Digital marketing may well be the catalyst that will change the senior living industry for the better. That is if it hasn’t already.
Already, senior living marketing and advertising solutions are in high demand. It’s not just because of the pandemic as well. Although, it definitely played a role in spurring digital marketing’s influence on assisted living marketing.
Despite its undeniable advantages, it’s understandable that many facilities are still struggling with digital senior living marketing. It can be hard to suddenly turn your focus to marketing digitally, after all. If we’re going to compare it to a beast, it’s a whole breed in itself. More often than not, it requires viewing things from an entirely different perspective.
Still, it can be studied and, therefore, mastered. You are halfway to achieving that by always being open to learning. We hope these 10 tips will contribute to your journey.
- It always starts with your website
It’s the digital representation of your community, after all. How optimized is your website’s content for search engines? Do the same optimization to the overall design. This is so users, especially the elderly, won’t have a hard time navigating.
It won’t hurt to be mindful of the font types and sizes and CTA buttons you use. Keep it readable and crisp. For example, placing an eye-catching CTA button on top of your home page may do well to boost your conversions.
Overall, the website should be easy to interact with when using any kind of device. Search functions should be user-responsive, allowing them to get to what they want right away.
- Completely fill out your Google My Business profile
Most senior living marketing services would agree that this should never be skipped. GMB is literally a gold mine of free, highly-targeted traffic, after all. As you complete your profile, do your best to target your exact locality or area of operation using well-placed keywords.
Opting for a hyper-localized approach can pay off. Think of towns instead of cities and states. Share pictures of the community or the local businesses you work with.
The more you show Google that you’re involved with a highly specific community, the more it will inevitably reward you with the top spot on searches.
- Use aggregator sites to your advantage
One senior living marketing solution that you shouldn’t overlook is capitalizing on aggregator sites. These are basically online directories that list down various services in a given field and their respective reviews.
Naturally, they become popular platforms for people looking for assisted living services. With that said, it’s only right to maintain your community’s standing in such sites. Did you know that almost half of the seniors in the US won’t avail of services with feedback that falls below 4 stars?
- Prioritize legitimacy through transparency
Have you ever encountered an assisted living marketing agency that advised you to only reveal your customers’ reviews in exchange for contact information? That’s a big no-no if you want to earn your customers’ trust.
Always consider the fact that many people tend to be wary when dealing online. By the same token, if you only reveal reviews that are overwhelmingly positive in your website, wouldn’t that cause some raised eyebrows?
It’s better to be readily transparent with the feedback your community is getting. Instead of hiding negative or average reviews, show your customers how you’re responding to them. Use it as fuel to improve, in short.
- Tell compelling stories through social media
It’s already been confirmed. Great storytelling only leads to a bump in a community’s perceived value. What exactly does “great” entail in this regard? Is it enough to highlight the quality of care and amenities you offer? That’s rarely the case.
You should instead focus on telling the story of your company and the residents within it. These stories are grounded in real-life scenarios, after all. Look for stories to tell about the people who have actually lived in your community — and have, in turn, been transformed by it.
It’s not hard to pinpoint the ones that are worth sharing. At best, you should showcase the ones that have resulted in a profound improvement in the resident’s life.
- Don’t miss out on what remarketing ads have to offer
Marketing to people who are already interested in you and have shown high engagement is only logical. This is especially true if you are trying to hit an occupancy rate target. It only saves you time and effort.
How can you ensure your message will be heard and finally lead to a conversion, though? Believe it or not, repeating your message may actually pay off in the end.
Many community managers tend to quit after the first or second message was ignored. But, have you ever really pushed your attempts to at least 5? Maybe that’s the sweet spot you failed to discover in the get-go.
- Use data to the fullest
Data will always be relevant and pivotal to a community’s success. It serves as your guide, after all, which ultimately affects the decisions you make. However, how can you use data to the fullest exactly?
Well, relying on business intelligence is one proven approach. There are a plethora of apps out there that help you achieve your occupancy goals, for example, with more in-depth performance tracking.
These apps also help you attain updated data in real-time. This data can be about referrals, sales, or even trends.
- Find ways to boost your Facebook Ads conversions
It’s no longer enough to say that you should be using Facebook Ads. That’s already a given nowadays. Rather, it’s high time for everyone to start making sure that they get the best conversion rates from the start. It’s not just about crafting a good ad, after all.
One good way to go about this is to maintain a human-to-human connection when interacting with people who click on your ads. It’s important to nurture rather than end up being contrived and pushy in your approach.
Moreover, acknowledging that during the first awareness stage, customers are only looking for information first. This takes teaching your sales team about the concept of the three stages of digital marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight.
- Refocus and repurpose your content
It’s a given that blog posts and website content can become valuable sources of traffic. But should you really be focused on keywords to acquire the traffic you need? Should you just throw random yet relevant and high-quality content and hope that it will rank for your target keywords?
Based on the experience of most senior living centers, that’s seldom the case. Treating your content with more regard or as the main piece to the traffic puzzle appears to be the better route to take.
If this takes paying more attention to internal and external links, article length, and keywords, then do it. Repurpose them and give them more focus. More often than, 10 optimized blog posts are better than 50 aimless ones.
- Technology is always here to help
Just ask any senior living marketing agency, and chances are they’ll be relying on technology to deliver their solutions. Some even offer turnkey solutions through assisted living software.
Basically, this software takes care of many of your digital marketing processes for you. From managing referrals to improving your sales channel, it helps you save plenty of time and effort in marketing your community.
Otherwise, the agency itself will render digital marketing services for you. These range from SEO and email marketing to PPC and social media marketing, to cite a few.
In the end, these services only underscore the fact that there are always routes you can take to overcome obstacles you encounter on the road.
Conclusion
The so-called digital shift brought about by the pandemic will have lasting impacts on the industry. Can you safely say that your facility is ready for it? To be fair, this has no absolute answer. Technology constantly changes the landscape, after all.
But as long as you’re always learning and staying on top of what works, you’re good. We’re confident that you’ll not only enrich your community but stay ahead of the community if you do so.
