Historically, seniors have been slower to adopt online technologies than their younger counterparts, presenting a challenge to senior care companies on how to reach their potential customers online. But seniors have embraced their computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. According to a study by Google, they get information about topics of interest to them from the Internet more than from any other medium, including friends and family, TV and print media.

To reach your audience – which consists primarily of older seniors and Baby Boomers, the generation that more than any other that takes care of our senior population – the trick is to create an online presence that speaks to their unique needs and interests.

Whether you’re a geriatric care manager (also know as an aging life care professional), senior living community, or health care association, your senior care website is probably the core of your online communications program. But your services – which should be the focus of your website – probably don’t change much over the course of a year or two. So creating ways to provide fresh content that provides value to your audience can be a challenge. Here’s some tips to make that happen.

Create and maintain an active social media presence
A strong majority of people 55 and older have Facebook accounts. This is often one of their strongest links to learning what’s going on in their friends’ and family’s lives, making it the perfect media to reach them. By sharing the latest discoveries in aging and senior health, you become a trusted source of information and position yourself as an expert in the field. By creating a foundation of trust, you’ll be top of mind when the time comes that they need your services.

Create and maintain a blog
A consistently updated blog is one of the best ways to continue to drive traffic to your website. Search engines love fresh content and a blog is the one area of any website where it’s easy to create new content. And as with Facebook posts, a blog containing valuable information establishes you as an expert in the field and creates wonderful word-of-mouth advertising as people share the information. It can also support and build your social media program, by giving you ready-made information to share.

Email
Email is one of the most overlooked aspects of an online communications program, but it shouldn’t be, as it is highly effective in reaching your audience. According to McKinsey and Company, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. The vast majority of seniors and Baby Boomers have email and approximately half check it daily. It can also be created and delivered within a matter of minutes, giving you the opportunity to take advantage of timely news events.

As a leader in senior care communications, IlluminAge has the expertise to help you in keeping your clients and prospects engaged through websites, blogs, email campaigns and social media. Contact us today to discover how to reach your senior care audience and turn them into customers.