Get your audience involved
According to a June 1997 report in Potentials in Marketing, seniors, just like the rest of us, retain what they perceive through their senses. If they see, hear and do something interactive, they will retain 80 percent of your message -- not bad for a market that has long been perceived as having limited cognitive ability. Perhaps even more significant is that seniors have the will and the time to participate in interactive opportunities.

• How do you incorporate interactivity into your marketing campaign? The answer is simple: Get your senior audience involved any way you can.

• Include interactive surveys in your newsletter program.

• Conduct lectures on health-related issues at local senior centers.

• Offer free or discounted health screenings at your health care facility.

• And don't forget to incorporate programs on some of the countless life-stage topics of interest to your senior audience (a few of which we touched upon earlier).

To increase retention, build loyalty and add value to your product, offer incentives and discounts for the reader's efforts. But don't be too pushy. This market has learned through the years that patience is a virtue when making wise consumer decisions.

Senior organizations help strengthen relationships
According to Robert L. Kahn, Ph.D., and co-author of Successful Aging, studies suggest that loneliness kills two to four times more seniors than poor lifestyle habits such as cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse or sedentary lifestyles. Health care marketers who attempt to sell their product solely by promoting better health for seniors through healthy lifestyle modifications and avoid filling the need for social interaction are missing the mark.