creative marketing ideas

Creative Marketing Ideas for Senior Living

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One of the biggest challenges for communities is coming up with creative marketing ideas for senior living—ideas that the community’s marketing team can easily execute across multiple channels, like emails, social media, paid ads, and the website. (Read more about the importance of integrated marketing campaigns.)

If only there were a magic “creativity” button that you could hit and voila—you get a fun and effective campaign at your fingertips.

Guess what? We got you!

At Senior Living SMART, our team is constantly developing fresh messaging campaigns. We create all the various “pieces” for websites, social media, paid search, and so forth. You can choose a campaign and customize it from there.

We thought it would make sense to pull back the curtain and share some of these creative marketing ideas for senior living that our team has developed. So here’s our first post doing exactly that!

To kick it off, we’re going to discuss our “Retirement Rocks” campaign, including the rationale behind the messaging, the various components, and a quick peek at some of the creative elements. (Hey, we’re not going to give it all away.)

If you’re intrigued and would like to explore using this campaign for your community, get in touch! This can be a great way to experience what it’s like to work with the Senior Living SMART team.

Creative Marketing Ideas for Senior Living: Retirement ROCKS!

Messaging Rationale

Use this campaign to reframe senior living in the positive light it deserves—while starting to really focus on Boomer messaging. (Effectively marketing to Boomers is becoming more and more important.)

Boomers are going to turn the concept of senior living on its head. These folks expect cappuccino machines, sushi bars, trips to Italy, yoga classes, spas, and whatever else is trending. They love the idea of meeting new people, doing new things, and going to new places. The options below reinforce this approach to senior living and tackle anti-aging bias.

Our approach when developing the messaging in this campaign . . .

Many of these folks are moving into senior living communities by choice, not due to catastrophe (like an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis or death of a spouse). It’s about pleasure—not pain—and living the lives they always imagined . . . and that they can now truly live now that they are retired and have more financial security. The sales cycle is LONGER (more than a year) and requires more touches (22-28). And your marketing needs to be fresh and creative at every touch point.

Boomers look at aging very differently than their parents or grandparents did. And Boomers do NOT want to be talked to the same way marketers talked to their grandmas.

Messaging needs to convey that . . .

  • Getting older doesn’t have to suck. It’s actually better in so many important ways than it was at 20 or 30.
  • 55+ communities and vibrant senior living communities won’t make you feel old. Just the opposite—they help you stay young by taking care of home maintenance so you can get the most out of your life.
  • This is your time. You’ve earned it. You deserve it.
  • You spent your whole life working for a living. Ready to play for a living?
  • OK, so maybe regular “adulting” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But adulting at this senior living community is pretty darn fabulous . . .
  • We’ve changed everything about what it means to grow older. And we think you’re going to like the upgrade.
  • Life in our community offers all the super-fun aspects of life on a college campus without final exams, school loans, or looming responsibilities.
  • What if you could combine all the fun you had in your youth with the wisdom of age, but without any of those adulting responsibilities? That’s the very definition of life in our senior living community.

Campaign Components

We’ve created all the various pieces—from website landing pages to social media posts to digital ads. We’ve outlined two premium offers that you (or we) can develop further. We’ve done the keyword research and brainstormed 20+ blog post titles. (Again, your team could write them, or we could—or we could do a combo approach.)

Our goal is to meet communities where they are with their marketing. Your team might be able to take everything in the campaign “bundle” and execute it. Or you might need us to do it.

You might also decide to do only a few items in the bundle—that works, too! These campaigns are super customizable—and can still integrate nicely, even if you remove certain pieces.

Below are ALL the items you get if you want the whole enchilada.

  • Website landing page
  • Multiple direct mailer concepts
  • Advertising concepts (print + digital)
  • Premium offers (two concepts for downloadable guides)
  • Social media posts
  • Keyword-rich blog topic brainstorm (over 20)

Creative Highlights

Here’s a peek at the creative for some of the items listed above. We used a fictional senior living community called “The Elm.” Everything is customizable. You can swap in your logo and the types of fun activities that happen in your community.

Direct mailer

direct mailer

Digital banner ads

digital banner ads

Social media

social media ads

Want to leverage our creative marketing ideas for senior living?

If you like what you see above, let’s chat! We can show you all the pieces in this campaign and customize them for your community. We’ll use only the components that make the most sense for your goals while making sure everything integrates seamlessly. GET IN TOUCH.

Aligning your inbound and outbound marketing strategy

How to Align Your Inbound & Outbound Marketing Strategy

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Alignment is a critical word in marketing. When things are “aligned,” everything goes more smoothly. And who doesn’t want smoother, easier marketing, right? But how do you achieve alignment? By focusing on two key areas: First, your marketing and sales teams. (Read more about that here.) Second, your inbound and outbound marketing strategy. This post will focus on the latter.

Refresher time! What’s the difference between inbound marketing and outbound marketing?

Inbound marketing is all about attracting people who are already searching for and/or interested in what you’re selling, like a senior living community.

For example, picture an adult child googling “how to choose a senior living community.” Their search suggests that they are indeed on the market for senior living. And it’s a legit keyword phrase, too. People search on it 30+ times a month. Plus, from a keyword-difficulty perspective, there’s not a lot of competition.

So if your marketing team wrote a guide about that topic, then—over time—the landing page for the guide could rank well, meaning you’d stand an excellent chance of capturing those people searching on that topic every month. And the best part? These people have essentially self-identified that they’re good candidates for what you’re selling simply by virtue of what they searched on. That’s inbound marketing in action.

On the flip side, outbound marketing casts a much wider net, and not everyone captured in that net will be interested in senior living.

So, for example, if you have a highway billboard about your community, many eyeballs will see it. But not everyone will care. If you send a direct mailer—even if you send it to a targeted list of, say, women over 65—not everyone on that list will be interested in senior living, either.

You might be thinking, “Why bother with outbound marketing at all then?” That’s a fair question. And while many people will tell you that inbound marketing is the only way to go, the reality is that outbound marketing absolutely still has a place in your overall strategy.

Going back to our billboard example . . . a highway billboard can be an excellent way to build brand awareness. Sure, not everyone driving down the highway will have an immediate need for senior living. But they might six months or a year from now—or they might know someone who does. That means when they finally enter the bucket of “people interested in what you’re selling,” they’ll already have familiarity with your brand. So if they’re doing a google search on “how to choose a senior living community” and an organic listing comes up from your community, that brand recognition might motivate them to click your link first.

What are examples of inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing?

Below is a basic list of inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing.

INBOUND MARKETING  OUTBOUND MARKETING 
Search engine optimization  Print/radio/TV advertising 
Keyword-rich blog posts  Billboards 
Social media marketing  Direct mailers 
Pay-per-click advertising (Google AdWords)  Email marketing to a purchased list 
Email lead nurturing  Trade shows 
Opt-in in-person events (like a free lunch)  Content syndication through a third party 

Keep in mind that even among marketers, not everyone agrees about what is and isn’t inbound or outbound marketing.

For example, we consider Google AdWords inbound marketing because those ads show up when someone is doing a specific keyword search (which suggests intent and vested interest). However, if you run banner ads through the Google Display Network . . . that’s an example of outbound marketing since the ads are broadcast to a march larger audience.

We make the same distinction with email marketing, too. If you’re sending lead nurturing emails to people who’ve filled out a form on your website, that’s an example of inbound marketing since the person has (hopefully) opted in and essentially self-qualified themselves. However, if you purchase an email list (WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS) and you send an email . . . that’s outbound marketing.

Why do you need to align your inbound and outbound marketing strategy?

Marketing alignment is all about making sure that everything is working in harmony, ideally toward a common goal. When you take a “silo” approach to your marketing, you might have success with a campaign here and a campaign there, but the overall strategy will be disjointed. A disjointed strategy is hard to measure—and often wastes time and budget. But if all your marketing efforts are in alignment, it makes for a much smoother ride.

How do you align inbound and outbound marketing strategies?

Start by thinking about your goals. For example, one goal might be to build brand awareness. So you’ll develop inbound and outbound marketing strategies that support this goal.

You’ll do the same thing at the marketing-campaign level. Let’s go back to that guide: How to Choose a Senior Living Community.

To promote it, you might use a combination of inbound and outbound marketing efforts:

Bottom line: Don’t get hung up on what’s an inbound method vs what’s an outbound method. Use common sense and think of all the various ways to promote your guide. Make sure all these ways align by having . . .

  • Consistent messaging – describe the guide in a consistent manner across all marketing
  • Consistent graphics – use the same thumbnail cover across all marketing
  • Logical next steps – if someone converts on the direct mailer QR code, what happens next? If someone converts on a Facebook ad, what happens next?

Lather, rinse, repeat for all of your marketing campaigns. That’s how you create alignment between inbound and outbound marketing strategies.

Need help bringing your marketing activities into alignment?

We specialize in helping clients see the big picture so that they can create a winning strategy full of integrated marketing tactics. Get in touch and let’s talk about your specific needs.

Online-Marketing-Vs-Offline-Marketing

Online Marketing Vs. Offline Marketing: What You Need to Know

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If you’re a senior living marketer, one of your jobs is to create an effective marketing strategy for your community. This will involve a combination of online and offline marketing tactics. But what exactly is online marketing vs. offline marketing? Below, we provide an overview of both, including how they differ and what you need to keep in mind when incorporating them into your strategy.

What is online marketing?

Commonly called digital marketing, online marketing—as its name suggests—is marketing that happens via web-based channels like a community’s website, electronic newsletter, social media platforms, and digital advertising.

Some people use the phrases “online marketing” and “inbound marketing” interchangeably. Technically, this isn’t correct. While all inbound marketing is online marketing, not all online marketing is inbound. The key component of inbound marketing is you’re attracting people who are already looking for whatever it is that you’re selling. So if they search on a keyword phrase and your site comes up in the organic search listing and the person clicks on it—that’s an example of inbound marketing at work.

But if you run digital ads through the Google Display Network, not everyone who sees those ads will be on the market for a senior living community. Even though the advertising is happening online, this is still an example of outbound marketing. With outbound marketing, you’re pushing out your message to a wide audience. With inbound marketing, you’re pulling in people who are already interested.

What is offline marketing?

As its name suggests, offline marketing doesn’t happen via web-based channels. Often referred to as traditional marketing, offline marketing tactics include direct mailers, print advertising, radio ads, TV ads, billboards, flyers . . . you get the idea.

But what if I’m perusing a radio station’s website and I click on a banner ad. Is that online marketing or offline marketing?

Even though it’s a radio station’s website, the key word is “website.” So what you describe is an example of online marketing since you’re looking at a website and clicking on a digital ad that will take you to another website.

OK, but how about THIS example: What if I receive a direct mailer that has a QR code that leads to a website? Is that online marketing or offline marketing?

That’s an example of both. The direct mailer is definitely an offline marketing tactic. But the QR code leads to a web page, which makes it an online marketing tactic. So that’s a marketing campaign using both approaches: offline and online.

And that’s OK to do?

Yep. Remember, marketing is not a zero-sum game. There’s no rule saying you can only do online marketing or offline marketing—or that you can’t do both at the same time. Sure, over the last two decades, we’ve absolutely seen a shift with more marketing dollars being spent on online campaigns. But offline marketing still has a place.

So it sounds like maybe I shouldn’t get so caught up with what qualifies as online marketing vs. offline marketing, right?

EXACTLY. That’s kind of our main point. Yes, you should understand the basic differences between the two. But at the end of the day, what’s going to matter most is if you put together an effective integrated marketing strategy—not whether you used a certain number of online marketing vs. offline marketing tactics.

Wait . . . what’s an integrated marketing strategy?

In a nutshell, an integrated marketing campaign means that your various offline and online marketing tactics are aligned and working toward the same goals. Depending on the goal, you might find yourself using more online marketing strategies than offline. For example, if you’ve just released a new white paper and you want to promote it, you’ll likely use only online marketing channels (website form, social media, email marketing, and so forth).

But if you’re building brand awareness about a new senior living community you just opened, you’ll likely use a combination of offline and online marketing tactics: paid digital ads, print ads, direct mailers, new website, email marketing, in-person events, and so on.

What if I’m still having trouble deciding which offline marketing and online marketing campaigns make the most sense for my community?

That’s where we come in! You can outsource this important strategy work to us. Our marketing expertise includes both online and offline marketing. Plus, we understand the senior living industry. Let’s chat about your marketing needs.

integrated marketing campaign

What Is an Integrated Marketing Campaign?

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If you’ve been reading up on marketing topics and you landed on this blog post, it’s probably because you’ve been scratching your head over the phrase “integrated marketing campaign.” What is it? Why should senior living marketers care? What goes into planning an effective integrated marketing campaign? Below, we answer those questions—and many more.

What’s an integrated marketing campaign?

An integrated marketing campaign means that all the different marketing tactics—outbound, inbound, paid, organic—align and work toward the same goal.

For example, let’s say your Austin-based senior living community issues a new guide: 10 Reasons Why Austin is a Great Place to Retire. The goal is to get people to download the guide and to nurture those folks, moving them from marketing-qualified status to (hopefully) sales-qualified status.

With an integrated marketing campaign, your team would create . . .

  • A dedicated landing page on your website with a form so people can download the guide
  • A call-to-action on your home page that talks up the guide
  • An email marketing campaign promoting the guide
  • A social media campaign promoting the guide
  • Paid digital ads promoting the guide

Notice how all the various marketing tactics are aligned and supporting the same goal. That’s an integrated marketing campaign in action.

That seems like common sense. Why make a fuss about calling it an “integrated” marketing campaign?

In the not-so-distant past, marketing alignment wasn’t always a thing. And even within modern marketing departments, silo mentalities can still creep in. The website team is doing its own thing while the social media team is doing its thing and so forth.

When you have too many teams working on too many different things (and not talking to each other about all these different things), you can end up with diluted messaging or worse—messages that conflict with one another.

It’s the classic situation where the right-hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

So are you saying every tactic—for example, every Facebook post or every pay-per-click ad—has to be part of an integrated marketing campaign?

No. Obviously, sometimes you’re going to post a picture to Facebook simply because it’s fresh and current and not because it’s tied into a larger marketing campaign. Or you might run PPC ads that are all about building brand awareness around your community’s name when people search on competitors’ names. This is a common practice for PPC ads and wouldn’t have corresponding campaigns in social media or email marketing, for example.

But more often than not, your marketing team will—and should—create integrated marketing campaigns.

Why are integrated marketing campaigns so important?

For a few reasons. First, you’re going to get a much bigger bang for your marketing buck if you align your marketing tactics. Go back to our example above about the retirement guide. If you put all that effort into creating the guide, but you send only two tweets promoting it, how’s that going to work out? Not very well.

Second, by beating the same marketing “drum” across different channels, you’ll have a better chance of getting your message seen, heard, and—most importantly—remembered. Keep in mind that people need to encounter a message many, many times before it sinks in.

Third, integrated marketing campaigns are much easier to measure than siloed campaigns. When you use a marketing automation tool like HubSpot, you can view the integrated marketing campaign’s performance in one dashboard. This gives you valuable info that you can respond to in real-time.

For example, if you notice that one aspect of your integrated marketing campaign appears to be lagging—maybe the paid ads aren’t producing results the way you expected—you can dig in quickly, make some adjustments, and see if your changes make a difference. You’ll also start to get an excellent sense of what types of campaigns and which channels tend to serve you best. This will allow you to direct more budget to what’s working.

Download our Hubspot for Senior Living Guide

What are some best practices for integrated marketing campaigns?

Communication is critical. Make sure everyone involved with your community’s marketing talks to each other. This is especially true if you have various teams (like a social media team and a paid search team)—and if you outsource any work to a marketing agency. Everyone should have insight and input into currently running campaigns and planned campaigns.

This communication process will likely involve . . .

  • Having regular check-in meetings. Meetings don’t need to be long. They should be useful and productive, though.
  • Giving everyone access to the master content and campaign calendars. Whether you opt for Google Workspace or Microsoft Teams and/or use project management tools like Asana or Monday.com, the key is consistency. Make sure everything is loaded and that everyone has access to the same tools.

Beyond that, a successful integrated marketing campaign always begins with your goal. What’s driving your campaign? Clicks? Downloads? Tour requests?

And don’t forget about your senior living sales team. While they don’t necessarily need to be in the weeds for each integrated marketing campaign you run, they should most certainly be aware of when campaigns are running and what campaigns are in the pipeline.

Need help getting your integrated marketing campaigns in synch?

We know how to seamlessly integrate all the various tactics around each marketing campaign—and we know how to keep a healthy flow of communication between your marketing people and ours. It’s a team effort, and we love hitting home runs with our clients. Let’s chat about your marketing needs.

Lead Generation

The Future of Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care Lead Generation

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This month, we’ve been writing a lot about a major shift happening in the senior living industry. The gist: Over the next decade, we’ll be marketing to fewer and fewer people from the Silent Generation and dramatically increasing our reach across the entire Boomer demographic. (The youngest Boomers turn 58 this year.)

A refresher about this demographic: Boomers are the “me generation.” They came of age during the tumultuous 60s and 70s. Think civil rights marches, war protests, sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. No, not every Boomer’s experience included those things. But you get the idea. Their lives were different from their Depression-era parents.

Why does this matter, and why should senior living marketers take note? Well, when it comes to the future of independent living, memory care, and assisted living lead generation, you’re going to need new messaging. Because what worked for the Silent Generation won’t work for Boomers.

This, of course, brings up challenges. What should the new messaging be? As a whole, the senior living industry tends to be cautious. Messaging has always played it safe, talking up the positives while ignoring the reality of what we’re selling.

Our goal with this article is to get you thinking differently. We know that making a huge messaging shift won’t happen overnight. But as your community caters to more and more Boomers—particularly younger ones as well as Gen Xers, who are right behind them—you’re going to need to start talking about things you never talked about before.

Below are four concepts to discuss internally with your marketing and sales teams and—in some cases—the C-suite. Because this shift isn’t going to only affect your IL, MC, and assisted living lead generation. It’s also going to affect communities to their very core, from the layout of buildings to the amenities offered to everything in between.

Ready? Let’s get to it.

Think in terms of inclusion + diversity and show what your community is currently doing and what it’s committed to doing over the long haul.

Conversations around inclusion and diversity have reached a fever pitch in recent years, and for good reason. Representation matters, full stop. While this is a much larger conversation for senior living communities—one that will involve operations—it’s a conversation that needs to happen now (if it hasn’t started already).

Below is a short list of topics that communities should be discussing. From there, you need to adjust marketing communications accordingly.

  • How does your community currently address I&D? (Does it address it?)
  • When it comes to I&D, what is your community doing well? Where can it improve?
  • Do you have an I&D officer on staff? If not, are there plans to get one and/or to hire a consultant?
  • Have you done any research into how the demographics in your community will change over the next decade? How will you address these changes within your community? Within your marketing?
  • What education needs to take place among staff (and possibly residents)?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Remember, start having these discussions sooner rather than later. Because in the not-too-distant future, people will be doing searches on Google around specific phrases like “LGBT-friendly senior living.” It might not be happening a lot yet. But we predict it will happen—and sooner than most people think.

(Bonus: Check out what one of our clients—Arrow Senior Living—is doing to address I&D.)

Show how your community is tackling climate change.

Just as consumers are refusing to spend dollars with companies that don’t do their part in reducing carbon emissions, the same will hold true with Boomers choosing retirement communities.

Boomers care about the environment just as much as younger generations do. In fact, this article discusses a recent study that shows “older people are just as likely to support big changes to how we live in order to protect the environment.”

Presently, people search on “sustainable senior living” 30 times a month (and the phrase has very little competition). People search on the phrase “green senior living communities” 30 times a month as well. And these numbers are only going to increase.

To get started with this messaging, you can discuss current measures your community is taking. Think recycling programs, renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind), electric vehicles on campus, and so forth.

Because how your community is tackling climate change will influence Boomers’ buying decisions—and ultimately your IL, MC, and assisted living lead generation.

Embrace messaging that’s honest about what it means to be a widow, widower, and/or divorcee.

OK, we get it. Acknowledging death and divorce doesn’t sound like “fun and happy” messaging. But if your community truly offers respite from those things—and can find a way to discuss it authentically—it will work to your advantage. (For a little context, consider this: Pew Research says, as of 2015, ten out of every 1,000 people over the age of 50 are divorced.)

While topics like death and divorce have traditionally been considered taboo among polite society—and most certainly with the stoic members of the Silent Generation—Boomers are different. They’re more open to talking about these things, hearing about these things, and hoping for more.

The message of “you can find love or companionship in our community” doesn’t have to be explicitly stated, either. It can be implied through the stories you tell about residents who’ve found love on the second (or third or fourth) go-round. It can be implied by the stories you share on social media (like maybe this one from The New York Times about the joys and challenges of sex after 70). It can be implied in the events you hold, like Friday night dances or special Valentine’s Day dinners.

This leads us to our next point . . .

Don’t shy away from legitimate fears and tough subjects.

Let’s face it: Getting older isn’t all grandkid play dates and endless afternoon naps. People have legit worries and fears. Will they outlive their retirement? Will they die with dignity, or will it be a long protracted death? What happens to their pets if they die or become incapacitated? What happens if they lose a spouse? A child? A new companion they meet in your community?

Nope, these aren’t sexy topics. But they are REAL topics.

Now, we’re not suggesting you develop messaging that screams: “Our community is a great place to die!” But remember you’re talking to adults, not children. And Boomer adults at that. Boomers are smart and savvy. They don’t need sugarcoating.

And honest messaging doesn’t necessarily have to mean negative messaging. An example we often use: One of our clients runs a nonprofit life care community. Once you’re in, you’re in for life, even if your medical needs change or you outlive your retirement. Messaging that opens with “Worried you might outlive your retirement?” might induce legitimate discomfort in the person viewing the message. But the life care community offers a real solution—a positive to the negative.

Get an objective opinion from a trusted partner like us.

It’s an exciting time to be in our industry. But it can also be stressful—and easy to fall behind the curve instead of staying ahead of it. We love working with clients on this “next generation” of messaging for senior living. Interested to know more? Let’s chat.

marketing events

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: 5 Fresh Ideas

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We asked our awesome team to brainstorm fresh marketing events for assisted living. The constant theme: Get people together. It’s been a long pandemic (we don’t have to tell you that!). Now’s the time to ramp up in-person events.

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: Give Them a Free Lunch.

Free food will always be an effective way to draw in a crowd. We don’t care what demo you’re catering to.

There are two keys to making this idea work, however.

First, be super targeted. Send invites to your ideal buyers. Second, make sure you have a plan for what happens before, during, and after lunch.

  • Before: Assemble packets/marketing materials to share with the attendees.
  • During: Get to know the attendees (keep notes!) and share the welcome packet.
  • After: Send the attendees home with a goody bag (maybe some nicely boxed pastries with your name emblazoned on the box) and FOLLOW UP with them via email. (Use marketing automation to make it easy.)

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: Open Up Popular Activities to the Public.

Consider any popular activity that you can reasonably open up to the public. For example, maybe you host a classic car show in your community’s parking lot the first Saturday night of the month during the summer months. Or maybe once a week, you offer a free matinee in your on-site movie theater. Events like these help build brand awareness and let people experience your community in a low-pressure way.

Families tend to flock to these events as well, which is another bonus since you’ll be reaching adult children—a good thing since they are often the drivers behind parents moving into assisted living.

Plus, current residents will also be present and interacting organically with guests. (Remember, happy residents are your best form of advertisement.)

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: Team Up with a Partner.

Financial planners, real estate agents, insurance agents—all of these folks often have their own small businesses (or franchises) and are looking for added value to give to their clients and prospective clients.

You could team up with a partner and host a free dinner or lunch-and-learn at a local restaurant. For example, maybe you collaborate with a local financial advisor and they invite a select number of their clients nearing retirement age to a free dinner where you give a short presentation about senior living—what it is, what it isn’t, how to pay for it, etc.

Follow the same strategy we mentioned above: bring marketing materials, meet and greet the guests, and enter guests into an automated lead nurturing workflow.

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: Give a Class.

Continuing education classes at local colleges and technical schools often include options geared toward older adults. Think people with extra time to devote to new interests, hobbies, or topics they want to understand better. The latter is where you come in.

You could offer a class (either free or for a nominal fee) around topics like . . .

You could either have someone from within your community, like a sales rep or financial guidance counselor, or you could create a panel discussion with several experts (including someone from your community).

Again, the key to these classes is the prep and follow-up. Don’t simply “present” and hope that people will eventually call you. Have helpful info packets, gather email addresses, and send follow-up emails. If people linger after class with questions, take the time to get to know them and where they are in their lives.

Marketing Events for Assisted Living: Simply Invite People in.

Sometimes the best marketing event is the simplest and most straightforward, like doing an email blast to your prospect database and reminding them that your doors are open for in-person tours.

And, of course, within that email, you could also highlight “Other Ways to Experience Our Community.” Then, in that section, you could promote any events you have planned, like the free lunches, the classic car show, upcoming classes, etc.

Need Help Developing Effective Marketing Events for Assisted Living?

Work with an agency that gets marketing and senior living. Get in touch and let’s chat about your needs.

marketing mistakes

Independent Living Marketing: Don’t Make These Mistakes

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In a recent blog post, we discussed independent living marketing ideas that would resonate with Boomers and Gen-Xers.

Why does this matter?

Quick reminder: The American population is aging—and fast. In 2017, there were 47 million people over the age of 65. By 2060, that number will more than double to 100 million. And the folks making up the bulk of those will be from the Boomer and Gen X generations.

So, yeah. Your independent living marketing will need to undergo a dramatic shift. Or, at the very least, keep up with the changes while avoiding critical mistakes. To that end, we discuss those mistakes below.

Don’t skimp on your independent living marketing.

Just because demand for independent living is going to increase organically, that doesn’t mean you won’t need to market your community. The increase in demand will also increase competition in this space.

Don’t treat your independent living marketing as an afterthought.

How you market to these audiences will very much matter—and impact your community’s success. You’re going to be dealing with much savvier buyers. Think people who are more skeptical of marketing messages than their parents were. They will see through lazy language and “fluffy” messaging.

Don’t treat everyone in the IL audience the exact same way.

Data shows that there are 76 million Baby Boomers in the U.S. today. Do all 76 million think the same way or have the same desires for their retirement? Of course not. This is precisely why you need to develop buyer personas.

Personas will help you understand who your prospects are, what they desire, and what messages will resonate with them. The best way to start? Interview current residents and ask them why they chose your community.

Don’t forget that you’re dealing with the “me generation.”

As Forbes notes, “Baby boomers are considered the ‘me generation’ for their self-centered, individualistic attitudes.” And you can bet those self-centered, individualistic attitudes will absolutely influence the type of independent living they’re going to want to experience. This conversation goes way beyond marketing, of course—and to the heart of what tomorrow’s independent living communities will need to offer to please an audience that’s used to customization and getting what they want.

Don’t fall into a static mindset.

As we said earlier, the senior living industry is going through a fundamental shift. And we’re not talking about a “once and done” shift, either. What works as you market your independent living community today might not work a year or two from now. Embrace dynamism and avoid static messaging.

Don’t ignore analytics.

Now, more than ever before, analytics matter. Because as you’re developing new messages and marketing campaigns, you’ll need to quickly get a sense of what’s working and what isn’t. You can’t rely on your gut. Or make jumps in logic based on anecdotal evidence. You need real data to guide you. And that’s where analytics come into play.

Don’t think that technology doesn’t matter.

Our industry has often been slow to adopt technological innovations (like marketing automation). For a long time, you could get away with this since your target demo was older and used to “old school” methods of communicating, like snail mail and print ads.

But over the next decade, those vehicles are going to work less and less as Boomers become the prevailing demographic you’re marketing to. Boomers are tech-savvy—and they’re only going to get savvier.

Don’t go it alone. (But choose an agency partner wisely.)

Now’s the time to engage with an independent living marketing partner to help you navigate the shifts and develop effective campaigns. But you need to work with the right marketing agency—one that’s committed to staying current and ahead of the curve. Say hello to us!

Marketing ideas that resonate with boomers

Independent Living Marketing Ideas That’ll Resonate with Boomers

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You’re likely familiar with the statistics. The American population is aging—and fast. In 2017, there were 47 million people over the age of 65. By 2060, that number will more than double to 100 million.

Today, the oldest Baby Boomers (those born in 1946) are in their mid-seventies, the youngest Boomers are nearing sixty, and the oldest folks from the Gen X population are right behind them.

Of course, these numbers are enough to make marketing and sales teams downright giddy! With so many people coming of retirement age, it would be easy to think that senior living communities can simply sit back and wait for prospective residents to come a-knocking.

But keep in mind that these retirees crave a much different experience than folks from the Silent Generation who were born during the Great Depression and WWII.

In the Boomers’ lifetime, they’ve been rock ‘n roll fans, hippies, flower children, Vietnam veterans, disco dancers, civil rights marchers, and even partakers of illicit drugs. (Hey, we’re just keeping it real, dear reader!)

Boomers usually worked at the same job for years and years. They moved to the suburbs. They raised their families. Owning their own home was the ultimate American Dream—one they could and did attain.

As for retirement? They only have their parents’ and grandparents’ experiences to guide them—experiences that often involved stereotypical “old folks homes” where residents simply faded away. In other words, an experience Boomers don’t want for themselves.

All of this is going to dramatically shift our industry over the next decade. Demand for truly independent senior living communities will increase—and folks will likely reside in these communities much longer before entering into assisted living, memory care, or nursing homes. (If they enter them at all! Many will opt for in-home care.)

As this shift happens, senior living marketing will have to adjust as well. Because how you market to these younger demos will (and should) be different from the marketing geared toward the 80+ crowd.

So let’s talk shop, specifically independent living marketing ideas that will resonate with Boomers.

Switch up your community’s messaging (if you haven’t already).

If you’ve already started building marketing campaigns around the concept of “this isn’t your grandmother’s senior living,” you’re on the right track. Because as we explained above, Boomers do indeed crave something different—something better.

Boomers value their independence. They demand customization and personalization. Think cappuccino machines and sushi bars, Paris vacations and weekend getaways. Plus, thanks to medical advances, Boomers (and Gen Xers) will remain truly active and independent for much longer than their parents did.

Your senior living messaging needs to show you “get” all this—and that your independent living community has built a lifestyle that caters to Boomers, not their parents or grandparents.

Watch your language. (And be willing to pivot.)

Nope, we’re not referring to profanity. We’re talking about the keyword phrases people use to describe “independent living.” For example, the senior living industry still hasn’t figured out what to call communities geared toward younger Boomers eyeing retirement.

Active adult? 55+? 65+?

And to be honest—the industry won’t drive this decision. The Boomers will. Check out some keyword research we recently pulled from SEMrush. These are real phrases people are currently searching on.

Our point: You’ll likely need to use a variety of phrases until (and if) one term prevails.

search terms

Embrace video storytelling—and do it regularly.

If you’ve been working on the marketing side of things long enough, you’ve probably heard that good stories help sell. And this is absolutely true no matter the demo. But we’d venture to say it’s even truer for the “me generation.” Boomers want to easily identify with people who are already living happily in your independent living community. Stories—particularly ones captured on video—will help accomplish this.

  • Get in the habit of recording a welcome video with each new resident. Ask them about their journey to your community, what made them decide to buy in, and what they’re looking forward to.
  • Record videos with longer-term residents. In addition to the newbies, you want to get stories about people who’ve been living in your community for a while. What surprised them about this lifestyle? What do they love most? What do they wish they’d known before they moved in?

The key with video storytelling is you need to be consistent. You don’t simply record a few videos and move on. Video storytelling has to be a regular, ongoing marketing task, like blogging and posting to social media platforms.

Show, don’t tell.

This adage absolutely applies to Boomers and Gen-X. They don’t want you to tell them how wonderful your independent living community is . . . they want you to show them. In other words, put your money where your mouth is and prove it.

Pay attention to these areas in particular:

  • Your website imagery. Don’t use stock images. Use real shots of real people in your community. Yes, this is an investment. And yes, you will have to re-invest in photography every year to keep things fresh.
  • How you market amenities. Telling people the food is delish is one thing. Inviting people in for a made-to-order meal allows them to experience it for themselves.
  • Your marketing campaigns. Boomers are rightly skeptical of jargon and buzzwords. You need campaigns that are authentic, yet heartfelt. For example, consider building a video ad campaign using a REAL resident that prospects can easily identify with.

Invest in reputation management.

Boomers do their homework. And that begins online. Your community’s online reputation matters because it will influence decisions, including whether your community even makes the initial list of places to tour.

Like video storytelling, senior living reputation management isn’t a once-and-done task. It’s not even an annual or semi-annual task. You need to stay on top of reviews as they come in, particularly on your community’s Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).

Now, you might be thinking: “OK, manage reviews. I get it. But what has this got to do with independent living marketing ideas that resonate?”

Glad you asked. See, don’t let reviews simply sit there. Yes, people will find them. But leveraging your reviews through various marketing channels (like your website, paid ads, and social media) can be an excellent way to reinforce key messages and get solid ROI on your reputation management dollars.

For example . . .

  • On your home page, you can create a module with scrolling reviews being pulled in from various review sites.
  • Employee email signatures can include links to review sites and/or a line from a glowing review.
  • You can feature quotes from five-star reviews in digital ads and email marketing.

Keep your eye on “younger” social media platforms, like TikTok.

Right now, according to Statista, people 56+ spend most of their time on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. TikTok, which is hugely popular with Gen Z, barely registers with Boomers—at least right now. But guess what? There was a time when Facebook was a “young person’s” platform, too. How times have changed, right?

Our point: Social media platforms geared toward senior living aren’t static—tastes change, interests wane, and fads come and go. Keep your eyes on the numbers. And be prepared to pivot fast. (Note: We’re starting to see movement on TikTok. Simply google “senior living TikTok” and see for yourself.)

Work with a marketing agency that stays current. (Like ours!)

Not all marketing agencies are created equal. And even fewer have experience within the senior living industry. We know marketing. We know senior living. And we’re closely following the shifts and trends. We can keep your community not only competitive, but also ahead of the curve with independent living marketing ideas that truly resonate with Boomers. Let’s chat!

Tips for Senior Living Ads

Tips for Creating the Best Senior Living Ads

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When it comes to developing “the best” senior living ads, here’s the good news: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Follow these tried and true directives for advertising success.

The best senior living ads are well planned.

Like any other marketing tactic, you need a strategy to guide the development of your advertising campaigns. To get started, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Which persona are you speaking to? An ad for an older male in his seventies should have a different vibe than an ad for an adult daughter in her 50s.
  • What’s the theme? You’ll rarely be running a one-off ad. Normally when you develop a senior living ad campaign, you’ll need different ads for various media—magazines, newspapers, billboards, radio/TV, online, and so forth. Having a theme or focus will ensure all ads across various media communicate a consistent message.
  • What’s the goal? Are you trying to drive people to a specific landing page on your website? Maybe pick up the phone and book a tour? RSVP to a free lunch? Or are you simply building brand awareness? You need to understand your goal so you can develop appropriate calls-to-action (CTAs).

The best senior living ads are well written.

Whether it’s a full-page print ad or a short and sweet online banner, your content must be well written. This means . . .

  • Error-free copy. Nothing can doom an ad like an unfortunate typo.
  • Correct grammar and punctuation. It’s OK to deliberately break rules for effect. But do so in moderation.
  • Clear and compelling messages. Check out these tips for creating compelling advertising content.

The best senior living ads are well designed.

Your ad’s content, particularly the headline, is incredibly important. But your ad’s design comes in at a close second. Investing in professional graphic design (or taking advantage of ready-made designs from us that you can customize!) is worth every penny.

Designs must . . .

  • Properly reflect your brand. You don’t want someone experiencing a disconnect going from your ad to your website, for example.
  • Make the copy shine and easy to read. The design should complement the words, not compete with them.
  • Keep the audience in mind. Think older eyes that need bigger fonts and clear contrasts between colors.

The best senior living ads are well placed.

Don’t run ads simply to say you’re running ads. Where, when, and how you run your senior living advertising campaigns will make all the difference.

When doing ad buys, make sure you . . .

  • Have a clear understanding of the channel’s demographics. Your personas should be represented.
  • Understand so-called “added value.” Media companies will often offer “sweeteners” to ad buys. For example, a print publication might offer bonus ads in sister publications or on various websites. Get insight into what the so-called added value is—and see if you can handpick where any extras run. Because there’s no sense in running ads on a website that caters to Gen Z, right?
  • Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Most media companies are willing to negotiate. So when you’re presented with rates, don’t be afraid to counter. There’s a good chance you’ll get a better deal.

The best senior living ads are well researched.

This tip has more to do with pay-per-click (PPC) ads, which are their own specialty.

With PPC ads, like Google Ads, you need to do much more research, particularly around . . .

  • Keywords you should use and bid on (from brand terms to generic terms)
  • Competitor keywords
  • Negative keywords (the terms you don’t want your ads to come up for)

From there, you need to know how to navigate the ins and outs of Google Ads, how to write extremely compelling short copy, how to set reasonable budgets, and how to analyze results. No wonder Google offers Google Ads certification. (At least it’s free!)

The best senior living ads have help from an agency like ours!

Handling ad buys, writing ads, designing ads, keeping track of budgets—there’s a lot to juggle. We can do the heavy lifting for you. Get in touch and let’s discuss your advertising goals.

Senior Living Social Media Trends

What’s Trending in Senior Living Social Media Marketing

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What’s hot right now in senior living social media marketing? Below, we’re sharing three trends we’re excited about, along with some mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

Trend #1: More Interest in Pinterest

If someone were to ask you what platform you think of when you hear the words “social media,” Pinterest probably isn’t the one that comes to mind. After all, it’s not a platform that dominates news cycles. While you can probably identify bigwigs at Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg) and Twitter (Elon Musk?!), you’d probably be hard-pressed to name Pinterest’s CEO, right? (For the record, it’s Ben Silbermann.)

And yet, Pinterest keeps chugging along—and has enjoyed increasing use among older adults.

According to 2021 stats from Statista, 38% of U.S. adults aged 50 to 64 use Pinterest, and 18% of U.S. adults over 65 use the platform. Compare that to 73% to 50% respectively for the same age groups for Facebook. While Facebook remains the top social media platform for people over 65, Pinterest comes in at a strong third, according to this article (YouTube is second).

Happily, we’re seeing more and more senior living communities embrace Pinterest, which is SMART. Because why wouldn’t you develop content where your prospective buyers are hanging out?

Trend #2: Did Someone Say YouTube?

YouTube is HUGE for seniors. In fact, nearly 50% of adults over 65 use YouTube. And don’t forget this nugget: Google owns YouTube, which means you can get an even bigger bang for your social media buck. Optimized videos DO come up in search—and some searchers prefer videos to articles.

So investing in a strong senior living social media marketing plan for YouTube could have many benefits:

  • Increase engagement among target personas who enjoy using the platform
  • Increase visibility for your brand
  • Increase traffic from your YouTube videos to your site

Plus, you can use your YouTube videos in multiple ways. You can share them via other social media platforms, like Facebook, or use them in other media, like emails or embedded in your blog posts and other website pages.

We’re hoping more senior living communities jump on the YouTube bandwagon. While many have some video content on YouTube, communities need to be creating videos on a regular basis to get the biggest ROI. Luckily, this is easier today than ever before—armed with nothing more than a smartphone, ring light, lavalier mic, and a free editing app (like InShot), today’s marketing teams can create quick videos on the fly. (The challenge is getting over the fear of this DIY method!)

Check out what one of our awesome clients, Ingleside Senior Living, is doing with its YouTube channel. They post videos regularly. They post a variety of videos. They have separate playlists for each community (which is a smart way to approach this issue). And their videos are excellent.

We particularly love this “Meet Your Future Neighbors” video that’s racked up over 600 views. Notice how simple it is–no fancy production, no mics, everyday lighting.

Trend #3: Thinking Beyond Selling

At its simplest, marketing’s main job is to attract qualified leads and help turn those leads into move-ins. So it’s easy to think every marketing tactic has to be about selling, selling, selling. But social media is a different animal. It’s supposed to be social after all! If you’re constantly in sales mode, you’re going to turn people off.

The senior living communities that have the most success with social media are ones that think beyond selling. They relax and keep their feeds real. And here’s the thing: They’re reaping the benefits of this approach. Because oftentimes authentic, feel-good posts will provide lots of engagement and increased exposure for your brand. While harder to quantify, we’d argue that these things are just as important.

Luckily, more communities are taking this approach with their social media marketing. You might have heard about Wheatland Manor’s “Advice for the Younger Generations” campaign, where the community shares images of residents holding whiteboards with solid advice like “Get a job you enjoy” and “Play Uno with your grandma.” These images have gone viral and have racked up tons of likes.

One particular community of our client Senior Star, Senior Star at Wexford Place, has embraced the concept of “thinking beyond selling.” The community does an awesome job with its social media feeds by highlighting cool things residents do and by offering regular shout-outs to staff. Below is an example of a staff shout-out. Note the fabulous engagement!

Other smart ways to “think beyond selling”:

  • Share resident spotlights. For example, got veterans? Highlight them on Veterans Day. Got residents with green thumbs? Share pics of them tending to their gardens and flower boxes.
  • Share resident quotes/testimonials. These work great with the hashtag #TestimonialTuesday.
  • Share pics from all of your activities, large and small. Pictures and videos get tons of engagement.

Mistakes people are (still) making with their senior living social media marketing

Not all trends are good trends. Unfortunately, many senior living marketers are still making the following mistakes.

Mistake #1: Not having a sharp focus.

Trying to maintain a presence on every social media platform under the sun will never work. Why? Well, effectively managing multiple platforms is challenging unless you have a person on staff devoted entirely to this effort—and most communities don’t.

What happens next is predictable. The existing team will either end up diluting their efforts across the numerous platforms, or the team will give up altogether. And nothing is worse than a community’s social media channels going dark.

Thankfully, this trend is slowing down in favor of a NEW trend, which we refer to as “finding focus.” When you focus on two or three platforms that make the most sense for your personas, the better the results.

So how do you focus? Again, it goes back to knowing your community’s target personas and where they hang out online. And here’s the thing about social media—tastes will evolve. Ten years ago, it was all about Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest was just a baby, only a couple of years old.

The thing you need to remember: When it comes to social media, early adopters are usually younger people. While older people eventually follow, it takes time. Our point: Communities who try to maintain Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok probably won’t do as well as a community that focuses on two or three—say Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.

We know what you’re thinking . . . WHAT ABOUT TIKTOK? While it’s tempting to get on board the TikTok train, keep in mind that only 3.4% of TikTok users are over 65. You might argue, “Well, we’ll have an awesome presence for when older adults DO flock to TikTok.” Maybe. But there’s no guarantee that will happen—and definitely no guarantee it will happen any time in the next 2-3 years. Why invest resources into TikTok when you could put those resources to better use—like on a platform where your personas are actually hanging out?

Mistake #2: Not paying attention to responses . . . and results.

With social media, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. You’re so busy coming up with compelling content that you’re not spending any time analyzing results. And by “results,” we mean engagement.

  • What types of posts get the most likes, shares, and comments?
  • Can you glean anything about the days you post—or the times of day?
  • Are you using hashtags appropriately? (Using too many can be a turn-off for followers.)

In our experience with clients, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays tend to garner more engagement than weekdays, but of course, your mileage might vary. Another mistake communities make: Not posting enough. We recommend posting three to five times a week to keep audiences engaged. Again, pay attention to what works, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Finally, make sure you respond to people’s comments! If they’ve taken the time to comment on your content, the least you can do is like (or heart) their comment. Some comments, particularly reviews, warrant actual responses from you. For positive reviews, thank the person for sharing their experience. For negative reviews, tread carefully, but you should still acknowledge the person’s concerns. (Check out this article with tips on how to respond to reviews.)

Mistake #3: Treating your social media marketing strategy like a static “thing.”

Senior living social media marketing is a moving target, which can be frustrating for many marketing and sales teams. It’s tempting to get into a rhythm—and to stick with that rhythm FOREVER. But that’s not a smart long-term strategy.

What worked a year or two ago might not work today. At the same time, you don’t want to jump on the hot new platform (or what seems hot, anyway) while abandoning an effective strategy.

It’s a tightrope, for sure, but one that all successful marketing teams must learn to walk. Our advice: Pay attention to so-called trends. But more importantly, pay attention to what’s currently working for your feeds. Don’t be afraid to experiment, but let the results guide where you invest money and resources.

And know that things will change over time. Some platforms will fade in popularity while others will take their place. As Boomers age, your social media strategy will surely evolve since Boomers are much more active on social media than the 75+ crowd currently is. These are things to keep in mind as you strategize.

Want to rock your community’s social media channels, but you’re not sure what to do next?

You don’t need to go it alone. We help senior living communities develop engaging content that garners plenty of likes, shares, comments, and even leads. Let’s talk about your community’s social media needs.