I feel like I’m writing a State of the Nation address, but there’s so much going on at Senior Living that I thought an article telling you some of the latest news was in order this month.

Senior Television Show Looks for $50,000 Business Sponsor

First off, we are only weeks away from airing our new television series “Senior Living On Location.” With 13 episodes almost in the hopper, each with 3-4 lively segments, we have covered a lot of ground. If you haven’t seen our pilot show, please have a look at it on our website at www.seniorlivingmag.com/tv

A number of readers have already viewed it with overwhelmingly positive response. Like our magazine, we have designed our television show to chronicle seniors living life to its fullest. We have entertainers (clowns, magicians, singers, performers, storytellers), entrepreneurs, sports enthusiasts and athletes (dancers, walkers, paddlers, dancers, cyclists, divers, martial artists, car racers), artists (we just finished an interview with Robert Bateman), hobbyists, travelers, and fashionistas … to name just a few. We will have shot over 50 segments by the time we go to air.

So why is this important to businesses? Because this is an amazing opportunity to be part of a show that will be attracting thousands of senior viewers, not to mention their families and friends. We have created several sponsorship opportunities for companies that want to align themselves strongly with the show. Each sponsorship offers an integrated media package that gives companies quality placement within not just the show, but our magazine, website and our 2013 Senior Expo. We have a $50,000 sponsorship opportunity available for a company that sees the energy that this television show will bring to their marketing campaign. (Sorry, our $75,000 sponsorship package is already sold!) There isn’t a more targeted way to reach senior consumers than through our television show, our magazine, our website and our Senior Expo. In all instances, you are aligning yourself with a brand that seniors have loved right from the start. If you are a company that would love to be associated with a show about seniors that is truly inspiring, you need to be the first to give us a call.

Community Pages Help Small Business Market to Seniors

Last month we launched our first community advertising page in our magazine. We run across a lot of businesses that really want to reach the senior demographic with their marketing message but they don’t have the budget to afford a full-on campaign. And often, they want to attract customers from their immediate area, not across BC. For these businesses, we have created our new Community Pages where they can place a small ad that costs about $166 per month. Right now, we have divided the geography into South Vancouver Island, Central/North Vancouver Island, and Vancouver. But as the
pages fill up, we plan to break these larger areas into more distinct community regions – e.g. White Rock/Surrey/Langley, or Burnaby/New Westminster. Because these are 12 month campaigns, it allows businesses consistent exposure over a significant length of time at a very affordable price.

Don’t Just Buy a Web Ad, Buy A Whole Microsite!

Now advertisers can buy what is essentially a small website, within our larger website, for about the same price as a web ad. Our new online Business Directory launched last week with a new microsite format where senior friendly companies have room to put all kinds of information. Our Full Microsite Package is priced at $250 per month and what you get is astonishing! A mobile-friendly, search engine optimized site that visitors to the Senior Living website will find easily, and that can link to your existing website (if you have one) as well as all your social media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Linked In).

Viewers of your microsite will have quick access to you through all these avenues, plus find a wealth of information right on the site since we give you a home page, a promotions page, a testimonial page, a product and/or services page, a contact page and a photo gallery page. You also get a banner ad elsewhere on our website, and the opportunity to post up to 12 articles in our Ask A Professional Section that will link to an articles page on your microsite. What’s more – we will give you coded access and easy to follow instructions on how to post or change your own information 24/7. Plus, you will have technical assistance that’s only a phone call away, if you ever need it. One of the biggest advantages of having this microsite, in addition to your own website, is the larger footprint you have in the digital world. Every opportunity you have to expand your digital presence makes you that much easier to find on an Internet with billions of websites. Plus, over 120,000 readers are invited to your microsite through Senior Living magazine every month. This really is over the top value for your marketing dollar.

What Does A Survey Tell You? Lots!

Over the past few months we have successfully surveyed over a thousand seniors about their opinions and habits related to the industries of travel, fashion and beauty, housing and, most recently, health and wellness. Seniors have been very forth-coming, a credit to the relationship Senior Living has developed over the years with its readership. In the process we have gathered verifiable data about where seniors shop, what they buy, and why they buy it. This survey information is available by contacting your sales representative at Senior Living.

In today’s challenging economic climate, businesses need all the advantage they can get to develop successful marketing strategies and we have tried to provide assistance at all levels – by offering a variety of price ranges and options for integrated media campaigns across print, web, television and our unique Senior Expo. All our latest changes and additions are designed to assist senior focused businesses to succeed in marketing to the rapidly expanding senior market.

Give one of our helpful sales reps a call if you would like to begin a marketing campaign, or expand an existing one using one or more of the above options.

Thank all our advertisers, past and present, for your support, and I wish you a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,

Barbara Risto
Publisher, Senior Living