Senior Living Marketing: Why You Should Highlight New Residents

Your new resident has just moved in, which means the senior living marketing and sales teams can breathe easy since their work with that former prospect is done, right? Not so fast! Your new residents can provide ongoing help with your senior living marketing materials.

How’s that?

Well, think about it. Your newest residents aren’t that far removed from your current prospects. After all, your newest residents were prospects themselves only 30 or 60 days ago. Hearing about new residents’ experiences can help current prospects self-identify more easily.

Bottom line? Don’t forget to highlight NEW residents in your senior living marketing materials. Below, you’ll find three ways. An important caveat, however: In order for this to work, you must truly create an awesome experience for new residents. We’re talking about a red carpet welcome, which we talk about in this blog post.

So make sure your welcome program for new residents is in tip-top shape. Then, move on to these strategies . . .

1. Social media posts.

If you regularly share pics and stories on social media about new residents, you’ll reinforce that your community is thriving and the choice for many older adults. Not a bad message to convey in a low-pressure way, right?

Ideas on what to post:

✔ Share a collage of pics featuring your newest resident—how they’ve decorated their home, how they’re enjoying the food, activities they’re involved in, and so forth.

✔ Share a quote from the resident (along with a pic) on why they chose your community.

✔ Share a before-and-after type of post. “Before Mary moved into The Elmwood, she thought this. After living in her new home for two months, she now thinks this.” The “this” doesn’t have to be earth-shattering, either. It could be something simple, like thinking she’d miss cooking, but discovering she loves being waited on.

BONUS CONTENT: Your new resident likely has family members who are thrilled that their loved one is so happy. Featuring THEM in social media content would also be smart.

How can you learn about which new residents are happiest? Collaborate with the activities team and resident director to get a good sense of the happiest new residents and their family members. (And, of course, make sure you get permission before taking pics and posting quotes.)

2. Videos, videos, videos.

Creating quick videos of residents talking about why they chose your community and their experience so far can be marketing GOLD.

And you don’t need to professionally shoot these videos, either. Use a ring light, your phone, and a lavalier mic along with a great editing app for your phone (we love InShot). Create short videos (30 to 90 seconds) where the new resident answers a question.

Some questions to play around with . . .

⚞ Why’d you choose our community?

⚞ What’s the biggest thing that surprised you—in a good way—about our community after you moved in?

⚞ What’s exceeded your expectations?

⚞ How long did it take you to adjust to your new home?

⚞ What are some of your favorite activities?

⚞ If you could go back in time and talk to yourself about the decision to move into the community, what would you say?

⚞ What advice/thoughts do you have for people who are thinking about moving into our community—but maybe they’re not sure?

If each new resident answers these questions, you can get seven quick videos out of it—videos you can use on social media, your website, and in important bottom-of-the-funnel interactions from sales people. Nothing can motivate a hot prospect more than seeing a new resident talk about how happy they are with their decision.

3. Pay-per-click advertising.

Remember what we said earlier about how prospects have more in common with your newest residents? And how these prospects can much more easily self-identify with new residents and see themselves living in your community as a result?

Capitalize on that!

Create pay-per-click advertising campaigns that are built around a new resident’s happy experience in your community. You could create a specific landing page that highlights the new resident’s story (and includes some of the other pieces you’ve already put together, like pictures and videos).

The call-to-action (CTA) would be “Join us for lunch and see for yourself.”

An even better CTA (provided everyone agrees) would be this: “Stop by for lunch with some of our newest residents to get an honest take on their move into our community.”

Note: Everyone should pay attention to residents who aren’t acclimating well.

Find out the source of their dissatisfaction or frustration. Did something not meet their expectations? This will happen from time to time, but if it’s a consistent refrain, you should revisit marketing and sales materials to see if something is misleading or needs clarification.

On the flip side, did someone take a little longer to acclimate than usual, but NOW they’re happy? That can be a compelling story, too, because of its authenticity and transparency.

Need help developing senior living marketing materials that adequately capture new resident stories?

That’s where we come in! We can help you find the most persuasive nuggets and turn those nuggets into social media posts, videos, PPC ads, and more. Get in touch and let’s brainstorm!