. Noelle Kurth, who heads up AHPC's coroporate marketing and communications activities was intimately involved in the sites planning and design.
At Home Personal Care Website
Notice the many ways a visitor to the site can easily connect with the company and share site content with their various social networks. Right from the front page, a visitor can get information about the company and its services, sign up for a company newsletter, subscribe to their blog, connect with the company on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, add social bookmarks and much more.
The site is simple, clean, and easy to navigate with social connectivity built into every page. It's built on a powerful but easy-to-use open source platform called Modx which provides a simple content management system (CMS) allowing Noelle to add, edit, and manage site content herself anytime, from anywhere.
I suspect the combination of this well-designed new site and Noelle's keen understanding of how to use social media for business, marketing and PR purposes will serve AHPC well in the coming months and years. I'll be connecting with Noelle in a few months to get an update on how the site is help AHPC with business.
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_________________________________________________________________________
For more on how your company can benefit from social media and online community, contact us. You can also join our free Online Marketing Community for marketing professionals and executives in senior living, homecare, LTC, and hospice. Just click the image blow:
Posted by Brian Geyser on Mon, Dec 21, 2009 @ 08:38 AM
Lately, I've been asked a lot about how hospice companies are using social media. While I have not found many examples, I did run across this pioneering organization, The Community Hospice, based out of New York State. They are building a branded online community and social media hub on their website (smart move) and connecting it to various outposts such as Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. They also use video pretty effectively to promote their services through interviews of actual clients/patients. Here's a screen shot of their community page:
I'll be reaching out to The Community Hospice to see if they're interested in being interviewed. Hospice organizations around the country could learn a thing or two about what they are doing to build community on the Web.
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Need A Company Blog?
CareNetworks is now helping senior living and LTC companies build awesome corporate blogs on the WordPress platform. If you've been thinking about starting a company blog, contact us. We'll help you figure out the best solution for your organization. At the very least, read these posts:
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician,
consultant, educator, blogger, online community manager and the founder
of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs regularly here at Carenetworks.com and
would love to connect with you on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 @ 01:57 PM
As we've seen from my Social Media Success interview series and related posts, innovative senior living and LTC companies are beginning to discover the many benefits of social media and online community. These early adopters are paving the way for everyone else as they discover what works, and what doesn't on the social Web. Based on these posts, I've compiled a list (not in any particular order) of the top seven social media tools for the industry, along with some descriptions of why they made the list and how they can help your organization.
Social media is not a panacea. Your online presence and activities won't replace the relationships you build with residents and families and the great work you do in the physical world. However, used properly, these tools can accelerate your growth by helping you expand your online reach, attract and engage new customers, build relationships with prospects, and participate in the online conversations. Here's the list:
- Twitter. Noelle Kurth, Marketing Director for At Home Personal Care in Mesa, AZ showed us in this post that Twitter can be an easy, powerful, and free tool for networking with other professionals, broadcasting news and information about your company, recruiting, and building brand awareness. Twitter can help you build a community around your brand as well as keep you on top of important industry news and events in real time. By syndicating content from your blog or website to Twitter, you can build a following, enable sharing of your content, and drive traffic back to your website.
- Facebook. If there is one place online that you can bet many of your customers and prospects are hanging out, it's Facebook. Building a Facebook Page is a smart move for companies in our industry because it allows you to tap into an existing popular online community of boomers and seniors that's growing by the minute, literally. People who already have a Facebook account (and there's only about 300 million last I checked) can easily follow and engage with your company. The best part is that they can easily share their love for you with their friends. Like Twitter, Facebook Pages can be used to syndicate blog content, post news, information, and events, and share other multimedia content (like YouTube videos) with your followers. And like Twitter, Facebook can be used to help with employer branding and recruiting.
- Linkedin. This is THE social network for professionals. If you're a senior living or LTC professional, you should have a free Linkedin account. Linkedin allows you to build a professional network, share content, post job openings, research prospects, join industry groups, participate in forums, scan industry news, and much more.
- Blog. These days, a company blog is an essential tool in the online arsenal. I review the details of why you need a company blog in this post, but the bottom line is that a blog is a fantastic tool for building community, and for many companies, it can serve as a social media hub. Content and links are currency on the new social Web, and a blog allows you to publish content and distribute that content to your social media outposts like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. From there, your community can share your content with their friends - driving traffic back to your blog and website organically. This is called inbound marketing and it's much more powerful these days than in-your-face interruptive marketing. Another creative way to use a blog is to build one for your customers to use, like Beacon Hill Retirement Community did. You can check out an example of that here.
- YouTube. My friends over at Brookdale Senior Living do some good stuff with YouTube. Here's an example. YouTube makes it very easy to publish video content to your Website. If you have a blog, it's even easier to take your YouTube videos and embed them right into your posts. Video is an incredibly powerful medium, and with little or no money, you can create fantastic video content that your Twitter and Facebook fans will love (and share).
- Branded Online Community. For a more comprehensive social media solution (and here's the shameless plug for my business), a branded online community like the ones built by Terrace Communities and Living Well Assisted Living At Home may be your best bet. Branded online communities have a distinct advantage over using, say, Facebook to build community in that you have much more control over the platform, the features, the branding, the ads, and the content. Most community platforms include a blog and discussion forums and some, like the ones mentioned above, come with community calendars, file cabinets, and photo galleries - all of which can be syndicated to your social media outposts like Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook. Learn more about branded online communities here.
- Email. Yes that's right, I said email. Email is actually the largest and most popular (by far) social media and online community platform in the world. If you think about it, anybody who uses email has an address book filled with the contact information of people in their various networks - and they connect, communicate, and share with their networks via email all the time. Tools like eNewsletters using platforms like MailChimp and ConstantContact can be a great way to stay in touch with your customers and provide them with interesting news and information (with linkbacks to your site or blog) that they can pass on to their email networks.
While all of these tools take proper strategy, resources, and time, the potential benefits to your organization, your customers, your staff, and your prospects are clear. Social networks and social media are fundamentally changing the way your customers and prospects learn, evaluate and ultimately make decisions. Social tools like the ones mentioned above are increasingly influential in marketing and sales practices. Customers seek evidence online to validate decisions and get instant feedback from their peers through social networks. By joining the conversation and giving people an opportunity to connect with you online, you have the ability to educate, inform, support and engage your audience in new ways never before possible. Are you using social media?
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Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician, consultant, educator,
blogger, online community manager and the founder of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs
regularly here at Carenetworks.com and would love to connect with you
on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 @ 08:04 AM
This is the first post in our new Social Media Success Series, which features interviews with innovative senior living, eldercare, home care, and dementia care providers who are using social media as a business tool. If you would like to have your organization considered for inclusion, contact us.
Today we talk with Heather Rasmussen, Public Relations Specialist for Laguna Woods Village, the largest retirement community in California. We will present the interview in full and then provide some analysis and a summary with take away points at the end.
Company Profile
Formerly known as Leisure World, Laguna Woods Village is the largest retirement community in California, featuring 12,736 homes privately owned by approximately 18,000 residents. Laguna Woods Village is a gated, age-restricted community for active seniors. Just ten minutes from the Laguna Beach coastline, the Village is located on 3.8 square miles (2,100 acres) of rolling hillsides in south Orange County, California.
Interview
1. What online properties do you currently own/operate? (Website, Twitter, Facebook page, Linkedin, YouTube channel, etc.) Because we are such are large community, we have unique goals and challenges when it comes to using the Web and social media. Laguna Woods currently has a website, three marketing sites, and a Twitter account, which we started about a year ago.
Laguna Woods Main Website
Laguna Woods Marketing Site
Laguan Woods Village Twitter Site
2. Why did you choose these particular online properties? The web 2.0 plan for Laguna Woods Village is centered upon distribution of information to members of the community first, and marketing second. These sites currenlty help us achieve our goals.
3. Who manages your online properties? Our websites and Twitter page are managed by Laguna Woods Village staff. Our PR person, along with our web master manages most of the content. Typically, news and information is updated on the community’s main webpage, lagunawoodsvillage.com and is fed by RSS feed to other marketing websites and to Twitter. LagunaWoodsVillage.com even has an option for offline community clubs (there are over 200!) to create and administer their own webpage on the Laguna Woods Village website. Examples include Astronomy Club, Concerned Citizens of Laguna Woods Village, Republican Club, Democratic Club, Clown Club, Shuffle Board Club, Baby Boomers Club, and Science Club. The clubs produce their own content which helps with SEO and visitor interest.
Laguna Woods Village Club Pages
Laguan Woods Village Cat Club Page
4. How are you using each property and who do want to reach? Our website is a clearing house of information for current and potential residents. Current residents can read community news, be notified about upcoming maintenance schedules, download forms, read Board agendas and minutes, and view a community calendar of governance, recreation, class, and sports events. For new and potential residents, there is information about buying a home in Laguna Woods Village, resale and lease application forms, and over 80 downloadable floor plans.
Laguna Woods Village News Page
In terms of finding us online, our marketing pages are search-engine optimized. Visitors can request a brochure on Laguna Woods Village by filling out a simple form. Information on housing choices, amenities, and activities are included on the targeted marketing pages.
The Twitter account is targeted to community news and information that is of primary interest to current residents. The page is used like a “digest”, much like an RSS feed. Twitter followers are the first to know when news breaks in Laguna Woods Village. The Twitter account has also aided the Village’s search optimization efforts and has served as a good marketing tool. We weren't planning on Twitter becoming a marketing tool, but it has all on its own.
5. Do you have a social media strategy? If So, What is it? Our social media policy is to consistently post and Tweet items that are interesting, informative, and relevant to our residents.
6. What is your primary goal for using social media? Our social media goal is currently evolving. In the beginning, Laguna Woods Village used Twitter just like an RSS feed. We publicized it to residents, and received a few dozen resident followers. Then, local businesses began to follow us, then people from all over the country. We’ve realized that, when maintained properly, Twitter can be a very powerful marketing tool.
7. Are you planning to expand your social media reach? Yes. YouTube is one consideration. Video is a very powerful medium. We can highlight community events and news better through video. We happen to have the luxury of having our own TV studio on the campus, so it's a bit easier for us.
8. What are your biggest challenges so far? Creating good content consistently. Maintaining the online communications of Laguna Woods Village is literally a full time job.
9. Did you have to try to convince someone at your organization to try social media? Being a homeowners association, the staff at Laguna Woods Village had to convince a Board of Directors that social media and heightened online communications was a good idea. The Board is made up of eleven resident volunteers. Although some may believe that residents of a senior community are not web savvy, our Board embraced the idea wholeheartedly!
10. Is ROI an issue? ROI is hard to quantify. We know our social media efforts have clearly increased and improved communications with and between residents. We've also seen an enormous increase in people requesting tours. There's no doubt that overall interest in our community has dramatically increased since starting our social media efforts.
11. What's the one piece of advice you would give other senior living companies about getting into social media? Don’t be afraid to create a social media program. Websites like Facebook and Twitter make it very easy and cost effective to communicate to a large audience in a fun and fresh way. However, don’t create a social media program if you don’t have the resources to maintain it. It looks very unprofessional to have a social media account that is neglected or poorly maintained.
Summary and Analysis
For a community this size, its not surprising that Laguna Woods Village (LWV) has multiple websites. Their main site is very sophisticated compared to many other senior living companies, especially ones that are much smaller by comparison. That said, their main site is impressive and incorporates an incredible amount of helpful and easily accessible information for prospects, residents, financial institutions, agents, and other companies. It also has a FAQ section, calender, integrated search, and Club Pages with resident-generated content. The LWV site is, in a sense, and online community - an extension of the offline community.
What we don't see on the LWV website, which is standard for most online communities these days, is a blog, discussion forums and member profiles. However, one could argue that the entire site is a giant decentralized news and information blog. Discussion forums would add value by allowing for more two-way dialog on the site and could enhance resident/family participation and engagement. Member profiles could help residents connect and network more easily, as well as capture leads.
One of the more intriguing features on the LWV site are the Club Pages, which allow community members who are part of a club to build a web page right on the LWV main site. There are more than 230 clubs, special interest groups and organizations at LWV and many of them have a unique Club Page.
LWV's marketing sites are a smart adjunct to their main site as they provide an SEO boost (making it easier for prospects to find them on the web) as well as handy downloadable forms such as brochures, lease information sheets, and fact sheets - all designed make it simple for people visiting their sites to access helpful information.
Finally, the LWV Twitter account (their one social media outpost) seems to be paying off as both a communications and marketing tool.
Takeaway Points
- Your website is not enough. It's important to have more than just a website these days. Senior living companies need to consider, at the very least, having a blog and additional online outposts such as a Twitter and/or Facebook page. A centralized online community on your website with multiple social media outposts is the best option.
- Participation rules. Having the ability for residents and others to create content on your site improves SEO and elevates the perception of your community to those who visit the site as a place that encourages inclusion, engagement and participation.
- Social media requires resources. Managing an online community with various social media outposts can be very time consuming and at least one staff person needs to responsible for overseeing all social media efforts.
- Your site should be a resource. Your website should be a place where people can easily access and download up-to-date information and resources that help them make decisions.
- Twitter has pros and cons. If done right, Twitter can be a powerful tool to improve communications with existing residents/families, extend your online reach, and drive people to your website. While Twitter is currently free, there is a learning curve and it takes time to properly maintain your Twitter account; and time is money!
- Good management is a must. Online communities and social media outposts like Twitter and Facebook that are poorly managed and/or look like digital ghost towns can be damaging to your brand.
- Content creation will likely be your biggest challenge.
The key is to provide consistent, relevant, and helpful content directed at your online audience and their needs. - Don't get too focused on ROI. If your social media efforts are helping you to build better relationships with your prospects and customers, they are worth every penny. Oh, and by the way, as you can see from the successes of the Laguna Woods social media strategy, ROI means "Risk Of Ignoring."
For more about senior living online communities and social media, visit carenetworks.com. To ensure you get more post like this delivered right to you as they are published, subscribe to our blog.
For more information about Laguna Woods Village, contact Heather Rasmussen at 949-268-2292.
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician, consultant, educator,
blogger, online community manager and the founder of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs
regularly here at Carenetworks.com and would love to connect with you
on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 03:47 PM
In a recent blog post,
Samir Balwani discussed the concept of the "Social Media Hub." Social
media hubs are social websites where content creation, community building
and social engagement takes place for companies and organizations. Some pioneering senior living companies are beginning to use their websites as social media hubs (see the list below). From the Hub, these companies can post informative and helpful social media content in the form of blogs, webinars,
discussion forums, video and audio. This content can then be syndicated to outposts like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Digg, etc. People who
view the content on these outposts can then share it with friends, peers, and colleagues (social pollination).
Ultimately, this content drives people back to the hub (your website) where it originated. This creates organic traffic to your site and helps consumers discover you. In this way, the Hub provides companies with
a powerful inbound marketing tool and an expanded presence across the internet.
Here's a list of some
senior living companies experimenting with social media to increase awareness, drive traffic, and boost sales:
Living Well Assisted Living at Home
Living Well is a start-up out of San Francisco that provides high end "at-home" assisted living services to seniors in the Bay Area. They have a full-featured branded online community (powered by carenetworks) complete with community blog, discussion forums, member profiles, calendar, subgroups, photo albums, videos, podcasts and more. They also have outposts with Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook.
Terrace Assisted Living Communities
Terrace Communities, based out of Vermont, is a group of seven assisted living facilities located in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Florida. They also have a full-featured carenetworks powered online community, but no outposts.
Ecumen
Ecumen operates a variety of senior housing options and services from senior independent living communities to assisted living and long- term care and at-home and community-based services. They also provide senior housing development, clinical consulting and senior housing management services for organizations outside of Ecumen. They have a blog, YouTube channel, Flikr photo stream, Twitter and Linkedin accounts.
Redstone
Redstone is a retirement community located in Alhambra, CA. Currently, they only operate a Twitter account.
Marietta Retirement Communities
I was unable to find out much about Marietta from several Google searches, except that they operate retirement communities in the Mid-Ohio Valley. However, they seem to have an online community with some videos and podcasts and an ability to for members to sign in.
Laguna Woods Village
Laguna Woods Village is a 55+ age-restricted gated community for the active lifestyle. It is located on 2,100 acres of rolling hillsides just minutes from the Laguna Beach coastline in Orange County, CA. The community is comprised of 12,736 dwellings and is considered to be one of the largest of its type on the West Coast. Laguna Woods Village is home to 18,000 residents averaging 78 years of age. They have a pretty sophisticated website and an active Twitter account, which drives traffic back to their site.
These companies are pioneering the use of social media in the senior living and eldercare markets. Some have taken the social media hub approach, while others are testing the waters with a simple Twitter outpost. In the coming months, we hope to connect with some of these forward thinking companies and learn from them what is working and what is not. We will be posting our findings here. Stay tuned.
Posted by Brian Geyser on Fri, Aug 21, 2009 @ 10:34 AM
The New Social Web
The internet is the fastest growing global communications medium in
history. According to Google, over 1.4 billion people use the internet
today, and 200 million new users get online every year. For most LTC
organizations, a company Web site is their tiny island in this vast
ocean of information and technology; a relatively inexpensive way for
the organization to help consumers find them and discover what they
offer. But the internet is changing rapidly. The days of static,
information-only company Web sites are over, and a new era of dynamic
online social media has begun.
Blogs, Webinars, wikis, podcasting, forums, list serves, e-books,
viral videos, and online communities are transforming the way companies
market themselves and connect with consumers. Smart companies and
organizations around the world are adopting these technologies to build
lasting relationships with customers, and engage prospects like never
before. However, most long-term care organizations have yet to embrace
these powerful online tools and company Web sites throughout the
industry are showing signs of atrophy.
Today when Suzie Baby Boomer shops around for the best assisted
living facility or home care agency for her mother, she does it
online. What will she find when she lands on your website? What kind
of online experience are you offering? How are you helping
Suzie with the real-life problems and challenges she is facing as a
caregiver? How well does your website represent your brand? What is
your value proposition to Suzie, her mother, and the rest of her
family; and how does it compare to the company down the street offering
the exact same thing?
Your Web site
When customers, prospects or others visit your Web site, what do they experience?
Take a look at any LTC organization Web site and what do you see? The
vast majority have static Web pages that never change, with pictures
and a bunch of canned messages like, “We provide exceptional,
individualized care to your loved one,” or phrases like “compassionate
staff,” “supportive services,” “safe, secure setting and home-like
environment.” These are examples of what David Meerman Scott,
award-winning marketing strategist and best-selling author, calls
“gobbledygook.” When prospective customers see the same overused
language (gobbledygook) on every Web site, they get suspicious, if not
totally bored.
The fact is that most of the information provided on LTC company Web
sites these days is a pitch about how wonderful the organization is.
The messages are one-sided, controlled, and feel like a big press
release for the organization. This model of using a Web site solely to
advertise or promote your organization’s services is becoming
outdated as social media technologies are moving into the mainstream
and consumers have almost unlimited access to information from other
outlets they perceive to be more credible than yours.
Today’s internet is social, interactive and dynamic and, as a
result, customers are smarter than ever. Customers today want more
than one-way, company-centric messages that tell them how great you
are. Customers and prospects want informative content, participation,
and dialog, not propaganda. They want authenticity and transparency,
not controlled spin. Customers and prospects don’t expect LTC
organizations to be perfect. But they do expect them to acknowledge
that they are not, and to demonstrate that they are always working toward perfection. So, how does your website stack up?
Take look at your organization’s Web site from the prospective of your customers and prospects. Does it:
- help them solve their problems?
- provide them the information they need, when they need it?
- educate them with relevant, compelling, informative, and dynamic content?
- enable them to experience your organization and interact with the people who work there?
- brand your organization as a trusted resource?
- help customers and prospects connect with each other?
- demonstrate that your organization is worth doing business with?
- engage them and help them make purchase decisions over time?
Now think about your Web site from your perspective. Does it:
- help you build strong, lasting relationships with customers and prospects?
- enable you to communicate with them and show them that you really care?
- allow you to learn about what they think is important?
- foster a sense of community among staff, who otherwise may never connect with each other?
- honestly reflect the passion, commitment, and dedication
of your staff, showcase their unique personalities, and demonstrate the
exceptional care that they provide?
- set you apart from your competitors and convince prospects that YOU are the right choice.
If the honest answer to most or all of the questions above
is NO, it may be time to re-think your Web site strategy. Your Web
site should be a medium through which you build relationships with
customers and prospects over time; a resource and support destination
where customers, prospects, staff, and management can connect,
communicate, collaborate, and share. LTC companies that embrace the
social web and tap into its power will be rewarded by a new breed of
smart consumer who is hungry for participation, unbiased information,
and relevant content. Can you deliver?