CareNetworks is conducting a Social Media Success Series, a collection of interviews from senior care providers who have achieved positive results from using social media. The first in the series is an interview with Emeritus Senior Living, one of the largest senior living providers in the country with more than 460 assisted living communities serving 43 states. 
As all demographics, even baby boomers and seniors, are embracing social media, it makes sense for senior living providers to research ways for incorporating social media into their overall marketing mix. CareNetwork’s interview with Emeritus’ eMarketing Specialist, Chris Kim, is evidence that social media marketing is effort well spent.
According to Kim, Emeritus first began using social media in June 2009. In the grand scheme of things, they’re still new to the scene, yet they’ve still achieved some impressive results. Rather than use social media to generate leads, they use it to engage their customers. They started by thinking about what information their typical customer is searching for, and leveraged social media as a tool for brand reputation management, an online presence, and to establish the company as an industry authority. As a plus, Kim reports that social media enabled Emeritus to connect with field employees and third-party service providers.
Currently, Emeritus utilizes the following social media initiatives:
- A corporate blog
- YouTube
Note in our previous post, Benefits of Social Media Marketing (which reported on findings from the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report), that Emeritus has focused the majority of their social media efforts on the top five venues indicated by this study. The company continues to build out a robust resource of health and caregiving glossaries, guides, and tutorials (even video tutorials are in the works) on its corporate website for residents, potential customers, their families, and providers. The company’s resources also provided useful content that was used to engage customers on social media profiles.
Here are a few tips Kim offers senior living executives for ramping up social media efforts:
- Keep your content current and updates timely — keep your customers abreast of what’s happening in your facility
- Don’t just post content; instead, ask for feedback and opinions
- Add some flavor. Run a contest, link to other relevant — and fun — resources, like quizzes, and ask fans to post their scores
Read the full interview on the CareNetworks blog
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