INTRODUCTION

Have you heard about “me-search”?

It’s what our team likes to call the process when marketers substitute their gut or observations of family/friends for solid research.

Times are challenging. We all feel urgency to act. It would be easy to go with our gut.

Yet these times mean it’s even more important to get a good value for your marketing spend. That’s why Creating Results has established processes to help clients (and ourselves) avoid “me-search” when making marketing decisions.

Read on for two valuable tips on how research can help you this fall. And find out what this approach has meant for an interior design firm, a travel destination, two Continuing Care Retirement Communities and our own agency.

                                                                            Best regards,
                                                                            Todd Harff
                                                                            President

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Twitter - Curious, Cautious About Social Media

It’s not “me-search” to note that businesses and mature consumers often approach challenges and decision-making in a similar fashion – cautiously.

Creating Results is working with several clients on comprehensive internet marketing strategies. These programs will include participation in social media.

Yet, like the older consumers you target, we will go slowly and be choosy. For each client, we evaluate how Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and/or niche sites will help them reach their business goals.

For example, the media may have fallen in love with Twitter (heck, even 97-year-old Nana has heard of Twitter by now). For us the jury’s still out on its effectiveness as a business engine. Did you know that 60% of Twitter users don’t come back the next month? And the median number of “tweets” (as messages broadcast by Twitter are called) is ONE tweet per user in a lifetime.

eMarketer recently released interesting statistics on which social networking sites are used by each generation and why.



(Where are the Silents? Anderson has either lumped the roughly 59 million people born between 1925 and 1942 in with the WWII generation or they’re being very, very quiet indeed.)

June 2009 data from LinkedIn and Harris Interactive showed that only 31% of all internet users were familiar with Twitter. 80% of our favorite folks – those 55 or better – said they were not familiar enough with the service to form an opinion.

Bottom line: At times it’s okay to tiptoe towards trends. We want to be sure of the value clients will receive, be sure it’s worth the time and effort and cost. A sound social media strategy and thoughtful execution are investments that will pay off.

As a side note, we’ve stopped tiptoeing around one online tool. After several years of sharing insights and resources related to mature marketing on our website and emails, we’re diving into a fully functional blog.

Check out our new-and-improved blog www.maturemarketingmatters.com
for links and insights into trends, research and more.

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DIVINE DESIGN: Shea Studio Interiors

The Situation:
Beautiful and often playful designs are the hallmark of this interior design firm. Yet the website was weighted down with text while expensive ads were lost in competitor-filled home interiors magazine. How could we help interior designer June Shea tell her story through marketing?

The Solution:
Creating Results helped Shea Studio Interiors better understand its affluent, mature targets. What did they want from a designer? How do they use different marketing mediums to research and make decisions? Based on research and armed with these insights, the team made some strategic shifts.
 
Shea’s best prospects – Boomers and beyond – place a high value on relationships. The design studio had been using an interiors magazine as its primary marketing vehicle, but their ads were lost in a sea of competitors. A switch to advertising in community publications allowed this talented design firm to position itself as a local expert and trusted neighbor.
 
A campaign quickly developed around the theme of beautiful rooms telling stories.  New, targeted direct mail allows Shea to reach targets directly. Beautiful photos quickly gain awareness; stories about the specific projects give prospects an insider’s view. The cards convey the benefits of collaborating with the design team.
 
On the web, easy access to information was job one. A fun, fresh new look is more appealing and the site is search engine optimized. For relationship-building, the site even allows prospects to interact with the designers by posting questions.

The Results:
The new marketing approach not only attracted new leads, it moved prospects through the purchase funnel from awareness to action! 
 
Web traffic increased thanks to the new, optimized site design and online/offline marketing. Pay-per-click ads directed leads to proxy pages that contained special, trackable phone numbers. After the launch of the new website, the client received more calls than the previous three months combined. And the easy-to-use registration form encouraged a steady flow of submissions.
 
Company principal June Shea said she especially appreciated the way the campaign opens a dialogue with prospects, inviting each to tell their story through a beautifully-designed room. A happy ending to this mature marketing story.

2009 Mature Media Awards Winners

A new brand for a travel destination in British Columbia with its sights on Boomers… a newsletter for a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)… a welcome center video and a print ad for the nation’s third-largest CCRC …

What does this wide range of marketing materials have in common? All were based on research and understanding of mature consumers. All were recently recognized with 2009 National Mature Media Awards.

The National Mature Media Awards is the nation’s largest awards program to recognize the finest advertising, marketing and educational materials designed and produced for older adults. Creating Results and its clients were honored with four awards.

<<< Silver Award in Art/Design – Branding/Logo System for The Village of Valemount, British Columbia, Canada

<<< Bronze Award in Publications – “Connection” Newsletter for Westminster at Lake Ridge, Occoquan, VA

<<< Bronze in Marketing/Communications – “Discover the Willow Valley Lifestyle” Welcome Center Video for Willow Valley Retirement Communities, Lancaster, PA

<<< Merit Award in Marketing/Communications – “Hobbies & Passions” Newspaper Ad for Willow Valley
 
The branding for the charming Village of Valemount was based on research and analysis of the passions and desires of Boomer travelers, a primary target for the destination. The vibrant sun/snowflake design resonates with older vacationers and is appealing to all ages.

Silent Generation members are the target for the other award-winning pieces. See the winning branding system, newsletter and ad for yourself at www.CreatingResults.com.

P.S. Want to see the welcome center video?
Stop by our offices for a screening.