What's Next Preview: Mark Willaman

Q. The theme of the What's Next conference is "Effective Go To Market Strategies, Serving the Boomer Market and Beyond." What do you see as the key factors in marketing to boomers?
One key factor is education. As a marketer you need to educate yourself about this demographic group and forget all your assumptions because they are likely wrong. Hint - a significant number of aging boomers will not consider themselves "old," are affluent, and will live very active lifestyles. When it comes to marketing to an older demographic group, strategies that may have worked in the past will not work with aging boomers. This is new territory for a lot of companies because historically people over the age of 50 have not been highly targeted by marketers because their spending power was minimal. But aging boomers will have double the spending power of today’s 60-70 years olds. And many studies have been done that confirm boomers are more resistant to absolute propositions and more open to marketing that paints a picture of how the product will benefit their life.

SeniorCareMarketer.com is most relevant to companies that are marketing products and services that relate to the "care" of aging adults. And a key factor for these companies is understanding the importance of building visibility with a number of different purchase influencers -- not just the boomer. Another key factor is understanding the importance of having a strong Internet presence because increasingly that is how sales prospects will find you.

Q. How did SeniorCareMarketer.com come about?
As the primary caregiver for my mom, who passed away from Alzheimer's disease in 2009, I gained a real appreciation for the size of the senior care market and how as America ages, the demand for products and services that relate to the "care" of aging adults will grow significantly -- from cognitive brain software to home care services and medical products to housing options and financial/insurance related products -- even things like medical tourism. The market is huge. But it is also very hard to market to. Many products and services are purchased directly by the aging person themselves which is a B2C channel. However, those providing care on behalf of the aging person will purchase or influence a majority of the products and services on behalf of the senior. So as a marketer you need to build visibility with a wide range of influencers -- from medical doctors and nurses to discharge planners, case managers, home health companies, pharmacies, senior housing, etc. It's a real challenge.

My company Fisher Vista, LLC launched HRmarketer.com in 2000. HRmarketer.com is a web-based marketing and PR service for companies that sell products and services to human resource departments. HRmarketer.com helps these vendors plan, manage, execute and measure their marketing and PR activities -- resulting in increased online visibility, web site traffic and improved search engine rankings. it is the largest product of its kind in the human resource market, used by over 700 HR vendors. I quickly realized that this type of product would be equally valued in the senior care market. So in 2009 we launched SeniorCareMarketer.com.

Q. What is its mission?
Our core mission is to help senior care companies improve their visibility in the growing and highly lucrative senior care marketplace. SeniorCareMarketer.com combines a database of marketing and public relations opportunities with press release distribution, campaign management and measurement tools - that if used properly will help companies increase their online visibility, drive more traffic to their web site and improve their search rankings. A summary of the product's features includes:

• Plan/manage: Information databases including detailed profiles on media outlets, editorial calendars and opportunities, industry analysts, journalists, bloggers, advertising opportunities, speaking and award competitions, conferences and trade shows, buyer guides, associations and direct marketing lists.
• Execute: Press release distribution, direct marketing, content syndication, social media integration and more.
• Measure: Clipping services, keyword ranking tools and Web site metrics.

Q. As founder and president, what is your role?
With regard to our SeniorCareMarketer product a lot of my time is spent studying the boomer and senior care marketplace in order to better understand the marketing challenges of companies competing in this space. I also work closely with our software development team to take what I have learned and improve the SeniorCaremarketer.com service. And of course, I spend a lot of time marketing our product.

Q. What do you see as the biggest issues concerning boomers today and how might they affect what SeniorCareMarketer.com does?
Goodness, there are so many. I wouldn't know where to start. It is too diverse and large of a demographic group to mistakenly assume they all share the same issues and concerns. Many boomers are caring for aging loved ones and many are also beginning to think about their own aging care needs like evaluating long term insurance products or maybe researching housing options. But remember, we are a B2B company so our customers are the companies who are themselves marketing products and services relating to the aging population. SeniorCareMarketer.com is just one resource for these companies marketing and PR departments that can help them build their visibility with the consumer (boomer) as well as other purchase influencers.

Q. What unique challenges does the boomer demographic present your customers?
A lot is made -- too much I believe -- about how unique a demographic group the boomers are. As a marketer, you want to carefully identify your target market, learn as much about them (demographics, buying habits, needs, purchasing behavior, etc.), and figure out how to reach them, engage them, establish trust with them and motivate them to buy more of your stuff. If you truly have a valued solution and earn the buyer's trust you'll sell your stuff. How to do that is a whole different discussion but this is not unique to the boomer generation. It's called good marketing. Every company will need to figure out their messaging and strategy for themselves. And every company will need to build a strong online presence in order to be found by their buyers, drive those buyers to their web site and engage them.

Q. What opportunities do you see for SeniorCareMarketer.com given the continuing growth in the boomer demographic?
There is huge opportunity for any business in this space. But it is a very young market. Those vendors who have staying power, quality products and great marketing will be around when the market begins to take off - which has not happened yet.

Q.What topics do you plan to touch on in your talk at What's Next?
I am currently scheduled to participate in two panel discussions. The first is "Discover How to Market Products Direct to Consumers in Healthcare." One topic I will talk about on this panel is marketing to consumers through the "employer" sales channel. This can include packaging senior care products and services as an employee benefit and either marketing them as a worksite marketing program or as an company sponsored benefit. Either way, you'll need to determine if this is a viable market for your product and if so, learn how to market through benefit brokers and/or the human resources department of an organization. The second panel I am scheduled to sit on is "Entrepreneurship & New Career Opportunities within the Boomer Market" and on this panel I hope to share some of my own experiences -- and lessons I've learned -- with regard to starting and building a profitable and sustainable business.