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Have you heard of Google+? Or better yet, were you one of the
“chosen” few to test out this new social media tool? We have a group
of testers at GlynnDevins, and here is what we know so far…

What is it?

Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written Google Plus,
sometimes abbreviated as G+) is a social networking service operated by Google, Inc. Launched on June 28, 2011, Google+ is available by invitation only and is in a self-proclaimed “field testing” phase.   

What do we like about it?

Easy to use: Set-up and finding friends was really easy, since I already use Gmail and Picasa (photo albums). I already had a Google log-in, so I just needed to accept the terms for Google+ and link my Picasa albums. Once in, it looked at my Gmail contacts, found those already on Google+, and I was able to start creating my circles or connecting to friends, colleagues, clients, etc.

Circles: With some social media vehicles your communication is blasted broadly to all your contacts. With Google+ you have the ability to create Circles. Circles enable you to create groups and then you can communicate specifically with those individuals, but don’t have to share everything with the mass group. For example, I might create a “college friends” circle and send pictures from a recent alumni event to only those people in my self-selected “college friends” circle. The same thing can be established for colleagues at work, family, etc. Circles enable you to stay connected with and share information you want to share with specific audiences. The default circles are Family, Acquaintances, Friends and Following. You can see on my page below that I added “Business Associates” as another Circle I plan to communicate with.

Custom, category-specific news feeds: “Sparks” give you the ability to find information, news, links, etc. regarding specific categories you’re interested in.  For example, I added a “Spark” about Senior Living and now I get Internet articles, links, etc., pulled directly into this “Spark” to keep me up to date on the latest senior living news and information. I like this because it starts to customize my Internet experience and provides me with incoming information, rather than forcing me to go to multiple resources to get information I’m interested in. I also added “Fitness,” “Social Media” and “Internet Marketing.” 

Who is using it?

According to Comscore as of August 2, 2011, approximately 25 million users were on Google+. 

What does this mean for senior living communities?

Predictions by a Bloomberg survey released on 8.5.11 indicate that Google+ may grow to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, passing Twitter and LinkedIn to be the second most-used social site after Facebook.  Already, 13% of Americans have signed up to be on Google+.

The ability to communicate to specific groups of users such as prospects, adult children, leads, etc., could become a compelling way to effectively communicate different messaging and to help build relationships along the senior living sales cycle.

The verdict is still out on how Google+ will change the social media arena. If you’ve already signed up, let us know what you think. And if you’d like to get an invitation to join Google+, post your email in this blog, and I’ll forward you an invitation.

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I recently came across this video and wanted to share it with you. It illustrates how residents living at Balfour senior living community are responding to the new tablets Balfour purchased for them. 

Several residents loved it right away, while others were a bit more reluctant to consider using such a tool. In the end, even the most reluctant of the group decided the tablet might be worth exploring.  Enjoy!

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Driving home from work the other day, I was listening to NPR and happened to catch a segment on “All Tech Considered” with Michelle Norris interviewing the ultimate social media wine guru, Gary Vaynerchuk. If you haven’t heard of him, look him up, because he took his family’s liquor store, Wine Library, to new heights by embracing the Web and social media. Today, he sells over $60 million per year in wine.

Here are four principles Gary shared on NPR that ring true for senior living communities as they contemplate engaging in social media:

1)    People are sharing thoughts today via social media that they wouldn’t think about calling a company or business about. 

What can you learn from your residents, adult children and prospects by engaging in social media?

2)    Small-town rules apply online.

Social media brings back the idea of knowing everyone in town and knowing everything about them! Because customers are sharing information about themselves online through Twitter and Facebook, senior living communities now have the opportunity to connect with customers and know them on a much deeper level. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that a certain couple you’re talking to at your community today loves the opera? After a tour and discussion with you, you could leave them with a pair of tickets to the opera as a thank you. Social media can help you discover these personal insights and use them to create a meaningful connection.

3)    Listen. Don’t talk. 

Social media really evolves how we’ve been traditionally pushing products or services. Senior living communities can listen and participate as a resource or service via social media channels. Many senior living communities claim to be a resource for seniors and their families. A community Facebook page is an excellent vehicle to position yourself as a resource by providing real-time answers and helpful information.

4)      Focus on more than the squeaky wheel.

One really interesting question Michelle posed to Gary is whether or not social media channels should be used mainly for customer service and to manage the squeaky wheel. Gary’s perspective on this is that people are naturally taking care of people who didn’t have a good experience with their product or service, and playing defense. He’d like to see social media being used more to communicate with and take care of those who are really happy with your service or brand. This is quite a spin on customer service and it makes a ton of sense in senior living, as we know our satisfied residents are our best source of referrals. 

Here are several things to think about:

What are you doing to connect with customers via social media? Don’t let that community across town beat you to establishing better insights into and relationships with your potential residents.

Are you making sure your community fans are thanked for their support of your community? Do something special for them and let them know you appreciate their endorsement.

If you get a chance, listen to the interview on NPR, so you can hear Gary’s fresh perspective on how social media can work for you.

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been studying our clients’ Q1 digital results and have several interesting insights to share. Between Q4 2010 and     Q1 2011:    

• Our client trend data showed a dramatic spike in website traffic.
• Our clients’ sites averaged a 25.9% increase in overall website traffic.
• Visitors spent more time on our clients’ websites and visited more pages.

As the year progresses, keep these points in mind regarding key performance indicators:

• Driving more visitors to your website provides more opportunity to get your message out and convert visitors. But while it’s important for senior living communities to focus on driving site traffic up, it’s also important to ensure that the site traffic is quality traffic. 
• When visitors spend more time and visit more pages, we typically see overall site conversion increase. Therefore, continuing to focus on engagement via your community website is crucial to converting web leads.

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As you know, at GlynnDevins we can’t say enough about our Google partnership, and it seems Google loves Kansas City as well!

It was announced today that Kansas City, KS, was chosen out of nearly 1,100 communities to receive Internet access more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today.

Check out the Google blog for more on this exciting announcement.

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