Beacon Hill Retirement Community in Lombard successfully launched an for their 25^th anniversary in May of this year. The results are quite promising. Not only has the community been able to use the magazine at: www.letstalk.beaconhilllombard.com to create a resident activity already enjoyed by nearly 25% of their population with an average age of 86, but it has served to bring their website to page one of Google search results, according to Mark Zullo, Director of Marketing for Beacon Hill.

 

“We decided to test an online magazine concept with IVY Marketing in celebration of Beacon Hill’s 25^th anniversary. It was a test because there were no examples of how to get resident involvement in this type of effort anywhere in the senior housing industry. It was IVY’s responsibility to create and manage the site, as well as to inspire a dubious residents population and local community to participate,” according to Zullo. “With IVY’s tireless effort, regular resident meetings, and management’s commitment to its success, Let’s Talk is almost as popular as Wii has become with our residents. In addition, the outside community is becoming involved and it is proving to be an increasingly important marketing and relatively inexpensive marketing tool for prospects.”

 

Results speak for themselves. Nearly 1500 visitors have come to the site to date, spending over six minutes and visiting nearly seven pages per visit. Content changes over 50 times per month with an average of 23 feature stories and items designed to appeal to seniors and adult children in general. Remaining items are geared to the Beacon Hill residents’ interests. 

 

“Frequently changing and relevant content is critical to the success of an online magazine. Each story must also have interesting visual accessories,” according to Debra Sheridan, president of IVY Marketing Group. “However, the creation of the Beacon Hill Resident Committee to steer and help develop content for the site is invaluable. The committee tells us what they want to see, read about, write themselves, link to and how to promote the use of the site to other residents, their peers and families.” 

 

Sheridan also explains that management’s willingness to find ways to promote the site, including the installation of two computers in common areas that are dedicated solely to Let’s Talk, special suggestion boxes in the dining room, regular blurbs in the in-house newsletter and television station are among the ways that the magazine has been able to find strong success, even at this initial phase of its development.

 

Evaluation metrics and new external marketing strategies are still being developed to determine just how valuable this tool will be in the long-term success of the community’s marketing. However, it continues to garner favor among the resident population and in the target market area with regular visits increases in the community-at-large.