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I was on Facebook yesterday, and was impressed to see how many friends one of our communities has on their fan page. More and more companies use this platform as a way to communicate with their loyal customers about a number of things – events, announcements, new products and other important consumer information. There is no doubt that Facebook has become an integral part of how we socialize and communicate.

More than 400 million people are on Facebook, and we know this includes a significant portion of our ideal target audience, to whom we would like to convey our message. According to a recent Nielsen report, adults spend more time here compared to any other website – an average of six hours and 24 minutes per month. Unlike Google, which directs users elsewhere, Facebook users stay on the site.

While it’s easy for a senior living community to develop an active Facebook page, advertising on the website is also an emerging marketing tactic. Facebook is at the forefront of moving past impressions (how many people see your ad) into a new world of relevance (who sees your ad). Facebook can match your community’s ad to only those people who live within a certain distance of your community, who meet a certain age profile or other demographic information, and who list specific interests on their profile (such as hobbies and books). Your community’s ad pops up on the screen only for people who meet the criteria you set.

This relevance is a two-way street. While you’re attracting the audience you want, you’re also pushing out your community’s brand to people most likely to be interested in senior living in your region. Think about it this way – a wedding photographer is best served getting ads in front of someone who just changed their relationship status from single to engaged. And that consumer would be more likely to click on the ad to learn more about those specific services.

While we don’t know if Facebook will develop specific criteria to make it hyper-relevant to those seeking senior living services, advertising on the website is something we’re exploring with our clients. We’ll keep you posted on our success and any improvements Facebook makes.

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Just a generation or two ago, asking people where they got their news and entertainment was a rather straightforward question. Because there were only a handful of answers for the vast majority of adults, it made media planning and advertising decisions straightforward, as well.

This week I had the opportunity to present a webinar on the “Current Media Landscape: How Changes Are Affecting Senior Living Marketing.” Today’s adults spend more time than ever in front of some form of media, because it’s always at our fingertips. But at the same time, we spend less time with any one given media source. Our media appetite hasn’t been reduced, it’s simply become fragmented.

Let me give you two prime examples. This is now the first generation that can turn on a TV to watch exactly the program they want at any time that suits them, thanks to DVRs and on-demand programming. People don’t need to watch the lead-in program while waiting for the show they really want to start. Of course, this trend only works for those who are comfortable with the technology.

Today, people can read the local or national daily news, without picking up anything more than a mouse. It’s easy to go online and find the headlines and stories that interest you most, then jump to links to related content from other media sources. Yet, there remains a devoted following of readers, especially seniors, who want to physically feel the newspaper in their hands each morning.

There has always been a gap between programming that appeals to younger and older audiences. However, fragmentation has turned this gap into a gulf. The media consumption of seniors and their adult children may no longer even cross paths, let alone be similar.

With the increasing influence of the adult child influencer in the decision-making process, we are recommending a more comprehensive, integrated media plan that includes online advertising as a pathway to your website. That first step guides adult children toward information that can help them take the next step of talking to their aging parents about lifestyle options.

The answer to the question of where seniors and adult children get their news and entertainment today isn’t a choice between the newspaper, TV or radio. It’s a complex mix of online and offline channels. Your community needs to be a resource in both spaces, always ready to engage prospects in a conversation through the various media where they are dividing their time.

You can view the full webinar here.

WEBINAR – Current Media Landscape: How Changes Are Affecting Senior Living Marketing from GlynnDevins on Vimeo.

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The demise of the newspaper has been greatly exaggerated. At least heading into 2010. A recent report from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) would suggest that newspapers aren’t ready for the recycle bin just yet. In the report, the NAA quoted Scarborough Research, which found more than 100 million adults still read a newspaper on an average weekday. That compares with 98 million who watch the Super Bowl, 60 million who watch any reality TV show and 42 million who visit Amazon.com. It really puts into perspective how visible newspapers remain. 

Still, the industry has undergone significant and rapid change, accelerated by the ongoing recession. What are the changes? For starters, many newspapers downsized, including reducing staff, sections and entire editions of the paper. But at the same time, they began to take steps toward long-term positioning, attempting to find viable strategies for the future.

Here are a few trends we’re watching within the newspaper industry:

1. Increased focus on local coverage – This appeals directly to reader preferences. In many markets, the local paper is the only source for local news. Senior living communities can appeal directly to these readers.

2. Fresh, new content – Such content is often put on the paper’s web site. Blogs are a good example of this. Many papers now put new stories or angles on blogs. This may be a good public relations opportunity for your community to get coverage of an event or story that may otherwise have not been covered.

3. Expanding web sites into other areas – Some newspapers are becoming one-stop sources for everything in their local market; the Austin American-Statesman now has its own section for online shopping, where readers can shop at local businesses online from the paper’s web site. If you advertise with the paper, your community could be featured on these sites.
 
Simply put, newspapers aren’t going to just go away. They still generate tremendous readership, and their web sites are consistently among the most visited sites in markets across the country. If the trends above gain traction, we could see a more stabilized industry this time next year. As we said, the newspaper is an important advertising source for senior living, so we’ll be monitoring this closely.

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The fate of the local newspaper has been making quite a lot of headlines lately. I watched an interesting segment on the subject called “Stop the Presses,” which aired last Sunday morning on CBS. With decreasing circulation and newspaper print advertising’s 28 percent drop in revenue since 2007, is it the demise of the local newspaper? Can newspapers survive? How can they become profitable? And what will happen to our civic life if the newspaper goes away?

Although this is heavy subject matter, particularly on a Sunday morning, it is something that has been weighing on my mind lately. Although I ceased my paid subscription to the Kansas City Star years ago, I certainly rely on the newspaper for credible news – and I rely on other sources for news which get their information from the newspaper. No one can argue that the local paper is unparalleled by any other medium with its investigative reporting capabilities. Local newspapers, for example, really broke the story of the bad mortgages that got the current financial crisis started, by first reporting on the increase of local home foreclosures. What happens if we don’t have this watchdog?
 
In the online world, we are accustomed to free editorial. This may not be possible if newspapers shut down. To become profitable, media web sites may resort to charging online visitors a small fee per article they read. I met with a sales rep with the Newspaper National Network Company this week who recently went to an annual meeting with the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). He said the main topic of discussion was about whether newspapers will more aggressively police the re-distribution of their content on the Internet in the future.

Dramatic changes are needed for newspapers to survive. In Philadelphia, entrepreneur Brian Tierney and a group of wealthy investors bought the 180-year-old Philadelphia Inquirer nearly three years ago. They’ve invested heavily in the Inquirer brand and believe the paper can adapt and survive, even in print. He argues that if the people who read the Inquirer pay for it, with a higher newsstand price, and a subscriber fee on the Web, the enterprise will survive … in print and online. 
                                                                                                                                                                                      
Coffee drinkers will dish out $3 for a latte. Will they be willing to pay the same for their news?

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