Why you need to advertise on The Senior Housing Search
We’ve heard marketing people proclaim “We don’t use the internet because we are marketing to seniors.”
BIG BIG Mistake. Here’s why:
- Seniors are the largest growing segment of Internet users
- Almost half of all seniors use the Internet as part of the home selling process
- 42% of seniors used the internet to research comparables, get neighborhood sales information, track the current housing market, find a real estate agent, use an online appraisal,and learn about neighborhoods to move to
- The majority of seniors visited real estate sites for information (instead of non-real estate sites such as AARP)
- Ninety percent of seniors used a real estate agent
- Average senior seller income is $76,363
- Seniors have lived in the current home for 9.4 years before selling
- 82% of seniors stay within their home state when moving
These statistics are from the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council’s annual Senior Home Seller Survey.
Conclusions
- Your target market is on the internet. You should be too.
- Consumers want one-stop shopping. They want aggregate information on web sites. The Senior Housing Search.com offers all options of senior housing, plus resources to help seniors and their families make the transition.
- 90% of your consumers are using real estate agents. The Senior Housing Search.com is the online resource for real estate agents working with senior clients.
- Most seniors don’t move far from home. While our competitors have made an attempt to gather national information about senior housing, there isn’t another website that targets Minnesota Seniors, like The Senior Housing Search.com
Baby Boomers Powerful Internet Shoppers
“Compared with the national average across all age groups, significantly more of those in the 40-plus age group, over 72 percent, access the internet from broadband in their homes.” This is a quote from ThirdAge, Inc. who conducted a recent study on how baby boomers used the internet.
While The Senior Housing Search.com exists to help seniors move, we know their children, the boomers are often active in helping their parents move.
Baby Boomers online
- 92% spend time on the Web seeking information
- 86% research products before purchasing offline
- 91% read articles online
- 79% say they respond to promotional email about products
In addition, ThirdAge Inc’s results show this demographic is comfortable using the internet to check on information they get from TV or from print ads:
- 92% visited a Web site after reading about it in a magazine or newspaper article
- 89% visited a site after seeing a print ad
- 83% visited a site following a telelvision ad
- 65% visited a site after hearing about it in a radio commercial
Once this demographic discovers something new, they’re likely to spread the word!
- 96% share information and details with their family
- 84% with their children
- 83% with their spouses
- 71% with their co-workers
Conclusions
Get your own Featured Property listing on TheSeniorHousingSearch.com
- Baby Boomers are looking for helpful information on line. The Senior Housing Search.com answers that demand by developing helpful information that will assist the Boomers in helping their aging parents
- Baby Boomers will share the information learned, and the sponsors they’ve seen on The Housing Search.com with their families.
How Consumers Search for Housing on the Internet
A Twin Cities Metro Broker conducted a survey of over 2000 users to find out how consumers are using the internet to search for housing. This survey is significant because we know from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that over 80% of consumers search the internet for housing. Here are the results from the survey:
Property Photos
- “Pictures are also worth a thousand words and make the effort to see it much more desirable…”
- “More Pictures…is always more helpful for me to decide whether to spend gas money to go see it.”
- “I really love that when I click on the virtual tour there is usually also a photo gallery…The most frustrating thing is if there is only the one pic…”
What to showcase with Property Photos?
DO
- Show more angles and views
- Inside and outside
- Front and Back of buildings
- If there’s a view from the door, window or balcony, show it
DON’T
- Show furniture
- Show only a portion of the room – get as much of the room as possible in the picture
Other Consumer Feedback
- “…a title for each photo.”
- “Photos should have the name of the room listed-some are obvious but it would be nice to know if we are look at the family room or the living room.”
- “Be more clear in descriptions [of properties]. Not necessary to use so many abbreviations on the website as it is in a newspaper ad with limited space.”
Values of Online Features
| Very Useful |
Somewhat Useful |
Not Useful |
Did Not Use |
|
| Photos | 78% | 19% | 2% | 1% |
| Detailed Property Information |
77% | 20% | 1% | 1% |
Conclusions
- Most senior housing communities have an individual website, but they lack in number and quality of pictures
- The Senior Housing Search.com offers Senior Housing commuities to showcase their properties with a large number of pictures and with detailed information.
The Senior Housing Search.com uses research to build website
We took the information above, and built the most user-friendly website available for Minnesota Seniors and their families. We’ve included:
- We don’t charge senior housing communities to be listed in our directory. We want this to be the most comprehensive on-line directory for Minnesota senior housing.
- An easily searchable database. Consumers can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
- An information-rich source that provides helpful information to seniors and their families.
- An opportunity for Minnesota senior housing properties to showcase their properties through enhanced packages that include pictures, virtual tours, and detailed property information.
We hope you’ll decide to be a part of the on-line Minnesota Senior Housing revolution!