Case Study

www.G5searchmarketing.com

Client: Kaplan Development Group (www.kapdev.com)

Founded in 2001, Woodbury, New York-based Kaplan Development Group owns and operates a variety of senior communities throughout the eastern half of the U.S. The company has built a strong reputation by providing its residents with superior ameni-ties, a wide range of activities, and a comprehensive program of customized care.

Challenge: Engaging Prospective Residents in a Tough Economy

Faced with a recession and declining occupancy rates, Kaplan Development knew it had to do more to reach prospective residents. For Director of Development and Marketing Ben Wells, that meant turning to the Internet.

“I’m on the Internet all the time,” Wells said. “And what I know is that the Internet and social media are revolutionizing the advertising and marketing space.” Fueled by this knowledge, Wells set out to transform Kaplan Development’s Web presence with two primary objectives:

• Optimize the site to ensure that prospective residents actually land there and begin a dialogue with the company

• Track the effectiveness of its marketing efforts

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Industry

Senior Housing

Business Opportunities

• Extend reach and engage

prospective residents through

online marketing efforts

• Track the effectiveness of

all marketing efforts to

maximize spend

Solution

G5 Local Marketing Platform

• Developed an optimized website

• Provided insight into the

effectiveness of marketing

efforts through the G5

Media Dashboard

Results

• 4% increase in occupancy

• 150% increase in website traffic

• 46% increase in average

monthly leads

• 19% decrease in average cost

per lead

• 67% conversion of online leads

into offline tours

• Optimized spending to those

sources with the greatest

return on investment

Solution: G5 Local Marketing Platform

Drives Traffic, Measures Results

Kaplan Development’s site now utilizes the G5 Local Market-ing Platform to drive traffic through search engine optimiza-tion and paid advertising as well as measure the effectiveness of its online marketing efforts by tracking traffic generated, leads created, and lead quality. The G5 Platform also includes a social media component, which allows Kaplan Development to reach prospective residents via social channels like Face-book and Twitter—a significant market-ing tool considering Facebook users age 55+ increased five-fold in the period from January to July of 2009.

For Kaplan Development, the transition to the G5 Platform couldn’t have been easier. “Everyone at Kaplan can use the G5 Client Center,” said Wells. “They can view status and listen to calls. They can monitor their campaigns to see how effective they are. We get nothing but positive comments from our employees at the properties. The G5 solution is so user friendly that even some of our less technology-savvy market-ers can easily use it.”

Result: More Traffic, More

Qualified Leads, Increased Occupancy

“Before G5 optimized our website, people weren’t finding us,” said Wells. “Now, in contrast, if a couple in California is moving to the Northeast to be closer to their children, they are able to find us. We wouldn’t have heard of these situations in the past.” With the new website and online marketing from G5, Kaplan has seen the number of average monthly leads increase by 46%.

Additionally, over 67% of the local leads generated by the website are taking the next step of touring one of the com-pany’s properties—an extraordinarily high rate. The explana-tion: “People are self-qualifying before they call,” Wells said. “With print ads and direct mail, there’s not much room to provide information, so people end up calling about nursing or hospice service or other services we don’t provide. With the website, people are educated before they call.”

G5 has also been vital in pinpointing the effectiveness of the company’s marketing efforts. “Before G5, we weren’t able to track anything,” said Wells. “Now, we can track every-thing. Hiring G5 revolutionized our business. In the past, 90 to 100% of our advertising was in print media, where the response rate is low. Now, we’re seeing many leads come in, and the amount of activity is tremendous.” Better yet, not only has the number of leads dramatically increased, the average cost per lead decreased by 19%.

Case Study: Kaplan Development Group

“Before G5, we weren’t able to track any-thing. Now we can track everything. Hiring G5 revolutionized our business. In the past, 90 to 100% of our advertising was in print media, where the response rate is very low. Now, we’re seeing leads come in, and the amount of activity is tremendous.”

—Ben Wells, Director of Development and Marketing, Kaplan Development Group

About G5

G5 Search Marketing, the leader in Local Marketing Solutions (LMS), gives business owners visibility into which advertising efforts produce their most profitable customers. The G5 Local Marketing Platform is a proven single source for managing the shift from offline to online advertising. The Platform drives traffic to a client’s website, generates leads, measures marketing efforts – including Yellow Pages, direct mail, print, Internet – and optimizes to those sources with the best return on marketing investment. The com-pany, which serves over 130 clients representing more than 1,800 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, was recently named the 146th Fastest Growing Private Company in America by Inc. Magazine.

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