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Although the newspaper industry has stabilized somewhat over the last year as advertisers have come back, they’re still struggling with making a profit, and certainly don’t have the margins they once enjoyed. There’s a reason that 11 newspapers a year on average have gone out of business over the last decade.

As newspapers transition to news media companies, they must capitalize on the commercial value of their content across all their platforms in order to be successful. One area where they’ve grown has been digitally with their websites but, unfortunately, online advertising only constitutes a small part of their revenue. Well, The New York Times would like to change that, announcing on Wednesday that they’ll be charging frequent online readers for access to their site. To read the whole article, click here.

Although we’ve seen a few media websites charge for their content over the last few years, none are as large as the NYTimes site, which attracts more than 30 million monthly unique visitors, according to comScore Inc. The New York Times has taken this big step, but the industry as a whole has been cautious about charging customers to access online content. We predict others will follow suit and some already have. The Dallas Morning News has also announced that it will begin charging $16.95 per month for full access to its website, various mobile apps and other digital content.    

 Have you thought about what you’re willing to pay for news? Or if you’re willing to pay at all?

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Are you one of the millions of Americans who turn to online searches before purchasing a product or service? It’s something I find myself doing each and every week. Not only is it convenient, as I can access the information 24/7, but I can also multi-task and search for multiple products and services – saving me time and money.

Seniors and adult children are also conducting plenty of online searches these days. Whether it’s looking for a retirement lifestyle to suit their needs, or researching health care communities for a loved one, senior online directories have become an integral part of their search.

Many communities are beginning to capitalize on this trend of using senior online directories as a reliable reference source. In fact, we’ve seen a shift from traditional media dollars to this digital tactic for the several reasons, including:

• Many sites guarantee a cost-per-lead.
• These sites reach those who are actively searching, compared to those who are just beginning their search.
• Adult children may not be reachable with local media advertising, such as the daily newspaper, if they live in a different city. With the World Wide Web, anything can be found at any time of the day.

Whether you’re a spouse, family member, caregiver or professional who serves older adults, there are many online directories offering senior resources and services in almost any city in the United States. Some of the more well known ones are Retirementhomes.com, APlaceforMom.com and Caring.com.

A couple of years ago, we didn’t find that directory sites offered much value, with their low traffic numbers and lack of providing a full array of information. However, much has changed in this digital platform. Today, many of these sites receive more than 100,000 unique visitors per month. In addition, they help increase traffic to your website, giving you a more prominent position when people go online to search.

We’ll continue to evaluate the quality of leads generated by online directories. In the meantime, why not consider adding them as a tactic in this year’s marketing plan?

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It’s been a difficult couple of years for the media industry. Advertisers, particularly those in telecommunications and auto, have pulled quite a lot of spending during the recession. Plus, traditional media has been greatly impacted by new media opportunities, as audiences become more and more fragmented. But this year, we’re seeing some signs that indicate things are starting to look up for the media industry.

What’s in store for 2011? Advertisers are returning and ad spending will slowly increase as the media industry begins to recover. Although we haven’t seen major rate adjustments, we wouldn’t be surprised if there are slight increases in media pricing this year. In fact, the American Association of Advertising Agencies is projecting an overall media inflation of 3.8 percent.

Based on our observations, here are some suggestions to keep in mind as you plan for the upcoming year:

• Don’t anticipate 2011 media costs to increase significantly, with the exception of cable TV, which is expected to see double-digit increases in rates this year.

 

• Plan as early as possible to lock in rates now (if you haven’t already done so), before rates begin to increase.

 

• Try to plan budgets for 12 months to allow as much negotiating power as possible.

 

• Have a contingency budget to take advantage of extra space opportunities.

 

• Look at local spot television if budgets allow. If planning for cable, plan especially early to lock in lower rates.

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We recently kicked off this year’s American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition with two presentations: Media Relations in the Digital World and Smart Media Choices to Engage Prospects.

Here’s a brief recap of our presentations:

Media Relations in the Digital World by Randy Eilts

When it comes to media relations, there is so much more than just writing a news release and sending it off to local reporters and editors. That is especially true today with the ever-growing digital world.

Mary McMullin from New Life Management & Development and I gave a presentation during the first day of AAHSA education sessions to discuss media relations in the digital world.

Essentially what we shared is that communities and organizations can’t sit back and wait for the mainstream media to potentially cover their news. That’s where the web comes in. Here are some tips to increase your digital presence:

• Use self-generated content to populate your site with news and information about your community.
• Look for ways via the web to generate interest from reporters and editors.
• Create videos telling your story.
• Develop news releases with links embedded in the copy where more information can be found.
• Use social media to find media contacts and begin to building relationships with them.

Journalists still do cover stories about senior living communities, but they want stories that are unique, relevant to their readers and ultimately those that have a mass appeal. By using the web and online resources, your stories will find their way to the journalists. But don’t forget relationships make a huge difference too. Relationships today come in all forms, with digital aspects leading the way.

Smart Media Choices to Engage Prospects by Gigi Burton

Carmen Laughlin, Cathleen Toomey, and I lead a presentation today analyzing consumer media habits and resulting trends that aging services providers can use to drive future marketing decisions.

We had a lot of great questions during the presentation and wanted to share some of our discussion with you.

Is newspaper circulation declining only in big markets, or is it declining across the board?

All newspapers are being affected by circulation decreases that we are aware of in the close to 70 markets we manage. The only one we know of that had a circulation increase was the Seattle Times because the Seattle Post-Intelligencer went solely online after 146 years in print. Therefore, the Seattle Times gained some of their readers. So, there are some situations out there, but really since the advent of the Internet, newspaper circulation has been on the decline.

It hovered around 60 million circulation for many decades. But now, the Internet has given us the advantage of receiving in-depth news coverage anytime, contributing to newspaper circulation decline. Also, we believe the Midwest has been affected as we have seen these changes in our own paper, The Kansas City Star.

When is addressable TV coming?

Addressable TV, where targeted advertising messages will be delivered to households with cable boxes, is supposed to happen in 2010. Whether it does is yet to be seen. Most likely it won’t happen until 2011.

Is it important to be on Facebook?

A lot of people were interested in social media and whether or not it is important to be on Facebook.

One in four older adults age 65-plus who are online now use social media, according to the latest Pew Internet Research survey. Facebook has more than 500 million users, and more than 1.5 million local businesses have active Facebook pages.

If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your community, the time to get started is now.

Stay tuned this week as we bring you more valuable insights from AAHSA.

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We wanted to share this article, Nielsen: This Isn’t Your Grandfather’s Baby Boomer published in AdAge Magazine about the baby boomer consumer, along with some of our own thoughts. As the article confirms, it’s no secret that the 78 million Baby Boomers, those born between the years of 1946 and 1964, are a large and powerful (and affluent) group of people. The darling of most marketers for decades, Boomers are courted less and less. Brands that were built by the Boomers, like McDonalds, aren’t maintaining that relationship. Think about it: The Boomers still eat hamburgers, but the vast majority of McDonalds’ advertising budget still targets those ages 18 to 49.

Baby Boomers spend money, are more comfortable with technology and more adventurous in their media choices compared to their predecessors. As the average age of all traditional media, such as television and newspaper, is getting older, shouldn’t we see a shift in messaging and advertising that supports this messaging as well?  

We expect new marketing channels for seniors to emerge, and we’ll be sure to keep you aware of good opportunities when we see them.

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