For those developing senior living communities who are looking to discover what prospects in their area desire, a new book, by Researcher Margaret Wylde, Right House, Right Place, Right Time outlines the features most desired by Silent and Boomer middle-American households.

She cautions that to make a community a winner, you must also consider the market’s nuances and characteristics.

Her list includes lots of storage, a master suite with a bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet; guest bedrooms separated from the master suite; built-in microwave, pantry and kitchen island; office space; laundry room on the ground floor; outdoor living space; green features.

Kitchen upgrades most desired include natural stone countertops, cabinets, water filtration, and media centers.

How many times have you been approached about buying a listing in an online senior living / retirement community directory? These digital directories vary in level of sophistication, features and advertiser offerings. It’s hard to sort the good from the bad, but here are two things I consider when evaluating directories.

First – let’s remember the Golden Rule: a worthwhile directory listing is the one that generates good leads. So, regardless of what I say here, if you have a good lead source, keep it!

1. Does the directory listing include a link to your web site? If not – I usually throw it out. For whatever reason, some directories are more concerned with keeping people on their site instead of getting them to your site. They sort of recreate your site within their domain, collect info requests and send a report every month detailing how many leads their directory generated for your community. In my experience, many of those leads are low quality. When properly configured, free analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, can tell you if traffic referred from another web site generates leads, so you don’t need someone else to do that for you.

2. Is it a good resource? Is the directory easy to use? Does it include a good array of senior living options? Would someone looking for senior living communities in your market find the directory useful? Search “retirement communities” or “senior living” in your market and see which directories show up first. Usually it’s the ones with the most substance. You can bet those are likely sites your prospects visit. Then – see #1.

The latest issue of GlynnDevins’ News You Can Use was released today. There are articles on how media planning is expected to change for 2009, as well as techniques to bring digital marketing to your community. Other topics include sales training for senior living and developing media relationships.

Get more senior living insights by reading News You Can Use.

Video is a huge focus on the web right now and seniors are viewing online videos right alongside the rest of the population. In addition, we know that video promotes click-through and engagement, which are two key responses you want users to experience when visiting your web site.

A recent Mediapost’s Insider Video blog post got me thinking about five reasons to consider adding more video to your web site and your digital marketing plan.

1. Content-rich video can add value to a site, including interactivity and extra content to engage customers and prospects. Specifically, online video can be used to bring senior living products and services to life.. It’s easier to tell a story with images and a narrator than to attempt to define only with the written word – especially if you’re introducing complicated service agreements or offerings prospects may not be familiar with.

2. Videos can bring your executives, sponsors and staff members to life, highlighting the excitement and passion shared by these integral community members. This is especially important for senior living communities in which executive directors and staff members contribute to so much of the services offered. Whether it is care or service, communities need to focus on developing personal engagement between prospects and leaders/staff. A 30- to 60-second introduction of your Executive Director, Lifestyles Coordinator, Chef or Health Services Director is much better than a static photo and bio.

3. Senior living communities often tell us that referrals are their best sales generators. Why not use video to highlight testimonials from current residents, excited depositors or adult children? You can even use video to showcase local professional influencers. Not only can you post these to your web site, but you can put video links into customer-focused emails to generate interest in your community and build relationships along the sales cycle. Videos within emails increase conversion and click-through rates for email campaigns.

4. Blue sky communities often have several years to foster a relationship with prospects and depositors. You can incorporate video as soon as a community starts coming to life by walking through the construction areas and talking about the vision for the finished community. Doing this helps to paint a picture before a community is fully established. Hearing the tour guide (hopefully the ED) talk about what’s to come will help those who are waiting for the project to be completed to hang on just a bit longer — it can also entice new prospects to become depositors.

5. Video technology on your web site positions your community as a leader in the senior living category. It also enhances your position as a smart, customer-focused technology provider, something more and more of today’s seniors are looking for when researching their future homes!

Stay tuned for even more digital enhancements, including how you can create your own private media channel, the next step for senior living communities once they’ve embraced adding video to their web sites.

The hot commodity in rehabilitative care is – a Nintendo Wii interactive video game console.

“The Wii system is an excellent, affordable way of simulating activity that rehab providers can provide, particularly to geriatric patients,” said Gregg Altobella, president of the National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies, based in Tampa, Fla. “Its popularity is growing rapidly.” Wii Fit, an aerobic-themed game, is also big in CCRC wellness centers.

Patients move in time with simulated characters on a 42-inch plasma TV during virtual games of golf, bowling, baseball, boxing and tennis. The games sharpen patients’ skills during short-term rehab and improve the quality of life for long-term residents. At a recent conference in Washington, representatives from 70 rehab centers nationwide – employing roughly 15,000 therapists – were buzzing about patients’ response to Wiihab.

“This technology wasn’t talked about at previous conventions; people are really gravitating to this,” Altobella said. “There are no statistics at this point that support the efficacy of treatment with this device, but we as a group have our finger on the pulse of these kinds of growing trends.”

The pros say the use of the Wii for rehab is best used with a rehab specialist. Many budgets are limited and are relying on donations to incorporate the games.

The headline of the article reads, Leaving a Life I Loved. Trading one’s home for ease of living takes courage and honesty. It was another first person account of coming to terms with aging and another person finding out that retirement communities are a lot different than the nursing homes they remember from the past – and it was another happy ending. I never tire of reading these even though the plot line rarely differs. I don’t tire of reading these because each personal story has some nuance or twist that gets me thinking about marketing senior living.

This particular story got me thinking about straight talk and giving people the facts. The headline used the words courage and honesty. These words speak to the magnitude of this decision for many individuals and the complex set of emotions it brings into play. But with that comes the opportunity to be direct in our messaging and to help someone come to grips, even recognize for the first time, many of the signs they have been ignoring or missing. We sometimes can get caught up in our marketing lingo or in spreading the honey a little too thick. The most effective sales people in this business know how to confront the issues with their prospects, helping these individuals really assess their situation. 

Give them the facts. Be honest about their situation. Let them know you understand what they are going through. In an economic climate that is creating more and more reasons for prospects to say “not now,” it may take blunt and honest messaging to say “yes now.” Do we have the courage to be that honest? 

Studies such as those done on successful aging by the MacArthur Foundation have proven that older adults stay healthier, longer by staying connected socially.

That’s why the lifestyle available at a CCRC is an attractive feature when it comes to marketing senior living communities. The community and resident allow for anyone to get as involved as they choose. It allows for making new acquaintances or renewing old friendships.

So what if your community is in the development stage? Can the lifestyle still be available to your future residents and leads? Absolutely! And it should be.

Future residents developing an emotional connection to your community, even before it is built, is important. These individuals are going to stick around because they will understand the value of what is ahead. They will have made friends with their new neighbors. They most likely will even make referrals to others within their existing social circles.

A day at the museum, a Tai Chi lesson, or a presentation by a local author are just a few examples of events that future residents might attend as part of a series of “connectivity-type” events.

There are older adults at some communities now even building virtual relationships with their future neighbors via specially designed websites similar to Facebook or MySpace. Imagine finding out via the Internet who else in your new community is interested in playing Bridge — even before the activities room is open!

Social connections are proven to stimulate the immune system and help to keep older adults active and engaged. As marketers of senior living communities, why not capitalize on all that social connectivity has to offer? Future residents benefit and so does the community. 

What the next five years hold in store for senior living marketing is hard to say, but one thing is certain, the role of online marketing will grow in importance. One key area for marketers to explore and understand is the connection between proactive marketing and prospect visits to the community’s web site. The days of tracking the success of a marketing effort based on phone calls may be ending. Like all consumers, seniors are finding the Internet to be a convenient means of exploring an offer or organization before committing to personal contact. A recent study from an allied field of senior living, non-profit fundraising, puts this in context. The survey, initiated by NonProfit Times, asked individuals whether they investigated an organization online before making a donation decision. The study found that 21% of adults 65 years of age or older went online before making a decision. This is compared to 44% of all adults in the survey. However, the telling figure is the growth from 2005 when the survey was first conducted. In that year, only 8% of adults 65 years of age or older researched an organization online. This represents a near tripling of the audience exhibiting this integrated behavior.

It is becoming evident that senior consumers are visiting web sites in response to marketing messages. Because of this, the role of a community’s web site is growing in importance. But unlike a phone call that allows for personal interaction with staff regardless of how minimal, a web site visit is anonymous until a prospect chooses to identify themselves. Converting this traffic to viable leads is critical to leveraging the marketing investment that generated the visit in the first place. Paying attention to this fact will be as important as phone skills have been in the past. How can you engage these visitors, provide value while they are there and encourage them to take a next step?

In the world of senior living, we often forget that, just like in any other business, there may come a time when an issue or crisis may arise. We all relish in obtaining positive publicity and jump at the opportunity to share our story. But what if the publicity isn’t so positive? Is there a plan in place to handle the situation?

It is really important for all senior living communities to have a crisis communications plan. Earlier this year, a fire broke out at a senior living community near Detroit. News clips showed fire fighters rescuing residents and carrying them down ladders from fourth story balconies. Residents were displaced and it seemed pretty chaotic. When interviewed by reporters, the community’s spokesperson seemed to be prepared in handling all the questions: Where will residents stay? What about their medication? How did the fire start?

BUT, what if you don’t have all the answers?  How will you respond?  Or, what if the situation isn’t as traumatic as a fire, but rather a lawsuit? Do you know who will answer the media’s questions then? And, have you thought about all the various audiences you need to communicate to?

It is not a matter of IF a crisis will happen, it is a matter of WHEN. Having a well thought-out strategic plan makes the situation a bit more bearable. Don’t wait until you find yourself trying to stay ahead of the questions — be in control and have the plan ready to roll out. It truly makes a difference.

In marketing, there are numerous examples of companies that never figured out just what business they were in, such as IBM that thought they were in the computer business only to realize too late they were in the information management business.  Xerox on the other hand saw that they weren’t in the copier business; they were in the document handling business.  IBM took it on the chin and Xerox thrived. 

This was brought to mind when considering the growing number of alternatives being explored to deliver in-home services to seniors, alternatives that challenge the industry moniker – “senior housing.” A large portion of the industry’s assets are grounded in the physical proprieties, the housing.  Yet many of the benefits offered are delivered by the existence of the community - the staff and residents themselves. Recently, virtual retirement communities have gotten some press. This concept allows individuals ready access to social opportunities and caregivers through a defined provider, yet they remain in their home.

It is wonderful to see so many providers in the industry exploring new models and alternatives in response to consumer demand.  Perhaps these are the organizations that have embraced the other moniker used to describe the industry – “senior living.”

What business are you in?