Ha Ha Ha! Happy Holidays from IlluminAge

Our recent holiday card sparked conversations and exchanges with many of our clients and friends.  But, one comment sent to senior web designer, Aaron Howard, struck us as a core benefit that we strive to provide to those we have the privilege to serve:

“I admire the patience you demonstrate with me as I try to learn this evolving technology. As a Boomer, I’m a digital immigrant when it comes to all this stuff (and I never was good with second languages). I’ve learned a lot for sure, but my boys think I’m from the dark ages.”- Cathy Knight, Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging

Clients frequently come to us nervous about technology.  They may have never worked on a website project before, have little understanding of how their email works, have never been on Facebook, or they have seen something online that they would love to do in their organization but can’t tell if it’s simple or complicated.

That’s fine!  We serve clients who predominately work in aging services, health care, and nonprofit organizations.  Their strengths in life are the services and care they provide to the communities they serve.  Our strength in life is helping them utilize technology in a way that fits their budget and will help them better achieve their goals.

We welcome questions, and don’t expect our clients to have all the answers…if they did, they wouldn’t need us!

WIFM?

This acronym is actually a very useful marketing acronym that we should all keep in the back of our minds when performing our work… “what’s in it for me?”.  Now reverse that, and think about the people you serve, and how you communicate the “WIFM” that your organization provides to them.

IlluminAge had the pleasure of working with Legacy Link, an area agency on aging in Gainesville, GA, on their website redesign while their agency updated their marketing and outreach materials to use consumer-friendly terms.  In their previous site, navigation included terms such as Georgia Cares and SOURCE.

Their new website, found at www.legacylink.org, features simple navigation to help consumers find their way: Getting Started – the place to go if you don’t know where to start, Community Based Programs, Employment & Training, Home Based Services, Housing Options & Advocacy, and Medicare Counseling.  The site also features upcoming events, a quick link to the Georgia Association of Area Agencies on Aging service database, and their Facebook feed.  This is truly a site redesigned with the consumer audience in mind!

The Legacy Link Website, Before

The Legacy Link Website, After

QR is short for “quick response”.  The code is simply a bar code that can be read by your smart phone and can store a variety of information – anything alphanumeric - including website addresses, text, phone numbers, and email addresses.  QR codes are printed onto posters, coasters, brochures, or any type of print marketing and outreach piece.  This enables smart phone users to take a picture of it with a QR code reader and then the phone will complete whatever action has been coded into it.  This makes it easier for users to complete the call-to-action that you desire.  The user must download an app to read the code – but there are many free apps available.

How Can You Use a QR Code?

Be creative!  Anywhere you’d like someone to take an action from a print promotion you could use a QR code to help them to so.  Here are some ideas…

• Registration for an event –  Connect people to the registration page for an event, such as a fundraiser or an open house.
• Donations – Nonprofit organizations can help donors quickly click through to their donation page.
• Schedule a tour or lunch at your facility – Nursing homes, assisted living and retirement communities can link to a website contact pages or the email / phone number for admissions/marketing person encourage tours.
• Advocacy – Guide people directly to the page of your website set up to contact their legislature or representative.
• Link to your Facebook page, Twitter feed, or email newsletter sign-ups - Encourage people to continue to let you stay in communication with them.

How Can You Generate a QR Code?

QR codes can be generated for free online.  You can do a simple online search for “qr code generator” or try a few of these sites:

http://www.qrstuff.com/
http://createqrcode.appspot.com/
http://onlineqrcodegenerator.com/

When Should You Use a QR Code?

Just like any other type of marketing, you need to keep your audience in mind.  Is your audience likely to be using smart phones?  Are you providing alternatives so that you don’t ostracize those who are not, or who have not yet caught on to QR codes?  This is worth considering…since a recent report on QR codes by NPR called Few Consumers Are Cracking The QR Code advised:

“According to a recent study from digital analyst comScore, a measly 6 percent of mobile subscribers currently use the technology. That 6 percent tends to be male, white and wealthy.”

If you do use a QR code – make it worthwhile.  Set reasonable expectations, make it fun, or save them time.

Using Google’s keyword tool, the following are the numbers of global monthly searches for possible keywords for which your facility website might be optimized:

1,500,000 - nursing home
823,000 - care center
165,000 - health care center
74,000 - skilled nursing

As you can see, the term “nursing home” gets almost double the number of searches as the second highest term, “care center”.  Although these numbers are global and not representative of your local market, you can see that the ratio differs greatly among the possible searches.  With at least twice as many searchers looking for nursing homes compared to other terms, do you really want to avoid optimizing your website for it?

If you do not want to label yourself a nursing home, think about ways to get creative with the copy.  The keywords need to be on the page the will be optimized, but you have flexibility with how they are used.  For example, you could say “in addition to services found in traditional nursing homes, we are pleased to offer…” or “we take pride in offering health care services in an environment that puts the “home” in skilled nursing homes!”

If your site is already successful in search for the term, you may be able to avoid going this.  However, you should monitor your site’s performance in search to ensure that your status doesn’t change.  In very competitive areas, you may not want to take a chance on falling out of the search ranks for this term, as it could be difficult to regain your position.