This post is part of our Social Media Success Series, which features interviews with innovative and fearless socially networked senior living, home care, and LTC companies that are achieving positive business results using media and other social technologies. To have your organization included in this series, contact us.
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Seabury is a premier New England retirment community that combines wellness, active lifestyle and healthcare on 66 acres in the Bloomfield Connecticut countryside. I recently connected with Courtenay Knox, Seabury’s Social Media Coordinator, who submitted this post.
Seabury has always been on the cutting edge of technology. We created our first webpage early on in the development of the “world wide web.” In fact, fellow organizations often ask us why our website is a “.com” rather than a “.org.” The reason for this is that Seabury developed its first website when the only domain available was “.com!”
With the advent of Web 2.0 and Social Media marketing, Seabury realized that to stay on top of our field we would have to move towards a more interactive and dynamic website. We wanted to be able to engage our audience with fresh content and pertinent, timely information on successful aging. We wanted to start a conversation with the world and let them know that Seabury is an expert on aging successfully. Historically, Seabury has always done this on a local level. We host experts in the field to present lectures to our residents, we publish articles in traditional print media, and we strive to offer services based on the most up-to-date research on successful aging. Because we have so much to offer our residents, why not share it with the world via our website, Twitter, Facebook, and blogging and more? And so began our journey towards social media.
Renee Bernasconi, Seabury’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, knew that the key to launching a dynamic website would require daily maintenance. There would have to be a point person whose responsibility would be to write a blog and respond to comments, update Seabury’s Facebook status and send out informative “tweets.” This job would require someone with good writing and communications skills. Because Renee knew I had been writing Seabury’s monthly fitness bulletin for several years, she knew I had the skills necessary to write articles and cull valuable information that would be of interest to our audience. Thus the Social Media Coordinator position was born.
Renee and I began working with our IT company to develop a fully updated, user friendly, dynamic 2.0 web site. After many months of planning, the site was launched in mid-October 2010, and continues to grow. We consider the site to be a continually evolving entity as we further develop our tabs and constantly update content. Our home page has two “Latest News” tabs that are changed biweekly. We also have direct links to our Twitter and Facebook pages, both of which are updated on a daily basis, as well as links to our Flickr and YouTube sites. Also featured on our home page is a link to our blog: “We Know Aging.”
While our foray into Social Media is still in its infancy, we anticipate extended growth over the next few years as more and more people (especially those over 50) begin to accept social networking. We hope to establish a presence online by building a branded, customized blog, creating an exciting Facebook page, and attracting high-quality followers on Twitter. Ultimately, when consumers are searching the internet using key words such as “successful aging”, “active aging”, or “expert long term care”, we hope Seabury appears at the top of the fold.
In the meantime, we will continue to develop our site and create content as if we were receiving thousands of hits per day, so that when that day does come we are fully equipped to handle the volume!
Contact Information:
Courtenay Knox
200 Seabury Drive
Bloomfield, CT. 06002
Direct phone: 860-243-6007
Main phone: 860-286-0243
Toll free phone: 1-800-340-4709
Fax: 860-243-6072
courtenayknox@seaburyretirement.com
www.seaburyretirement.com
Like this post? Here are more like it:
- Beacon Hill Retirement Communities Launches Resident Blog – Smart Move
- How Senior Living and Eldercare Companies Can Build a Winning Social Media Team
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