by Wendy Coulter, CEO
Is your family aging like mine is? Of course we all are aging, but are you or perhaps your parents or grandparents in an age group in which they need to consider a move to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in the near future?
Between my own personal experience and my work with the communities at The Presbyterian Homes Inc. (PHI), I’ve begun to see how these communities are using new technologies to further build a sense of community – specifically Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I recently came across a great case study of one of these communities doing a great job utilizing social media.
Redstone Highlands Senior Living Communities Is So Social!
Leading Edge, formerly AAHSA out of Washington DC, is a not-for-profit for 5,500 associations dedicated to expanding the world of possibilities for aging. In a recent “Future of Aging” blog, the association highlighted Redstone Highlands Senior Living Communities, a Christian, non-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) just outside of Pittsburgh which has taken great strides in building its community through social media.
In fact when many CRCCs are hesitant to move forward and are asking about social media’s value regarding the specific need of generating sales, Redstone has decided to focus more on communications – highlighting what the residents are involved in and sharing pictures and comments back and forth within the immediate, local and national communities.
Rather than focus directly on revenue generation, Redstone has chosen to use an indirect approach by measuring inbound links to its website, online donations, the amount of interaction on its Facebook wall, and comments on posts and photos as its measurements of success.
Between getting “thumbs-up” comments on Facebook and comments from residents’ families like “I wanted to thank you all for making my mom so happy for almost four years. She loved it there,” Redstone is creating something more compelling for its community and prospect pool than advertising ever could create – authentic heart-felt publicly available communication and accolades. Not only do the community members feel validated by the happy comments of their neighbors, but the families are comforted, and would-be new community members are inspired to reach out to learn more.
Barbara Christner of Redstone Highlands writes, “For us, it is not about getting millions of fans and followers; it’s about sharing what goes on within our three campuses. We want everyone to see the great time our residents and employees had at our summer picnic, charity fundraiser for the local food bank, or when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch came to visit.”
Redstone Highlands Senior Living Communities Social Media Stats
Facebook: 242 Fans
Twitter: 132 Followers
Youtube: 1285 Channel Views
What About Your Community?
What would residents of your greater community be surprised and happy to learn about your CRCC ‘community’? And what are you doing to help them with that?
Are you ready to begin building a more involved community for your business or organization? If you are, call me at 919 854 9100 and we’ll chat.
Also, if you have a story to share about how your company or organization has benefitted from social media, leave it below. We would love to hear it!
Sources:
http://futureofaging.aahsa.org/2010/06/effective-social-media-for-the-55-or-better-crowd/
