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Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 5/21/12

Monday, May 21st, 2012

“The learned is happy, nature to explore; The fool is happy, that he knows no more.” – Alexander Pope (born on this day, May 21, in 1688)

The Creating Results team is happy to each week explore and deliver to our friends/followers those resources which help us all learn more about our targets: mature consumers. Now, time to learn what links “clicked” last week with those who share our passion for baby boomers and beyond.

1. MOST SHARED: 5 reasons email is ideal for creating loyalty with baby boomers and seniors: http://bit.ly/KrqOQq

2. MOST CLICKED: That terrifying moment you realize: You are old. – http://bit.ly/LtWREf Insights from Dr. Carol Orsborn, writing for the new Next Avenue.

3. MOST IMPORTANT: Marketers should be aware of a new “generation gap:” Debt.

The average American carries $78,030 in debt, reports Experian. Last week they shared details on who owes what by generation. The news isn’t good for Gen X, which has the highest amount of debt and low credit scores. Baby Boomers “tend to be equal to or under the national average in nearly every category with the exception of their second mortgages, which is proportionally 23 percent higher than the national average,” the study found.

It was especially interesting to see the breakdown by age group and debt type. I was surprised to see that what Experian calls the Greatest Generation (which seems to be anyone older than a boomer, which would include the Silent Generation as well) had the highest percentage of bank card debt – 43% above the national average.

Read the whole article at: http://bit.ly/KrrEwm

Debt and aging. Which do you think your 50+ prospective customers fear most? Does your marketing reference these fears or challenges in any way? Please share your thoughts using the comments tool below.

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Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Gen X, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Millennials/Gen Y, Silent Generation | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 4/30/12

Monday, April 30th, 2012

What articles or resources connected with mature marketing professionals this past week? Read on for a run-down of the “hottest” links, based on the engagement of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus followers.

1. MOST CLICKED: NPR’s “Family Matters: The Money Squeeze,” which examines the joys and challenges of caring for aging parents. Stats/new research plus interviews sharing the first-hand experiences of those in multigenerational households and other caregivers are making this a very powerful series. NPR defines the scope of the challenge:

“… providing long-term care is, in fact, common. Nearly 10 million adult children are caring for aging parents, according to the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Other adult children are contributing to the cost of a parent’s assisted-living care, which MetLife says averages about $3,500 a month.

‘The percentage of adult children providing personal care and/or financial assistance to a parent has more than tripled over the past 15 years,’ the research group found.”

Listen to the reports: http://n.pr/IgLPuV

2. MOST SHARED: What’s the real story? Are older workers retiring later or speeding off the exit ramps now? Kerry Hannon looks at labor stats and implications for baby boomer brain drain in Forbes.

Read the story: http://onforb.es/JMooiv

3. Under new US Census measurements of poverty, 1 in 6 American elders lives under the poverty line. Elderblogger Ronni Bennett shares her perspective on the numbers, and her readers share their own personal stories in the comments section. http://bit.ly/IPg26A

4. To our clients, we stress the need for a steady stream of relevant, motivating content. But if you hear “content” and think only “words” you might find yourself losing your audience. This post in Mashable talks about the shift to visual storytelling on the web, a world in which great design and photography are critical. http://on.mash.to/InHagH

We offer a note of caution about the writer’s love of special effects, however. When it comes to 50+ Internet users, they care less about gee whiz gadgetry and can be very frustrated by elements that scroll, skip, fade, and move around without warning. Baby boomers and seniors still see the web as more tool than entertainment. So if you add a special effect, it better add to the user’s understanding of your product/service.

 

Resource Reminder: Creating Results’ national study into what photography succeeds or fails with baby boomers and beyond can be a helpful guide as you move to more visual storytelling content. Download the free eBook at www.CreatingResults.com/PhotoFinish.

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Housing, Mature Consumers, Retirement, Silent Generation | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week 2.20.12

Monday, February 20th, 2012

Happy President’s Day Monday.  The following are the mature marketing links and resources of note for the past week. Enjoy!

1. MOST CLICKED: Love was in the air with Three Not-So-Silly Statistics for Valentine’s Day, examining fun facts about 55+ consumers from the National Health Statistics Reports.

     Marriage does a heart good: Findings included that Boomers and Beyond who were married had less difficulty with social and physical activities than those who were formerly married- reminding us that connections are important and should be encouraged within active adult housing and CCRCs to keep ALL motivated and moving.  Click here to read more insights and implications.

2. Florida faces fight to lure retiring boomers: this insightful piece from the Sun Sentinel received a high number of clicks for the week, and with good reason. http://ow.ly/8WEHM

The wants and needs of boomers on the cusp of retiring is changing and in order to continue to draw retirees a recent report shows that Florida may have some re-thinking to do. 96% of respondents surveyed within a Consumer Federation of the Southeast survey placed the highest emphasis on top notch health care (above climate and taxes).   The article examines the strengths of Florida and other areas when it comes to attracting this Boomer market and things they will have to think about when marketing to this target if they want to capitalize on the potential revenue of even a small percentage of the Boomer population looking to relocate.

3.  What Google’s Privacy Policies and what they mean for Seniors:      The ever changing and expanding world of Google and recent privacy policies put in place were examined in an article on Aging In Place Technology Watch.

Creating Results is honored to be a nominee for SeniorHomes.com’s Best of the Web 2012.  Please vote for our blog as top senior living industry resource.  Click here to vote for Mature Marketing Matters and thank you in advance for letting us share news and insights for marketing to the 55+ market.

 

 

 

Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Advertising, Boomers, Internet, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Retirement, Silent Generation, Social Networking | No Comments »

Is 50+ Housing Declining or Thriving?

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

That provocative headline is the topic of a panel Todd Harff will host today at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. Todd will be joined by three panelists who are nationally respected developers/marketers of a dozen communities catering to 50+ homebuyers.

What the panelists have in common is persistence, creativity and success. What distinguishes them is the variety of approaches they use to reach 50+ homebuyers – from senior rentals to multifamily to age-qualified communities and $900,000 single family homes. As Todd puts it, “Success in 50+ housing doesn’t come in one size anymore. ”

No one disputes that the population is aging.

No one disputes that there is opportunity in addressing the housing needs of people in their fifties and beyond. However, there is much debate over what the housing and communities for the active adult should look like and live like.

Let’s face it, our world has changed. We know that the large scale master planned retirement communities are too capital intensive to get started today. We know that many age-qualified communities are struggling. What isn’t clear is where the opportunity is to make money with the 50+ homebuyer.

Economic Realities Differ by Age Group

Money is a critical issue with today’s 50+ buyer, as Todd demonstrates in the following three graphs. These show how developers must consider the different circumstances of different age bands within 50+ housing.

75+ homeowners saw their income go up in the late 90s and then pretty much go flat in the last five years. Those who are 65 to 74 are continuing to do well. They had a little dip in the last recession of 2001, but in 2010 they were hardly hit.

Contrast that with the next chart which shows 45-54 year olds. Their incomes have taken a much harder hit. This group had been the “move-up buyer.” Now, they’re not moving up.  This in turn is making it harder for active adults to sell their homes.  “It’s not just the rich that are getting richer, it’s the older getting richer”, observed  Todd

As the following chart shows, older Baby Boomers are actually better off economically than most other age groups. If you were fortunate enough to be in your 20s in the year 2000, your household income was nearly $46K a year. Ten years later, the household income of mid 20-year-olds is struggling to get to$40K. But for the people who are 65+, every year is getting better and better. Their best year was last year!

Asking the Tough Questions about the Future of 50+ Housing

Todd will be putting some challenging questions to his panel today, including:

* Are age qualified communities viable anymore or are they too restrictive?
* Is it possible today to have a successful homebuilding business that focuses on high-end homebuyers?  What features and amenities do today’s buyers want?
* How is the age-in-place movement helping and hurting 50+ housing?
* What advice would you give to a builder looking to succeed in this market?
* What did you do differently last year that was successful?

Tune into this blog next week to read some of the answers provided. Or, share your own answers and thoughts, below!

RELATED POST: What is the Future of Active Adult Housing?

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Posted in Boomers, Generation Jones (trailing edge Boomers), Housing, Real Estate Marketing, Silent Generation, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Facebook, Internet Users More Similar to Offline Population Ages Than Ever

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

With all the excitement over the Facebook IPO, Heather Dougherty at Experian Hitwise today rounded up 10 stats about the social network that are key to understanding its reach and impact. We focused in on Stat #5 – a demographic breakdown of Facebook users, which include 19% younger Baby Boomers aged 49-54 and 20% older Boomers or seniors aged 55+.

The chart (below) shows the visit share by age for the big four social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. And the age breakdown of the (US?) online population.

As eMarketer has noted, “The average age of Internet users is rising in tandem with that of the general population.” It appears so far Facebook is the online social network that most closely mirrors the age diversity of our offline world. Twitter continues to appeal to GenX and GenY. And LinkedIn continues to be an excellent if underappreciated network for reaching 55+ adults – 57% of users are baby boomers or beyond!

Chart from HitWise showing Facebook visits by age, including baby boomers and seniors

I was surprised to see Google+ have a larger audience over the age of 55 than Twitter, but on second thought its design and functionality is so similar to Facebook, it might feel more comfortable to older users.

Stat #8 wasn’t a surprise to us. As Dougherty writes, “Facebook” is the most searched term in the US and Facebook-related terms account for 14% of the top search clicks.” We shared that insight with a team of social media marketing ambassadors from a leading continuing care retirement community just two days ago. It was terrific to see their excitement for how the network could promote deeper relationships with their senior prospects and adult children.

If your organization needs help turning social media stats into social media strategies, please check out these related posts (or give us a call – we’d love to help).

RELATED POSTS:

 

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Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Gen X, Internet, Marketing, Silent Generation, Social Networking, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Tweets of the Week – 1/2/12

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Happy Monday, and Happy New Year! The team at Creating Results enjoyed a week off last week, so our tweets were fewer in number. But several struck a chord with friends and followers. Here are the links and quick hits that were most clicked on, shared or discussed.

TOP TWEETS THIS WEEK

1. Statistics on Social Media Use by Baby Boomers, Seniors and Gen X – all three age groups share a love for email and a growing use of social networks http://bit.ly/qjkPwX

2. Red, White, and Gray: The High Cost, and High Rewards, of Longer Lives – an article from The Atlantic which considers whether “a grayer society is a richer society” http://ow.ly/88Qfa

And a tweet that should have gotten more attention: Ways to use Social Media to build a loyal customer base http://bit.ly/t4rf69. I appreciated how the blogger included thoughts from Pervara Kapadia on how you can use social media to create feelings of privilege and belonging (very motivating with baby boomers). Kapadia summarized as:

  • “Privileged Feeling

    • This could be done by giving them great discounts and sales information.
    • You could let them have the first peek at new products being offered.
    • Let them be the first to know what is taking place behind the scenes.
    • If there is a new announcement that you will be coming out with, let your Community know first.

  • Belonging Feeling

    • Encourage customers to speak and to share.
    • Let them know that they are a part of your Family.
    • Let them share their experience with your product.
    • Appreciate a good comment. Make it a point to address a negative remark.”

    Are you using social media to create feelings of belonging or privilege in your baby boomer and senior audiences? Share your thoughts and examples in the comments below.

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    Posted in Boomers, Gen X, Internet, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Silent Generation, Social Networking | No Comments »

    Mature Marketing Tweets of the Week- 12/19/2011

    Monday, December 19th, 2011

    Tweets from @CreatingResults over the course of the last week that were most shared, discussed and clicked.  Happy Tweeting!

    By far the most shared post was Gaining Boomer and Senior Marketing Insights from Social Media. Find out what messages/strategies are hitting (or missing) the mark. Todd Harff recaps a number of resources that can be extremely helpful in determining and leveraging boomer and senior social preferences and behaviors, including  LinkedIn’s which allows you to see what is generating the most interest segmented by industry or group.

    Statistics on Groups in LinkedIn give insights for marketing to baby boomers, seniors

    Other Top Tweets:

    1. Santa’s Senior Secrets- An infographic chock full of not only holiday cheer but stats on seniors the world over.

    Infographic - Statistics for Seniors Marketing - Secrets of Santa Claus

    2.  Baby Boomer social media revolution: More and more boomers flock to sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  How will you reach them?

    3. Seven reasons direct mail and print remain effective marketing tools.

    4. Interesting article via @AllThingsAging examining the rise of Ethnogeriatrics within diverse communities.

    Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Advertising, Boomers, Generation Jones (trailing edge Boomers), Housing, Internet, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Retirement, Silent Generation, Social Networking | No Comments »

    A Sleighful of Statistics on Seniors – and Santa

    Thursday, December 15th, 2011

    Seniors make up 13% of Americans and by 2030 will be 20% of the United States population. But our favorite senior may be dear old Santa Claus. The right jolly old elf is – at the least – just shy of 200 years old. This holiday, Creating Results celebrates timeless seniors everywhere with a brand new infographic. Statistics, insights … they’re all in Santa’s pack, below.

    Infographic - Statistics for Seniors Marketing - Secrets of Santa Claus

     (For a version which is larger/printable/easy to share, click on the image.)

    As always, we feel feedback from our readers is a great gift. Please share your thoughts on this infographic in the comments section. And, HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Creating Results!

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    Posted in 60+, Housing, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Retirement, Silent Generation | No Comments »

    Gaining Boomer and Senior Marketing Insights from Social Media

    Friday, December 9th, 2011

    Using social media as part of your marketing program? Most likely you are. May 2011 research from Brian Solis revealed that two-thirds of marketers are conducting social media advertising activities. More and more retirement communities and other organizations targeting baby boomers and seniors are jumping on the social media bandwagon each day.

    What doesn’t seem to vary is the struggle to act on or measure what your brand gains from social media. As eMarketer notes:

    From the early days of the internet, the prospect of detailed metrics fueled the promise that online advertising could yield unprecedented insights about customer preferences and behavior. That promise has only partially materialized. True, online channels provide feedback that offline media cannot, but marketers are still grappling with how to make this input work toward the bottom line.

    From my presentation to the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) last week, here are tools and tips that can help marketers spot and make sense of customer preferences and behavior.

    We’ve focused on resources that are built-in or free, and are accessible to organizations like our clients – continuing care retirement communities, estate planners and 50+ housing developers with a lot of heart but little budgets.

    Free Social Media Tools You Should Be Using

    1. FACEBOOK:

    * Facebook Insights: built-in and free, this tool helps you analyze your brand’s page metrics.

    - Find out which messages hit (and which miss) their mature marks through “people talking about” and noting which posts attract the most engagement.

    - Demographics and locations reported by Facebook also offer (free) insights. We discovered one client’s site was attracting more adult children than prospects themselves. And for another, we found that Friends were quirkier than we thought – one report showed a healthy portion of fans used Facebook with the language set to Pirate. Now our posts contain more humor and get more engagement than before.

    * Facebook search: type your brand name into the search bar and then, on the results page, click on Public Posts. As Search Engine Journal put it, “what you’re left with is real time results for wall posts from all (public) profiles or pages on Facebook!”

    2. TWITTER:

    * TwitterCounter: track follower growth – yours or a competitor’s – for free on a weekly or monthly basis. Upgrade and you can see who is retweeting or sharing your tweets.

    * Hootsuite, TweetDeck, Argyle Social, TweetAdder and Co-Tweet are tools for managing your Twitter account. All offer varying degrees of monitoring as well. Our personal favorite is HootSuite. You can track clicks and shares, and set up searches for key phrases (your brand name, your brand plus words such as LIKE, LOVE or HATE). Reports can even be exported and shared, a time-saving feature for smaller organizations.

    * Twilert: Baby boomer blogger Linda Bernstein swears by this service, which delivers a regular email update with tweets containing keywords related to your brand, product or service.

    3. LINKEDIN:Statistics on Groups in LinkedIn give insights for marketing to baby boomers, seniors

    * Company page Analytics: see at a glance the interest your brand is generating and what kind of traffic, segmented by industry or other selects.

    * Group Statistics: visualize your group members by seniority, function, location and industry.

    4. SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING:

    * There are a number of paid social media monitoring services out there, including Trackur, Radian6, sysomos, Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Alterian. You might first want to read a few comparisons (like this one from FreshMinds) to see what the strengths of each system is.

    * A FREE and easy tool is Social Mention: Per MarketingSherpa’s Adam Sutton,

    “… more than 80% of marketers say measuring brand sentiment is important, yet fewer than half actually track it. You can start gauging sentiment today by spending two minutes playing with Social Mention.

    This fantastically simple and free tool provides a stunning amount of data, including a sentiment analysis of your online mentions. You can even click “positive” and “negative” to see a list of results used to generate your score. How cool is that?”

    Very cool indeed.

     

    What tool do you feel is cool for marketers focused on baby boomers and seniors? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

     

    RELATED POSTS

  • *Part 1: Following the True Leaders: Your Boomer and Senior Customers
  • * 41 Percent of Americans are on Facebook (and 98% have at least one TV set)
  • * Social Networking Habits of Baby Boomers and Beyond

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    Posted in 50+, 60+, Boomers, Internet, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Silent Generation, Social Networking | 2 Comments »

    New Statistics and Analysis as Baby Boomers Age in Place and Become Seniors

    Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

    One of the benefits of power outages is you catch up on reading. So last week, day 4 post-Irene and still off the grid, I finally had time to read an excellent study from the Brookings Institution, “The Uneven Aging and ‘Younging’ of America.” Study author William Frey looked at Census data from 2000 to 2010.  Here are some statistics related to baby boomers and aging in place that jumped out from his analysis:

    * Nationally, the over 45 population has grown 18x more than the under 45 population. We can thank the Baby Boomer s (born 1946-1964) for this. As they have shifted into middle age, so has America.

    * The median age in each of the 50 states has gone up. The increase in median age is most notable in the Northeast, where the average person has gone from 34 years old to 39.2 years old. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut now rank among the oldest states – hello, New England! West Virginia, Florida and Pennsylvania round out the top 7.

    * Texas, the Southeast and the Intermountain West have moderated the effects of the aging population thanks to immigration and migration of young adults attracted by healthy, diversified economies.

    * The Sunbelt has seen the biggest growth in its over 65 population, and the senior population is growing in states not typically associated with retirement.  As Frey put it, “Areas that show growth in these seniors, due both to ‘aging in place’ and migration, are likely to benefit from their above-average economic attributes.”

    * And, there is a “senior explosion in the waiting” in areas – again, the Sunbelt – where Baby boomers attracted by weather, knowledge-based economies and college towns have been moving in the past decades.

    * When the Baby Boomers were actual babies, they were likely suburban babies. These were the areas where young families bloomed.  When they had their own families, they raised them in the suburbs.  And now, they age in place.  Fully 40% of the suburban population is over 45.

    What do you think these statistics mean –for marketing, for health care, for your business?  Are you adjusting your plans based on these population trends?  Please share your thoughts below.

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    Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Mature Consumers, Silent Generation, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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