Madison Avenue advertising results on a shoestring.

Reach your audience with the power of direct mail

MANY OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF REFIREMENT COMMUNITIES, assisted living residences, and long-term care facilities find marketing communications and advertising to be the most daunting and frustrating part of their job. They should take consolation from the fact that most executives whose businesses market to the public feel the same way. "I know half of my advertising budget is wasted," goes the old saying, "I just don't know which half."

While many managers perceive advertising as an expensive luxury, it really should be considered an investment and, as with any investment, a return greater than the amount invested should always be expected. It is not only possible to measure the results of your advertising expenditures, it is essential.

In developing an advertising campaign, the goal is to use measurable, objective criteria, remembering that in most cases you the decision-maker are not in any way the typical prospect. Therefore, market research is an essential and inseparable part of the marketing communications process. Research is used at the beginning of the process to identify your target audience and the messages that have the most market appeal. It is used during the process to make sure that all creative decisions are on target. And it is used at the end of the process to measure results and identify areas for improvement in future campaigns.

Choose the right messenger

Once the best message and the right audience have been identified, it's time to prioritize the communication modes of delivery. In terms of glamour and instinctive appeal, TV advertising is at the top of the list, followed by radio, newspapers, magazines, and direct mail. However, the industry's general experience with these media as sources for generating leads and sales suggests that the hierarchy should be exactly reversed, as direct mail outperforms newspaper, newspaper outperforms radio, and radio outperforms television.

Direct mail is known as the "darling of marketing" because of its numerous communication and cost advantages. For example, the user can precisely target specific consumer groups by preselecting exactly who will receive mailed information. By contrast, newspaper, radio, and television are considered mass-marketing vehicles because the user is communicating with the general public. Mass marketing is fine for products and services needed by everyone, however, it is fruitless to waste money on communicating with the general public when only a select few target markets influence census.

Direct mail recipients are also more likely to read and respond to messages received through the mail than they are to other forms of paid advertising because there is generally less advertising clutter in direct mail. As a result, a facility's advertising message stands out in the mailbox, as opposed to, say, a newspaper page full of ads for cars and clothing. And unlike younger consumers, older adults look forward to getting their mail.

Convey the message

Orchestrate the messages and images being conveyed to your target market. Too often facilities use a hodgepodge of marketing materials lacking visual integration or even a common theme.

The cost of confusing consumers by peppering them with disparate messages and inconsistent visuals is ultimately far greater than investing in a new and well-conceived identity. Conveying a recurrent theme in a visually appealing manner is essential. Prospective residents should perceive your community as an attractive solution to the difficult decisions that come with their changing life-stages.

The themes with the most appeal to senior consumers are lifestyle, education, and involvement. In other words, you should convey your life-enriching social programs at least as much as you discuss your basic service package. In the mind of today's savvy seniors, "three-hots-and-a-cot" is not their idea of an American retirement dream.

Equally important is how you tell your story. Certain concepts, specific words, and particular phrases tend to alienate the senior consumer. Your copy should avoid labeling phrases such as "senior citizen," "retiree," "elderly", and "independent." Popular euphemisms such as "leisure years" and "golden years" are an equal put-off. If you must use an age-specific reference, refer to the audience as mature adult or senior adult.

Consistency of message not only integrates your various marketing communication materials, it also saves on production costs. Using similar graphics, and recurring typeface and photographs can reduce the expense of graphic design work, layout, typesetting, and other costs incurred in creating high-impact, low-cost advertising campaigns.

Collateral materials

An area of particular emphasis should be your collateral materials. The purpose of collateral materials is to inform and educate the customer about your offerings in a way that engages their interest and makes them more receptive to your sales message. Like other forms of advertising, collateral materials do not sell, in that they cannot close a sale. Instead, well-designed collateral materials extend and enhance your sales efforts.

The pieces in an effective collateral package will complement your sales strategy and each other. These include:

* Stationery, note cards, and envelopes

* Site plans, renderings, level plans, and locator maps

* Direct mail such as newsletters and smaller brochures

* Information brochure(s)

* Consumer decision aids such as cost comparisons, applications, and contracts

The centerpiece of good collaterals is the information brochure. It anchors the total package and imparts information about your facility's concept, services, and amenities.

The best information brochure size is 9 inches wide by 12 inches tall. This is the most economical format and it accommodates the need for standard 8X11-inch inserts such as correspondence, floor plans, and contracts. Eight pages is a good length. That includes the front and back cover of the brochure plus two inside sheets.

A key design factor is to have the inside pages saddle-stitched or otherwise affixed inside the front and back cover. Avoid the all-too-common use of staircased inserts; they do not test well with the market. Why? Because of the obvious incongruity between promising (and charging for) a high-quality lifestyle and making that promise via low-quality collaterals. So a staircased insert should be avoided in favor of a fancier, more expensive-looking piece. A four-color process (such as full color photographs) is not essential for a high-impact brochure, but a minimum of three colors is usually required to activate the piece and add visual interest.

In marketing and advertising communications, the most important way to maximize your budget is not to waste it on off-target, inefficient, or counterproductive efforts. A consistent message conveyed through cohesive design and delivered directly to a carefully identified target market is the best way to get Madison Avenue advertising results on a shoestring budget.

Phyllis M. Thornton is president and founder of Signum Inc., a national firm that specializes in providing market research, planning, training, and advertising for retirement housing, assisted living, long-term care, and community services.