By Kevin M. Williams, Guest Blogger

“A reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount of mental power available… The more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each sentence, the less time and attention can be given to the contained idea; and the less vividly will that idea be conceived.” – Herbert Spencer in The Philosophy of Style

By Kevin M. Williams, Guest Blogger “A reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount of mental power available… The more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each sentence, the less time and attention can be given to the contained idea; and the less vividly will that idea be conceived.” – Herbert Spencer in The Philosophy of Style An ad is not a dissertation and it isn’t a place for beautiful creativity. In our case, the main purpose is to get a senior or caregiver to take a next step. Since your ad is going to be seen by a set number of people, your goal with is to connect with the widest amount of seniors who are a fit for your community or service. Making your message easy to understand allows more readers to comprehend it.

Below are 10 ways to increase the response of your marketing and advertising with seniors

1.    Use Short Paragraphs – Bulky paragraphs overwhelm seniors and push them away from reading. Smaller paragraphs are more inviting to seniors eyes and flow more natural.

2.    Use Short Sentences – Having long sentences confuses seniors and forces them to over think. Short sentences allow for the greatest understanding.

3.    Use Short and Simple Words – Your more educated seniors understand long words just as well as they understand short words. When you use short words, the maximum amount of people will understand your message.

4. Use Microsoft’s Word Grade Level Tool – In Microsoft word when you do a spelling and grammar check there is a function to check the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of your content. If you keep the reading level below a 7.5 then you ad is sure to be understood by a wide range of people.

5.    Use A Large Readable Font – Seniors have trouble seeing and reading. In order for a senior or caregiver to comprehend your ad they first need to see it.

6.    Use A Call To Action – Once you have a senior’s attention give them an action to take. Is it to call for an appointment, to discover more online, return a reply card, etc…

7.    Read The Ad Aloud – Read aloud you senior housing ad aloud and make sure it sounds conversational. If your ad sounds funny or you notice a stumble, then these are areas to improve upon.

8.    Give It To A Senior To Read – You can give your ad to a senior at your community and get great feedback. Do they understand the ad? Do they know what action to take after reading it? Do they find anything confusing, uninteresting, or boring? 9.    Multiple Ways To Contact – Give seniors and their adult children every way to contact you as possible. Phone, email, reply card, website address, etc. People have their reasons for not wanting to use one way over the other. Giving options gets a greater response.

10. Track Your Marketing – Every ad you place, every direct mail piece, every internet ad needs to be tracked. There are many ways to do this. From phone call tracking services to rudimentary ways of instructing a prospect to mention a specific code upon calling.

You can also send prospects to a specific page on the website and record how many visits/form requests you get. Whatever you do, be sure to track your marketing so it can be measured. Next time you write an advertisement or marketing message be sure to refer back to these ten ways and you can be sure to increase the response. Kevin M. Williams is the President of SeniorMarketing.com™.    SeniorMarketing.com™    increases occupancy and income for senior living communities across the country. 

Visit www.SeniorMarketing.com to get more information about how to increase your senior living profits.   ++++++++++++++ Don’t miss a single issue of Senior Housing Forum, subscribe today. It is free! We do not sell or share your contact information. The posts are practical and never too long. Go to the main page of Senior Housing Forum and on the top you will see a link to our subscription sign-up page. You will receive notification when a new article is posted. You can unsubscribe at any time. Finally: If you know anyone who is looking at emergency call systems I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with them about Vigil Health Solutions.