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Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 4/16/2012

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Happy Monday!  Last week was a hotbed of social activity—here are the top tweets, shared links and general insights that garnered the most attention for marketing to boomers and seniors.  Enjoy!

MOST CLICKED:  Top Five Regrets of Dying What would your greatest do-oever be as you faced your last day of life?  This touching article from the guardian included insights from a palliative nurse regarding her patient’s biggest regrets as they faced their final days.  Number 1 on the list: following their dreams.  Click here to read the full story.

MOST RESOURCE-FULL POST: Ragan.com’s 50 (mostly) free social media tools for brands.  Great article that includes a variety of tips and tools for managing your social media initiatives.  Our top pick from the list? Love the recommendation of SocialMention.com for real time listening to what people are saying about your brand.

 

 

GOOD-TO-KNOW POST OF THE WEEK: 1 in 4 people will abandon a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load. This great infographic includes a variety of great insights about how people utilize the internet.  Other interesting facts included:

  • In the US: 25% of mobile web users only browse using their phones
  • According to 1 survey people wouldn’t wait in link for ANYTHING for more than 15 minutes.

Want to learn more Boomer and Senior attitudes towards everything social media?  Download a complimentary copy our Social Silver Surfer eBook.

WORTH REPEATING: Loyalty is the key ingredient to a successful email program. Explore 5 elements to creating (and leveraging) email in this blog post: It’s Loyalty My Dear Boomer, Email Loyalty

 

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Advertising, Boomers, Email marketing, Internet, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Social Networking, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 4/9/12

Monday, April 9th, 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, celebrating Passover, Easter or the spring sunshine with family and friends! Now that I’ve overdosed on Peeps, it is, appropriately, time for the tweets of the week – last week’s top resources and insights for those marketing to baby boomers and beyond.

1. MOST CLICKED: You never know what will catch the attention of Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ followers! We were sharing about the True North Documentary Film Series, an exciting event that one of our CCRC clients – North Hill – is presenting this week in the Boston area, and one of the films mentioned racked up the clicks. “My Name is Julius” will be shown tomorrow in Needham at 10a. It’s a short film about a 100 year old man who despite a profound hearing loss is completely engaged in his community and staying young while getting older.

6 films will be shown in all at the True North Festival. Details and RSVP at http://truenorthevolution.org/documentary. Hope to see some Boston-area friends there!

2. MOST SHARED: Chief Economist Dave Crowe discusses this month’s Improving Market Index in a video from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). 101 metropolitan areas are said to be improving. 101 metros means about 25% of all metros in the US are “showing consistent improvement for over six months in three items: in house prices, in building permits, in prices,” said Crowe. This is 7 straight months of improvement for this index which makes Crowe and the NAHB feel encouraged. See the whole video at http://bit.ly/HX1DVn

3. This interactive chart (via Jamie Carracher) shows what percentage of people have used social media to get health info, by age: ow.ly/a5xJM

4. What marketing channel can engender baby boomer loyalty? Email expert Beth Rand tells us “It’s Elementary, My Dear Marketer:” http://ow.ly/a4Xxh

5. 50 (mostly) free tools for social media management, research, curation and more: ow.ly/a4xCJ

Pair that link with this one – 50 ideas for social media content ow.ly/a1nQq – and you’ve got 100 reasons to recommend this blog to a colleague, client or friend.

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Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Email marketing, Housing, Real Estate Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »

Does Entertainment Have an Age Limit?

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

New survey data on the influence of online social networks on entertainment-related decisions was released this month. The upshot is that Twitter and Facebook are indeed impacting consumers when it comes to movies, TV shows and video games. But we focused on something else: the survey, by The Hollywood Reporter (THR) and Penn Schoen Berland, only included 750 people between the ages of 13 and 49.

I imagine some younger person at THR putting together the sample and figuring, why bother including old people in the survey? People over the age of 50 don’t watch TV, buy movie tickets or play video games – right?

Wrong.

FACT: The average age of a prime-time TV viewer is 51. Even shows strongly identified with America’s youth depend on a graying group for their strong ratings. American Idol’s average viewer is 43.8; baby boomers account for 21% of Glee’s regular fans.

Read more: Television’s Senior Moment (Wall Street Journal); Why Has the Network TV Audience Gotten So Old? (Vulture); TV and Advertising to Baby Boomers and Beyond (this blog)

FACT: In 2011, one in four movie tickets in the US and Canada was sold to a person over 50. As the Motion Picture Association of America puts it, “A slight increase in the oldest age group (60+) indicates that more of these people went to the movies (28.8 million) and bought more tickets (170.2 million) than in 2010, representing a 13% market share of both.”

Read more: 2011 Theatrical Market Statistics (Motion Picture Association of America); Is Hollywood Finally Growing Up? (Washington Times); Hurray for Hollywood’s Mature Marketing Insights (this blog)

FACT: In 2011, nearly 1 in every 3 Americans over the age of 50 played a video game. Per the Entertainment Software Association, that’s “an increase from nine percent in 1999. This figure is sure to rise in coming years with nursing homes and senior centers across the nation now incorporating video games into their activities.”

Average age of a game player? 37. Average age of a game buyer? 41.

Read more: Industry Facts (Entertainment Software Association)

FACT: 32% of Baby Boomers say they visit a social networking site each day, per the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Read more: Generations Online and other resarch (Pew); Social, Silver Surfers ebook (Creating Results)

 

With these facts in mind, I’d love to hear The Hollywood Reporter explain: since 50+ adults are big consumers of entertainment AND are active on social networks, why weren’t they a part of your survey?

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Boomers, Marketing, Mature Consumers, Social Networking | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 3/19/2012

Monday, March 19th, 2012

Last week we celebrated Pi Day, the ides of March (et tu, baby boomer marketer?) and St. Paddy’s Day (sorry Kermit, but once a year it IS easy being green). We also shared a wide variety of resources to help you get better results while marketing to the 50+ consumer. Here are the links that received the most clicks, retweets, discussion or attention last week.

1. MOST SHARED: Consumers feel that 1 or 2 Facebook messages a day from a brand or organization are too many. A TolunaQuick survey found that respondents “felt overwhelmed by brand messages on social media,” reported PR Daily.  ”Other findings from the study that brands will want to consider:

  • 40 percent of respondents felt that brand promotions are too complex to enter;
  • 20 percent felt incentives are not worth the effort;
  • 75 percent said that one or two Facebook messages per day is too much to receive from a brand;
  • Nearly 40 percent don’t want to share brand interactions with friends
  • 20 percent proactively post messages to brand pages.”

The findings didn’t surprise our team one bit. As I tweeted, when Creating Results conducted its Social, Silver Surfers research, we heard this message from baby boomers and seniors using social networks. Only 15% said yes, yes they wanted to engage with a brand via social platforms. The majority told us loud and clear that they felt overmarketed to already and that social media was a personal, not commercial space. (Download the eBook at www.CreatingResults.com/SocialSilverSurfers.)

2. MOST CLICKED: Did you know 52% of #babyboomer women rely on ad insertions, print/online coupons? Good opp for QR code ow.ly/9wR7C

Also notable and useful … Two for those marketing real estate / 50+ housing / retirement communities:

3. Cross-country relocation is just not the norm for baby boomers. Reuters reports that Americans are retiring closer to home than they did in the past.

“The increasing popularity of the short-distance move may be a result of the many advantages the strategy offers. Retirees who stay an hour or two from where they worked and raised their children can cut their costs while staying near their friends, cultural events, major airports and medical facilities. Moving outside the metro area means they don’t have to compete on housing prices with people who need to be closer to the city for their jobs.”

We’d add that 50+ers can also stay close to their jobs to work full- or part-time while easing into “retirement.” Read the full article at  ow.ly/9z0oE

4. Looking for data on the impact of seniors on the housing market? Check out this deck from the National Multi Housing Council, “Resetting the Demand for Multi Family Housing: Demographic and Economic Drivers to 2020.” The report includes data on the change in US households by age group, the rise in multigenerational households and renters who double up, and more.

Download the full PDF report at  ow.ly/9BdGu

And one for everybody:

5. A terrific piece in the Wall Street Journal on how we all can – and should – be creative. ow.ly/9CLjz

 

I hope you’ll be creative in sharing your comments and thoughts, below.

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Boomers, Housing, Real Estate Marketing, Retirement, Social Networking | 1 Comment »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 3/12/12

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Hello, Monday! (How did you get here so fast?) Time for the baby boomer and seniors marketing links that received the most attention from friends and followers on Twitter, Google+ and other social platforms last week.

1. MOST CLICKED: The most effective SEO strategy of all time – This must-read post by Barry Feldman in Social Media Today sums it up as follows:

“Read 10 stories on SEO and you get, well, 10 different stories. No one agrees on anything. Or should I say everyone agrees on nothing?

I lied.

Everyone seems to agree on one eensie-weensie word of wisdom. The word is relevance. While 1,001 SEO schmoes may have 1,001 different fail-safe, white hat, field-proven tactics, everyone agrees the one thing all search engines are after is relevance. So come what may, scholars and simpletons can once and for all agree: the most effective SEO strategy of all time is to produce relevant content.”

We encourage you to read the full post for insight and some truly helpful pointers: http://ow.ly/9puWuConga Line - macgasm.net

2. MOST SHARED/COMMENTED UPON: Inspired by International Women’s Day, five facts about 50+ women, with related tips for marketing to these very important baby boomers and seniors http://ow.ly/9wXsp

And a few more resources that earned clicks/shares:

3. The divorce rate for 50+ baby boomers and seniors has doubled in the past two decades. The Wall Street Journal looks at why: http://ow.ly/9rrmY

4. An excerpt from Brent Green’s new book on how to market to baby boomers, perhaps the most examined generation ever: http://ow.ly/9rrwr

5. Beth Rand’s excellent post on this blog, “The Facebook Times are Changing – What the new Facebook Timeline means for for brands.”

Whether you like it or not, Facebook will change brand pages over to the new look/functionality on March 30. Beth offers an overview of key new features, a checklist for readying your page for the transition and examples from brands already taking advantage of the new features (such as Lennar Homes, below): http://ow.ly/9umYQ

 

Please take advantage of the comments tool below to share your thoughts on this feature. And thank you for sharing our passion for marketing to baby boomers and beyond!

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Boomers, Internet, Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »

The Facebook Times Are A Changing

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

What the New Facebook Timeline Means for Brands (Hint, it’s all good)

During their first annual conference for marketers, Facebook announced the upcoming launch of the new Facebook Timeline for businesses and organizations.  While individual users with personal pages within this social networking giant have been growing comfortable with the new look and feel for sometime, this is a whole new world for brands.

So what does this mean for your existing page?  In a nutshell- more flexibility and features that help create a richer experience for prospects visiting your Facebook page. Currently  you can preview what your page will look like with the new Timeline format with the official transition slated to take place for all pages on March 30 so now is the time to begin thinking about how to effectively navigate the change.

Below I’ve included an overview of the new features as well as an action plan for how you can best convert to the new appearance. According to the  Facebook Marketing Solutions page the new Timeline features include:

1. Cover Photo: highlight an image that is compelling to those who will see your page–a new home model, a photo of a recent event, etc.

2. Pins: position timely news and information to the top of your page for up to 7 days to help motivate followers to action.

3. Private Messaging: quickly view and respond to activity on your page in a personal way- especially important to Boomers and beyond.

4. Timeline: new followers can easily get to know you better by accessing posts and images from previous months or years (without having to scroll down for a lifetime).

Preparing to Launch Your Timeline

Use this checklist of things to complete before you transition your Facebook page to help ensure you are getting the most out of the new look.

  • Identify key dates in your corporate history:  I especially like Lennar’s approach on their timeline- they track dates and images back to their inception in 1950.  The use of imagery and captions are a great way to drive awareness of your history with followers.
  • Create a cover photo that highlights your best assets: There are some new restrictions to the types of images you can incorporate (nothing with pricing, incentives, etc) but the size of the image provides the perfect canvas for highlighting your greatest asset or component of your unique selling proposition. Coca-Cola’s ® timeline is a great example of how you can excite and speak directly to your target market with your cover photo
  •  Create a “Pin Plan”: This is such a great way to encourage people to visit other tabs of your page- photo galleries, email sign up forms, exclusive news, etc.  Unsolicited testimonials are great to highlight when targeting boomers and seniors as these are viewed as authentic, trustworthy sources.   You can pin things for up to a week so make sure your most timely information is highlighted here.
  • Spread the word: encourage your existing prospects to check out your new look and share the news with friends to help generate more followers.  Highlight the switch in blog posts, emails and tweets and include a image and link on your website to help convert traffic to followers.

Resources:  Learn from others through these great resources about how to leverage the new Timeline

Mashable Guide

Lost Remote

Facebook Marketing

Have questions or interested in boosting your social networking presence through Facebook?  Click here to see how Creating Results can help drive results and motivate your target consumers.

 

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Posted in 40+, 50+, Advertising, Boomers, Branding, Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 3/5/12

Monday, March 5th, 2012

What resources for marketing to baby boomers and beyond caught the attention of our Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook followers last week? Read on for top links.

1. MOST SHARED/MOST CLICKED: From the San Francisco Chronicle, how the retirement attitudes of baby boomers differ from those of Gen X. In short, older baby boomers have the most saved but they also are withdrawing more from their retirement savings plans and adding less. Gen Xers are most willing to take risks with their investments, not surprising since retirement is further off for this cohort. Get all the stats at http://bit.ly/zqIbju.

Also gaining clicks and shares this week:

2. What kinds of emails are shared most often? A new survey from Emailvision shows emails with discounts are shared more than any others. Humorous marketing emails rank 2nd in terms of viral shares.

The survey also found that the #1 goal of email marketers was to extend the brand reach. #2 was to build loyalty – retaining customers, building support. As eMarketer notes,

“email marketers are hoping that passed-along emails and other content shared through social channels will help build awareness or reputation, and, conveniently, the messages most likely to accomplish these goals are the ones with deals and promotions that should also help marketers increase sales and gain new customers.”

Read the full article on eMarketer at http://bit.ly/AqAKgN

As we’ve said frequently, email marketing is a very effective tool for reaching baby boomers and seniors. What goals have you set for your email program? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

3. 88% of Internet users will research products online in 2012. Check out this infographic with Internet usage projections http://bit.ly/Anoi1V

4. An iPad class at continuing care retirement community North Hill is giving seniors new ways to connect with friends, family and the world. http://bit.ly/xBJBx2

5. Todd Harff blogs about blogs. (It’s not as meta as it appears.) This week, Todd shared stats on blog use by baby boomers and seniors and tips for starting/maintaining a blog directed at this audience. While the post was in response to an S.O.S. from a real estate marketer, the tips apply to any organization hoping to use a blog as part of its 50+ marketing program.  http://knowledge.creatingresults.com/2012/03/01/blogging-and-the-baby-boomer-home-buyer/

As always, please let us know your thoughts on this blog below. Have a great week!

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Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Email marketing, Gen X, Internet, Retirement, Social Networking | No Comments »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 2/27/12

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Another Monday, another round-up of the mature marketing resources shared by Creating Results that received the most clicks, retweets or attention last week.

1. MOST CLICKED: Seth Godin’s “Simple Thougths about Fair Use” struck a chord with many of our Twitter and LinkedIn followers. Godin explains the difference between copyright and Fair Use, which permits commentary and comparisons. As Godin writes,

“Most web users should know a few simple guidelines, principles so simple that you can generally assume them to be rules. (Worth noting that whether you are in the right or not, a lawyer on retainer can still hassle you–not fair but true):

  • You don’t need to ask someone’s permission to include a link to their site.
  • You don’t need to ask permission to include a screen shot of a website in a directory, comment on that site or parody it.
  • You can quote hundreds of words from a book (for an article or book or on your website) without worrying about it and you certainly don’t need a signed release from the original author or publisher. Poems and songs are special exceptions. Then you can worry.

There’s a difference between being polite and observing the law. If you quote something (an idea, a notion, a recipe), the right thing to do is give credit.”

At Creating Results, our rule of thumb is “always cite and be polite.” Please read all of Mr. Godin’s post at http://bit.ly/z0yROy.

2. MOST SHARED: A tie between Beth Rand’s post on QR Codes and Baby Boomers and this Rochester Post Bulletin article on the experience of Baby Boomers on Facebook. Did you know there are more boomers on Facebook than 13-17 year olds?

Other links/resources of note:

3. Your team is likely working hard to earn mentions in media – whether online outlets or social media.  What can help you measure the success of your program? KD Paine offers a checklist with 25 questions to be answered as you choose a monitoring vendor. http://bit.ly/zKbDBz. Tip of the Hat to Shonali Burke (@Shonali) for sharing the link with us.

4. We’ve written frequently that marketers focused on 50+ consumers shouldn’t overlook television as a very effective channel for reaching baby boomers and seniors. Last week, eMarketer shared new stats on video watching by age and gender, noting “The number of hours in the day may not be growing, but the amount of time US consumers spend with media is—thanks to multitasking.”

The older you are, the more time you spend watching video on TV.  I found it interesting that 50+ men now watch as much video online as do males aged 2-17. You’ll find eMarketer’s post here: http://bit.ly/zPLXe4.

Was there a link or resource we missed that you found of value? Please share it or any other comments below.

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Posted in 50+, 60+, Boomers, Internet, Social Networking | 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 »

Mature Marketing Links of the Week – 2/13/12

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Happy Monday! Following are the links and resources that were most shared, clicked on and commented on via Twitter and LinkedIn last week.

1. MOST CLICKED: Good internal communications are critical for the success of your external marketing http://ow.ly/8RcI0

“Make sure the left hand knows what the right hand is doing,” writes UK blogger Kevin Baughen. Kevin specializes (that’s specialises for our British readers) in helping non-profits with their communications. His post points out that without good internal comms and team work, your brand can’t achieve its marketing goals.

2. A handful of links tied for the “MOST SHARED” title last week.

- If your image of retirees is old people in Florida, think again. The state is now fighting to lure baby boomers. ow.ly/8WEHM

- New post: Is 50+ Housing Declining or Thriving? Stats on household income growth among baby boomers and seniors offer context; excerpts from Todd Haff’s panel presentation at the International Builders’ Show. ow.ly/8Y7dE

- Big thinker (& older innovator) Joseph Coughlin of the MIT Age Lab addressed the idea of age & innovation. I confess a quote Coughlin included from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla set my teeth on edge:  “People under 35 are the people who make change happen…People over 45 basically die in terms of new ideas.” Read the full post at  ow.ly/8Vlgu

3. Also of interest:

- Laurie Orlov (@AgingTech) explains what Google’s new privacy policies mean for seniors – and for you. ow.ly/8V9xk

- Marketing to the 50+ Home Buyer: Social Media and Much More. Excerpts from Beth Rand’s presentation at the International Builders’ Show. http://t.co/stZPHWPn

- Pinning the future of communications on visuals. http://t.co/FJBvb7aB

As the author, Sarah Skerik, writes: “[C]ommunicators have to redouble their efforts when it comes to visuals.   Visuals carry extra weight on Facebook and Google+, they’re rendered on Twitter (drawing more attention to the tweet) and are what makes services like Flipboard and Pinterest so compelling and useful.

 

Was there a link or resource you felt was of importance to mature marketers but it was overlooked in this round-up? Please share it in the comments, below.

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Posted in 40+, 50+, 60+, Boomers, Housing, Internet, Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »

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