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

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.

Highlights from AARP’s Social Media Research

* 47% of Boomers and seniors originally heard about social networking from a family member other than their spouse. 

* 70 percent of 50+ers first heard about social media from a child or grandchild.

* 24% of Boomers and seniors who are active in social networks were introduced to it by friends.

* Women were more likely than men to be introduced by family members (60% to 29%).

* Among adults 50+ who use social media websites, 73 percent are connected to relatives other than children and grandchildren.  62% are connected to their children.  36 percent are connected to grandchildren.

* Facebook was most popular among AARP’s respondents – 23% of their 50+ social networkers used this site.  LinkedIn was #3, with 4% and Twitter clocked in at #4, with 3% of respondents using or visiting the microblogging service.  Interestingly (and most likely driven by grandchildren) 4% had MySpace accounts.

We note that 73% of the 1360 older adults contacted reported they do not use social networks at all.

For tips and more insights about social media marketing and Boomers and seniors, here are some related articles:

- The Age of Social Networks? Mature
- From Social Media Socialites to the Socially Awkward (why one size doesn’t fit all for marketing)
- Untangling the Web: Social Media and Boomer, Senior Homebuyers
- Marketing to Gen X and Baby boomers via LinkedIn
- The Face(book) in the Mirror is Getting Older

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Despite tremendous growth in the numbers of Baby Boomers and matures actively participating in social networks, Pew Research Center found that “Only 30% of all Boomers and 6% of members of the Silent generation have created their own profile on a social networking site.”

 Now, 30% of all Baby Boomers is a sizable group, but the research reminds mature marketers it’s good to be choosy about how much and where to invest in social media marketing.

Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) Gen Xers and fewer than 1 in 10 (11%) Boomers told Pew they visit social networking sites multiple times a day.  More Boomers (26%) than Gen X (19%) go on once a day.  14% Millennials, 10% Gen X, 6% of Baby Boomers and 1% of Silent Generation members say they have ever used Twitter.

Learn more about social media and Boomers/seniors.  Please check out our other posts on this subject or download our complimentary “Top 10 Take-aways” from the 2010 Builders Show.  Or, email social [at] creatingresults.com to request our Social Media Cheat Sheet (with descriptions, data on popular social networking sites) and the Social Media Survival Guide (lays out a five-step plan for getting your brand socially engaged).