Social media is exploding all around us! It's exploding both for businesses and for individuals (for purposes of this post I'll stay business focused). It's getting to the point that it's hard to keep track of all of the places your business should maintain a presence online. IF you can manage it, be EVERYWHERE!! This however, tends to be a 24/7 exercise. What I try to do is pick several places to be quite active, and then I try to maintain a (relatively inactive) presence on others.
To name just a few, I do maintain a personal and a fan page on facebook. I'm quite active on LinkedIn, and I maintain a Senior List group there as well. I do "tweet" @seniorlist, and I try to make sure we're positioned on the various directories that we should be. I maintain a number of blogs, and I like to google The Senior List daily to see who's talking about our eldercare directory. I like to see where we're showing up, and also check-in on articles that are noteworthy.
Now what's all this talk about a SMM score? What the heck is an SMM score? Admittedly, I made up the metric (though I should check to see if someone else has coined/used it). It's the number of hours (1-40) your firm spends on social-media-management in a typical week. If you spend 4 hours, your score is a 4, and your spending 10% of a "normal person's" work week (yes I know that business people/entrepreneurs are not normal people- I can attest to that :) I'd be very interested to hear your opinion on where you spend your time, and where you think businesses should spend their time. Leave your thoughts in the comments section if you're up for sharing. I can share that my score differs week to week, but I'm going to see if I can come up with an average.
One of the ways in which I'm lowering my SMM score is by signing up for Valerie VanBooven's LTC SocialMark 2.0 which takes some of the hassle of social-networking (her group actually helps organize and manage some of that for you). I only signed up this week, so I'll report back on the results.
I'm going to share 2 of my favorite social networking videos with you in this post. One is called "Social Media Revolution" and the other is called "The Google Story". If you haven't seen them, and you're even slightly interested in the explosion of social media, you need to watch. If you're a business owner and you're not yet engaged online, you need to jump in now... the water's great!
The Google Story
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Marketing to Alternative Channels- How to get started, and get noticed
By: Chris Clark
The Senior List.com
I get asked multiple times a day what elder care providers can do to get noticed out there online, and I was recently approached to write a brief post about getting started with an online strategy in mind. So... here it goes... :)
A number of organizations do a great job in getting the word out... it's usually these communities/providers that are able to capture attention, and capitalize on the power of internet search. However, in my experience many senior care marketers don't understand one of two things; Where their existing customers come from... and how to promote their services in alternative channels. This know-how can have a huge impact on one's bottom line.
First off, there are a number of excellent professionals out there that can assist providers that would like marketing assistance. Valerie VanBooven, President of LTC Expert Publications does a great job of showing her clients the ropes, and getting them comfortable with social media, directories, and other online channels. Once a provider understands the fundamentals, they're off and running! Locating and learning from an expert is probably the best way to put your operation into high gear... but not the only way.
This post will focus largely on the online effort, but relative to customer acquisition in general, I'm amazed at how many organizations don't ask their customers (as a matter of protocol) how they heard about them. If you're not asking everyone that walks through your door, "how did you find us?" you need to start today. Then keep a ledger with this valuable data handy to discuss in meetings etc. At year end, it will become apparent where your business is coming from, and where you might expand your marketing efforts.
I can offer a few tips to providers that are just getting started with an online strategy. First, google your company name, then your business phone number and/or address. Then search for your "service" in your nearest metro area. For example, if you own an adult care home that serves Portland Oregon, but you're physically located in Milwaukie Oregon, make sure you google "Adult Care Home Portland Oregon". Then do the same exercise for your biggest competitors. By doing a little online investigating you can find out if and where you are showing up online. You may also uncover some great resources (directories, etc.) that you weren't aware of...
As mentioned above, perhaps just as important as doing a self assessment of your business, is doing a competitive analysis. When I look at the analytics for The Senior List.com I get to see the "key words" that end up hitting our site. (These are search terms that individuals have typed into a search engine. These individuals then end up clicking on a Senior List link in those results.) I get to see the entries that led to that click- as a life long marketer it's fascinating to see what terms hit the site. I see phone numbers, Doctor's names, addresses, and more. I know that some of these "hits" are savvy marketers performing due diligence on themselves, and maybe you as well!
Some other tactical questions you can ask yourself as you get started include; where should I list my service? (what directories yield the better search results- and at what cost?); second- how effective is our own website? (is it optimized in any way? Do I give consumers a reason to click around? Would a customer want to visit if they found us online?) And Lastly- learn a bit about social networking. Invest some time learning about Twitter, Facebook, AARP, and maybe even LinkedIn (just to name a few).
Lastly, it's important for the marketing professional to realize that image is everything these days. If you don't have a website- get one! (Yes there are care providers out there without websites!) You may even want to have a logo professionally designed (you can have this done for next to nothing). A great online resource I've used for crowdsourcing logo designs can be found at 99Designs.com . It's a very interesting process, and it works amazingly well.
Developing or refining an online strategy takes some time, but a few simple steps can impact your bottom line down the road. If there is interest, we can examine this area further and in greater depth. If you're just getting started, take the plunge... the water is great!
The Senior List.com
I get asked multiple times a day what elder care providers can do to get noticed out there online, and I was recently approached to write a brief post about getting started with an online strategy in mind. So... here it goes... :)
A number of organizations do a great job in getting the word out... it's usually these communities/providers that are able to capture attention, and capitalize on the power of internet search. However, in my experience many senior care marketers don't understand one of two things; Where their existing customers come from... and how to promote their services in alternative channels. This know-how can have a huge impact on one's bottom line.
First off, there are a number of excellent professionals out there that can assist providers that would like marketing assistance. Valerie VanBooven, President of LTC Expert Publications does a great job of showing her clients the ropes, and getting them comfortable with social media, directories, and other online channels. Once a provider understands the fundamentals, they're off and running! Locating and learning from an expert is probably the best way to put your operation into high gear... but not the only way.
This post will focus largely on the online effort, but relative to customer acquisition in general, I'm amazed at how many organizations don't ask their customers (as a matter of protocol) how they heard about them. If you're not asking everyone that walks through your door, "how did you find us?" you need to start today. Then keep a ledger with this valuable data handy to discuss in meetings etc. At year end, it will become apparent where your business is coming from, and where you might expand your marketing efforts.
I can offer a few tips to providers that are just getting started with an online strategy. First, google your company name, then your business phone number and/or address. Then search for your "service" in your nearest metro area. For example, if you own an adult care home that serves Portland Oregon, but you're physically located in Milwaukie Oregon, make sure you google "Adult Care Home Portland Oregon". Then do the same exercise for your biggest competitors. By doing a little online investigating you can find out if and where you are showing up online. You may also uncover some great resources (directories, etc.) that you weren't aware of...
As mentioned above, perhaps just as important as doing a self assessment of your business, is doing a competitive analysis. When I look at the analytics for The Senior List.com I get to see the "key words" that end up hitting our site. (These are search terms that individuals have typed into a search engine. These individuals then end up clicking on a Senior List link in those results.) I get to see the entries that led to that click- as a life long marketer it's fascinating to see what terms hit the site. I see phone numbers, Doctor's names, addresses, and more. I know that some of these "hits" are savvy marketers performing due diligence on themselves, and maybe you as well!
Some other tactical questions you can ask yourself as you get started include; where should I list my service? (what directories yield the better search results- and at what cost?); second- how effective is our own website? (is it optimized in any way? Do I give consumers a reason to click around? Would a customer want to visit if they found us online?) And Lastly- learn a bit about social networking. Invest some time learning about Twitter, Facebook, AARP, and maybe even LinkedIn (just to name a few).
Lastly, it's important for the marketing professional to realize that image is everything these days. If you don't have a website- get one! (Yes there are care providers out there without websites!) You may even want to have a logo professionally designed (you can have this done for next to nothing). A great online resource I've used for crowdsourcing logo designs can be found at 99Designs.com . It's a very interesting process, and it works amazingly well.
Developing or refining an online strategy takes some time, but a few simple steps can impact your bottom line down the road. If there is interest, we can examine this area further and in greater depth. If you're just getting started, take the plunge... the water is great!
Monday, July 20, 2009
What's in a number? Lessons from Tom Watson's improbable weekend
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By Chris Clark
Co founder, The Senior List.com
http://www.theseniorlist.com/
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So what's in a number anyway? Golfers know all too well that on the course numbers matter... and in life, they matter too (sometimes). The number 59 is a magical number to the game of golf. Only 4 golfers on the planet have managed to post 59's during a PGA tour event; Al Geiberger in 1977, Chip Beck in 1991, David Duval in 1999, and Annika Sorenstam in 2001 (LPGA). Up to now, the number 59 in the game of golf is the stuff of legends.
After this past week's (British) Open Championship at Turnberry, the number 59 now has new meaning to golfers all over the globe. Tom Watson, at the age of 59 (just weeks shy of his 60th birthday) turned back the clock and gave every golfer... heck anyone who's ever felt their age, a reason to cheer him on... and they did. The cheering wasn't limited to the Scots, or the patrons in the gallery- it was heard all over the globe, and I hope Tom felt something special from each of us with every swing of his club on Sunday.
Oh the Scots love Tom Watson! After all, he's won 5 British Open championships to date. On Sunday, after magical performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Tom Watson found himself with one putt to WIN the Open one more time (on the 18th, and final hole). The putt didn't find it's mark, and ultimately Watson went on to lose in a playoff to Stewart Cink (who's 36 if you're counting). Cink managed to win the Claret Jug, the oldest trophy in golf, but it was Watson that won our hearts. It was a journey for the ages... and will forever tie Tom Watson and the game of golf to the number 59. Here's hoping I get to write about Tom Watson and the number 60 next year...
By Chris ClarkCo founder, The Senior List.com
http://www.theseniorlist.com/
Add to Technorati Favorites
So what's in a number anyway? Golfers know all too well that on the course numbers matter... and in life, they matter too (sometimes). The number 59 is a magical number to the game of golf. Only 4 golfers on the planet have managed to post 59's during a PGA tour event; Al Geiberger in 1977, Chip Beck in 1991, David Duval in 1999, and Annika Sorenstam in 2001 (LPGA). Up to now, the number 59 in the game of golf is the stuff of legends.
After this past week's (British) Open Championship at Turnberry, the number 59 now has new meaning to golfers all over the globe. Tom Watson, at the age of 59 (just weeks shy of his 60th birthday) turned back the clock and gave every golfer... heck anyone who's ever felt their age, a reason to cheer him on... and they did. The cheering wasn't limited to the Scots, or the patrons in the gallery- it was heard all over the globe, and I hope Tom felt something special from each of us with every swing of his club on Sunday.
Oh the Scots love Tom Watson! After all, he's won 5 British Open championships to date. On Sunday, after magical performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Tom Watson found himself with one putt to WIN the Open one more time (on the 18th, and final hole). The putt didn't find it's mark, and ultimately Watson went on to lose in a playoff to Stewart Cink (who's 36 if you're counting). Cink managed to win the Claret Jug, the oldest trophy in golf, but it was Watson that won our hearts. It was a journey for the ages... and will forever tie Tom Watson and the game of golf to the number 59. Here's hoping I get to write about Tom Watson and the number 60 next year...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Kaiser Permanente survey finds seniors satisfied with using Internet to manage health
By Chris Clark Co founder, The Senior List.com
http://www.theseniorlist.com
The below links to an interesting Kaiser Permanente study passed along by my friend and (former) colleague Kyle Wichelmann. It's entitled "Survey finds seniors satisfied with using Internet to manage health"
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/survey-finds-seniors-satisfied-using-internet-manage-health
The survey included some 4,560 seniors regarding their use of computers to manage health issues. Of particular interest is an astounding 87% of Medicare beneficiaries that have signed up to use Kaiser's "My Health Manager" (personal health record) reported as being satisfied or very satisfied with the technology. Keep in mind all of these folks are 65 or older...
Now I have no doubt that the Kaiser tool is very well designed, and thus easier for older adults to navigate through (vs. some obnoxiously complex, or busy tool- heck I don't touch those either). I do however see Kaiser embracing technology, as they're seeing the power (read efficiency) of using web based resources to reach out to their 8.6 million members. What Kaiser knows, and what many marketers are now realizing is that the presence and influence of the boomer and/or senior consumer online today is... well... booming.
The Kaiser data supports a number of other resources suggesting the importance of the 50+ consumer segment. Jupiter research reports that 43% of online traffic is generated by baby boomers, and a U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey attributes 65% of the aggregate net worth of all U.S. households to those adults aged 50+. Marketers that were once drawn to the bubble gum generation are now looking to the sandwich generation, and the greatest generation to plant seeds and cultivate new relationships.
http://www.theseniorlist.com
The below links to an interesting Kaiser Permanente study passed along by my friend and (former) colleague Kyle Wichelmann. It's entitled "Survey finds seniors satisfied with using Internet to manage health"
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/survey-finds-seniors-satisfied-using-internet-manage-health
The survey included some 4,560 seniors regarding their use of computers to manage health issues. Of particular interest is an astounding 87% of Medicare beneficiaries that have signed up to use Kaiser's "My Health Manager" (personal health record) reported as being satisfied or very satisfied with the technology. Keep in mind all of these folks are 65 or older...
Now I have no doubt that the Kaiser tool is very well designed, and thus easier for older adults to navigate through (vs. some obnoxiously complex, or busy tool- heck I don't touch those either). I do however see Kaiser embracing technology, as they're seeing the power (read efficiency) of using web based resources to reach out to their 8.6 million members. What Kaiser knows, and what many marketers are now realizing is that the presence and influence of the boomer and/or senior consumer online today is... well... booming.
The Kaiser data supports a number of other resources suggesting the importance of the 50+ consumer segment. Jupiter research reports that 43% of online traffic is generated by baby boomers, and a U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey attributes 65% of the aggregate net worth of all U.S. households to those adults aged 50+. Marketers that were once drawn to the bubble gum generation are now looking to the sandwich generation, and the greatest generation to plant seeds and cultivate new relationships.
Customer Review Sites- How can they impact your bottom line?
By Chris Clark- Co Founder, The Senior List (http:www.theseniorlist.com)
There are customer review sites for just about everything these days, and my guess is that when making your last important purchase decision, you knowingly (or perhaps unknowingly) utilized a peer-review when researching online. Earlier this year I was shopping for a new laptop, with a very open mind regarding brand, memory, screen size, etc. What I found (to my dismay) was that there is a plethora of information out there at your fingertips, much of it provided by the manufacturers themselves. For example, if you visit Dell.com you’ll find that each new laptop model they sell has customer reviews associated with it… good, bad or indifferent.
Why would an industry behemoth like Dell be interested in providing a forum for customers to gripe about how lousy the battery life is in the Inspiron 13 laptop? Because today, businesses are building brand loyalty based on a new pillar of trust and transparency. For the Dell shoppers the sub-conscience processes the following thought wave in the deep recesses of the brain: If Dell is willing to let me see direct customer feedback, they’re clearly interested in me as a consumer, and clearly interested in improving their performance as well. They are connected, and I trust that… Perhaps I should look more closely at buying from Dell…
In many cases, positive customer reviews directly influence the purchase decisions made by consumers on a daily basis. In a 2007 Jupiter Research/Bazaarvoice survey over two-thirds (70%) of UK online users rated online product ratings and reviews the most helpful feature when researching product purchases. Perhaps more important, 97% were willing to trust online reviews. These statistics are likely even higher among the ever burgeoning baby boomer demographic. ThirdAge, a boomer focused (content rich) site indicates that 96% of boomers participate in word-of-mouth or viral marketing by passing product or service information along to friends. Everybody knows that word of mouth advertising is the most cost-effective advertising on the planet…well, word of mouth has a new mouth… it’s called the internet.
How can your business take advantage of this new age in marketing/advertising? A number of things come to mind: First, embrace this new consumer revolution. If you don’t, you’re doomed to fail (or at least fall behind). Second, monitor your online presence. I constantly speak to business owners that google their business name, and key products (daily) to see who’s writing about them, and where they’re showing up in search results (I’ll discuss enhancing your natural search engine results in another article/post). Third, don’t be afraid of a bad review- learn from it. Nobody is perfect, not in our personal lives and not in business. When I see a business or product with 100% of their reviews as positive, I genuinely wonder if there’s a pig under that blanket. Businesses can (and should) encourage their satisfied customers to post a review on an appropriate site. This will offset the occasional disgruntled consumer posting.
Customer review sites aren’t going away anytime soon, in fact they’re likely to propagate. We’re in the midst of a consumer revolution, and this revolution is taking place online. Embrace it, participate in it, and enjoy the ride. Take a peak at what the larger consumer product companies in the world are doing. Dell isn’t running from this revolution, they’re knee deep in it. They know that by connecting with you and gaining your trust, they'll have a shot the next time you're in the market for a quality PC. Oh and as for my laptop purchase? I ended up going with an HP… they also have consumer reviews for every model :) My battery life stinks, and the fan is too loud… but I guess I should have known that- eh?
Chris Clark co-founded The Senior List, a consumer-opinion site focused on senior-services. His career also includes over 18 years spent in corporate healthcare sales and marketing.
There are customer review sites for just about everything these days, and my guess is that when making your last important purchase decision, you knowingly (or perhaps unknowingly) utilized a peer-review when researching online. Earlier this year I was shopping for a new laptop, with a very open mind regarding brand, memory, screen size, etc. What I found (to my dismay) was that there is a plethora of information out there at your fingertips, much of it provided by the manufacturers themselves. For example, if you visit Dell.com you’ll find that each new laptop model they sell has customer reviews associated with it… good, bad or indifferent.
Why would an industry behemoth like Dell be interested in providing a forum for customers to gripe about how lousy the battery life is in the Inspiron 13 laptop? Because today, businesses are building brand loyalty based on a new pillar of trust and transparency. For the Dell shoppers the sub-conscience processes the following thought wave in the deep recesses of the brain: If Dell is willing to let me see direct customer feedback, they’re clearly interested in me as a consumer, and clearly interested in improving their performance as well. They are connected, and I trust that… Perhaps I should look more closely at buying from Dell…
In many cases, positive customer reviews directly influence the purchase decisions made by consumers on a daily basis. In a 2007 Jupiter Research/Bazaarvoice survey over two-thirds (70%) of UK online users rated online product ratings and reviews the most helpful feature when researching product purchases. Perhaps more important, 97% were willing to trust online reviews. These statistics are likely even higher among the ever burgeoning baby boomer demographic. ThirdAge, a boomer focused (content rich) site indicates that 96% of boomers participate in word-of-mouth or viral marketing by passing product or service information along to friends. Everybody knows that word of mouth advertising is the most cost-effective advertising on the planet…well, word of mouth has a new mouth… it’s called the internet.
How can your business take advantage of this new age in marketing/advertising? A number of things come to mind: First, embrace this new consumer revolution. If you don’t, you’re doomed to fail (or at least fall behind). Second, monitor your online presence. I constantly speak to business owners that google their business name, and key products (daily) to see who’s writing about them, and where they’re showing up in search results (I’ll discuss enhancing your natural search engine results in another article/post). Third, don’t be afraid of a bad review- learn from it. Nobody is perfect, not in our personal lives and not in business. When I see a business or product with 100% of their reviews as positive, I genuinely wonder if there’s a pig under that blanket. Businesses can (and should) encourage their satisfied customers to post a review on an appropriate site. This will offset the occasional disgruntled consumer posting.
Customer review sites aren’t going away anytime soon, in fact they’re likely to propagate. We’re in the midst of a consumer revolution, and this revolution is taking place online. Embrace it, participate in it, and enjoy the ride. Take a peak at what the larger consumer product companies in the world are doing. Dell isn’t running from this revolution, they’re knee deep in it. They know that by connecting with you and gaining your trust, they'll have a shot the next time you're in the market for a quality PC. Oh and as for my laptop purchase? I ended up going with an HP… they also have consumer reviews for every model :) My battery life stinks, and the fan is too loud… but I guess I should have known that- eh?
Chris Clark co-founded The Senior List, a consumer-opinion site focused on senior-services. His career also includes over 18 years spent in corporate healthcare sales and marketing.
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