More Seniors Are On Social Media

Every year, digital marketing becomes more and more important. You may think that as a Medicare sales agent the digital space doesn’t help you much, but that’s not true. More and more Medicare-eligible individuals are using social media. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported that in 2017, about 40% of seniors owned smartphones. That number is bound to keep rising.

The best part about this is that most seniors create Facebook accounts to see photos of their grandchildren, not to get help with Medicare. You can surprise them by giving them the knowledge they need to get the care they need. These are our top tips for using digital marketing to attract seniors on social media:

Compliance

When you post on social media or to a personal website, you are creating marketing materials. As such, you must follow compliance for marketing materials as well as the following:

• Always include a date and time stamp on your content
• Don’t provide links for foreign drug sales (including advertisements).
• Never speak on behalf of Medicare, Medicaid, or CMS.
• Don’t require contact information for content access.
• You cannot start marketing for the following year until October first.

Facebook & Twitter

Facebook and Twitter are going to be your best bet for generating Medicare leads.

Creating a Facebook page for your work is easy. Just be sure to upload a professional headshot and make sure everything you post is compliant. To make yourself easier to find, follow your name with your title (ex – Joe Smith, Licensed Medicare Agent). Type your work phone number into your contact info so that clients who are viewing Facebook from their phone can easily click to call you. The same goes for Twitter, though you can’t put in as much information.

Share interesting articles about Medicare, but stay away from political or religious pieces to be safe. Only share facts from reputable sources, and be careful to never mislead a client.

Website

Everything you do on social media should push back to your website. Tweet and Facebook share your blog posts, photos, etc. but make sure that when a senior or Medicare eligible clicks on them, they are redirected to your website. That’s how you’ll be able to convert your social media followers into leads!

Create an optional contact form on your website, where seniors and Medicare eligibles can choose whether or not they want you to contact them about Medicare. Make sure that this form is optional so that you are compliant. A beneficiary or lead should never be required to put in their information before they can view or download something on your website.

Promote

Include icons on your business cards that tell clients and leads where they can find you on the internet. Learn how to run paid advertisements to better promote yourself to seniors and Medicare eligibles in your area. Stay compliant.