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It’s easy to think that everyone understands what it means to say Independent Living, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Memory Support. In addition, those of us in the industry throw in acronyms that make this lingo even more confusing to someone trying to navigate the senior living and care arena.

Many adult children I know are experiencing the need to help their parents figure out the next steps in their life, and/or they need to find a place their parents can live and receive care right away. And even though we think the solutions are evident, I think adult children often don’t know where to start.

Many communities we work with today want to become resources for adult children, and a great place to start is online. Here are a few examples of what communities are doing to help adult children navigate senior living and care opportunities:

www.seniorcareanswerteam.com

http://touchmarkedmond.com/memory-care/betterdays

http://www.happierparents.com/

There are a lot more blogs and online resources available out there, but I thought I would just share a few. Please feel free to leave your favorites for our blog followers to check out.

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As predicted by many, 2011 is shaping up to be the year that mobile digital content consumption explodes. Pew Internet and American Life Project just released a new report titled “Generations and Their Gadgets,” which includes statistics that are relevant for our prospects and residents. Check out the highlights below, including the fact that the 75+ age group likes to text!

• Nearly 50% of those 75+ own a cell phone. The two most popular cell phone activities among this group, along with all cell phone owners, are taking pictures and texting.

• 62% of those age 75 and older live in a household with at least one working cell phone.

• 68% of those age 66-74 own a cell phone. Out of those, 27% send and receive text messages and 17% access the Internet from their phones.

If you’re interested in reading this full report, click here.

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In last month’s blog post What Senior Living Communities Should Expect Digitally in 2011, we asked you a few questions about your 2011 digital initiatives. And the results are in…

These survey numbers support some of our predictions for 2011, and point to an upsurge in overall digital spending across the board, along with an increased growth in implementing social media tactics as a way to engage with prospects, leads and adult children. We hope these findings are interesting to you and look forward to fielding more surveys via our blog. Thanks again to those who participated!

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The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show was recently in Las Vegas, and so I’ve been following the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. I thought this little invention would be relevant to share with those of us who are closely monitoring the pill intake of loved ones, or for those of us who just can’t remember to take our own pills.

Check out this blog from Engadget on the GlowCap:
Vitality GlowCap Review

Next up for them…figuring out how to get a bottle that will divide up pills needed per day, and have a different sound go off if a certain pill was missed.

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I believe 2011 is going to be a big year for senior living communities from  a digital outreach standpoint. No longer do I hear… “We aren’t sure we need to spend money to support online efforts, because we don’t believe our audience is going to the Web.” My clients know their prospects are there. And their children are there. Communities know they have to make the most of their digital investment. 

Here are some of my thoughts on how 2011 will shape up in terms of senior living digital marketing…

1)  Optimizing local search will be a primary focus for senior living communities.

2)  Communities will design websites that create conversion.

3)  Communities will measure and analyze their digital investment.

4)  Communities will do more than dip their toe in the water when it comes to social media. 

5)  More communities will create video channels to highlight their community and residents. 

6)  Communities will provide more adult child tools via their websites in the form of education and resources.

7)  Mobile applications and mobile websites will become more important for senior communities. And don’t forget about tablets ─ Seth Godin predicts that 2011 is going to be the year of the tablet. Tablets are perfect for senior eyes.

8)  More and more offline marketing initiatives will push prospects to community websites to get more of the story. 

9)  Engagement will be a primary goal for senior living websites.

10)  More communities will utilize targeted landing pages or microsites that convert to pay off specific messages or promotions. 

This is going to be a stellar year for senior living digital marketing communication…the digital opportunities are just too endless for it not to be.

Find out how your 2011 digital initiatives compare by answering a few quick questions.

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