Why-You-Should-Highlight-NEw-Residents

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!

How-to-Create-a-New-Resident-Welcome-Program

Senior Living Tips: How to Create a New Resident Welcome Program

When I moved my mom into an assisted living community in 2021, I was disappointed with the experience. This was a big life change for her, and yet the community failed in those early days at making her feel truly welcome.

Some things that jumped out at me . . .

  • On the day of her move-in, no one from the community had been assigned to help us unload the car (we’d moved in all the large furniture in advance).
  • Her name hadn’t been logged into the resident portal, so she could not “sign in.” This impacted her sense of belonging.
  • No one had put a sign on her door or anything else, like a wreath or balloons, which would have helped create a sense of excitement.

Sadly, my experience isn’t uncommon. Too often, there’s a big gap when senior living sales reps “hand off” the family to operations.

And this gap isn’t going to magically fill itself.

Make move-in day special, like the first day of college.

I always use the analogy of first-year students moving into college. During move-in day and the early days after move-in, resident assistants and resident directors are likely popping in to say hello. Plenty of orientation and welcome events are planned in those first few weeks, including family weekend. Welcome packets with helpful info are left on students’ beds (or, in today’s age, sent as a digital packet on people’s phones).

Colleges are invested in keeping students engaged, safe, and happy because it’s not only in students’ best interest—it’s in the school’s best interest as well.

Your community has to make the same effort. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.

Remember, every move-in is a win. But a move-out can be a bigger loss.

I remember hearing a stat from the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association, and it has always stuck with me: Approximately 17% of move-outs happen within the first 30 days.

Think about that. Think of all the effort and money that goes into turning prospects into residents. And poof! Just like that, 17% move out within a month. (I wouldn’t be surprised if that number increases over the next decade as more Boomers enter the fray. Boomers will have even less patience for lackluster experiences!)

So what’s a senior living community to do? I bet a lot of those move-outs could have been avoided if the community took the time to extend a sincere, warm welcome to each new resident (along with a little extra TLC).

Here are some strategies for creating a true “red carpet” welcome for new residents.

Have move-in day checklists.

Give each department in your senior living community an internal checklist for making sure they are ready for the new resident. For example, apartment readiness checklist, dining/meal plan checklist, activities checklist.

Prior to move-in, provide the family/ future resident a list of helpful resources to reduce stress.

Consider things like a list of local movers, a packing list, downsizing tips, downsizing resources (e.g., junk removal and donation pick-up services), and a paperwork checklist (e.g., what to bring to the lease signing).

Develop move-in day protocols, such as . . .

  • Leaving a welcome basket on the kitchen counter
  • Providing a welcome packet in people’s apartments with helpful info
  • Issuing a senior living resident handbook
  • Assigning a staff member to greet the new resident and their family—and to check on them a few times throughout move-in day
  • Assigning a resident from the Welcome Committee (more on this below) to be the new resident’s go-to person during the first few weeks

Create a formal Welcome Committee.

Remember the first day of school or camp when you walked in feeling scared and overwhelmed because you didn’t know anyone? But once you made that “first friend,” you knew everything would be OK? The same feelings happen whether you’re eight or eighty.

Remember, new residents have to navigate a new physical space, figure out meal times, make friends/ find someone to have meals with, know where all the activities are taking place, know how to sign up for transportation or salon services, and so forth. It’s a lot of change and a lot to keep track of and remember. Other residents are often the best source to help a new resident fit in and to create a real sense of belonging.

Having an active Welcome Committee in your community is an excellent way to connect warm, friendly residents with the newbies. My mother joined her community’s Welcome Committee so that others would have a better experience than she had. (She said that she wanted to show new residents how things really worked around here.)

Be intentional about creating a positive sentiment in the first 30 days.

  • Week 1: Deliver a gift card for salon services.
  • Week 2: Deliver guest passes for meals to invite family & friends.
  • Week 3: Provide a voucher for something special (for example, offer free private transportation to go shopping or pet service for Fido).
  • Week 4: Host a housewarming event for the new resident’s friends and family. Give the resident a choice of a nice private lunch, cocktails and appetizers, or coffee and donuts. Let them know this won’t cost them a dime.
  • Week 5: Send flowers to mark the first month with a heartfelt note that expresses how happy you are that they’re part of your community.

Keep in mind that there is a compelling business value to creating a positive move-in experience.

When you foster a wonderful, welcoming environment where people can easily become raving fans, well guess what? Raving fans will more likely . . .

  • Write a positive review.
  • Refer their friends and neighbors and/or participate in your referral program (you’ll enjoy very high conversion rates on those referrals!).
  • Not move out! Don’t forget that stat I quoted earlier about 17% of all move-outs happen in the first 30 days.

Getting all of these different moving parts and programs to work in harmony takes work, but I’ve seen it done successfully before.

Need help? Guess what? We’ve got a special program.

I believe so strongly in creating a warm welcome for new residents that my team and I have created a turnkey “red carpet welcome program” that’s waiting for your branding and customization. Get in touch today and we’ll show you how it works!

How to Shorten the Sales Cycle

How to Shorten the Sales Cycle: Tips for Marketing & Sales Teams

In a previous blog post, we discussed how senior living leads require many “touches” before buying—and that the sales cycle can be quite lengthy.

In fact, according to a white paper by Enquire Solutions, the sales cycle can range from 107 days (for memory care) to a whopping 400 days (for life plan communities). Assisted living and independent living fall in the middle at 145 days and 203 days, respectively.

Wondering how to shorten the sales cycle—or whether it’s even possible? Here’s our take.

Accept that the sales cycle is long, but don’t use it as an excuse.

Acceptance doesn’t mean giving in. What it does mean is having realistic expectations about your sales forecasts, conversions, and pipeline.

Yes, the sales cycle is long, especially for certain types of senior living, as noted above. But keep in mind that these numbers are averages. Benchmarking is good since it gives everyone a starting point, but that doesn’t mean you and your teams can’t beat the numbers.

Experiment and measure results. Encourage your teams to experiment—with content, with emails, with in-person events, and with different senior living sales strategies. Keep close track of the results. If your team comes up with a marketing program or campaign that shortens the sales cycle, excellent! Do more of that.

Always be ready (and willing) to pivot. Lots of things can influence the sales cycle—many of which are out of your control like inflation, a recession, or a pandemic (or all three at once). Even if you come up with a “winning” program that dramatically shortens the sales cycle, this program might not produce winning results forever (which is precisely why you need to measure and monitor results). Remain nimble.

Remind prospects that “seeing is believing.” We have so many clients who say that the best way to convert people is by having them attend an in-person event that truly demonstrates what it would be like to live in the community. And the most successful in-person events usually involve food, like lunch. Offer those free lunches and see if that helps shorten the sales cycle.

Use lead scoring to segment leads.

Not every lead is ready to buy TODAY. Your job is to differentiate between marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs). Serve up the SQLs to the sales team since those leads have indicated sales-readiness. MQLs have future sales potential—someday. For now, however, they need nurturing, not pestering.

Segmenting and scoring leads will shorten the sales cycle since the sales team will only be focusing on SQLs rather than every lead that comes across the wire—and they’ll be converting more as a result.

Embrace progressive form fields.

Your website forms can be a treasure trove of information. The more you know about a lead, the better equipped you are to determine where the person is in their buying journey. The challenge, of course, is that no one likes answering a lengthy list of questions on a form.

What’s the solution? Progressive form fields.

As people engage with the content on your site, you can serve up different questions based on the answers they provided on other forms. This will help you better identify true SQLs—and the various subsets in each. For example, an adult child searching on behalf of her mom vs. an older adult searching for herself.

Have a smart strategy for managing third-party leads.

We’ve discussed the problems with third-party leads and lead aggregators. In short, third-party leads are shared among many communities, these leads historically have low conversion rates, and they’re expensive (just to name a few issues).

But we get it: Some sales teams might not be able to let these leads go. If that’s the case, you’re going to need a smart strategy to convert these leads faster using marketing automation technology.

Luckily for you, we’ve created a solution that can help. We call it Speed to the Lead. Thanks to an automated five-step lead nurturing workflow, this solution will help your community respond quickly to third-party leads, deliver brochures immediately, and encourage tour requests.

Always try to connect on a personal level.

People enjoy doing business with people that they like and trust—and that they feel gets them. Yes, it might require a little more effort on the sales rep’s part, but when trying to figure out how to shorten the sales cycle, getting personal could help shave off some days. “Oh, everyone there is so nice and really has gotten to know me . . . maybe this really would be a good move.”

Connecting on a personal level is just that—it’s personal. One-size-fits-all approaches won’t work. Some ways to develop your skills in this area . . .

Get in the habit of offering meaningful tokens/gifts based on what you learned about the prospect during an inquiry. Did you learn they’re religious? Give them a small book of devotionals. Did you discover they’re a Green Bay Packers fan? Give them a pair of Packers socks. Did you discover they love gardening? Gather some clippings from the gardens within your community and deliver the bouquet to their home with a nice note that you’re thinking of them.

Practice active listening. With passive listening, you’re simply going through the motions. Active listening, on the other hand, is just that—it’s active. This essential sales skill shows you’re demonstrating through your own nonverbal gestures and your thoughtful follow-up questions that you’re really paying attention to what the prospect is saying. You take notes—and you revisit those notes. You use those notes to guide and inform the next steps and subsequent interactions. Active listening shows your interest in the prospect as a person first rather than simply a potential sale.

Make sure you connect with all decision-makers—and influencers. This is especially important if adult children are involved. Keep in mind that their worries and concerns will be different from their parents’ concerns.

Need help converting more leads to move-ins?

Get in touch if you’d like fresh eyes on your senior living marketing and sales strategies. We know the industry and what works to attract the right leads, nurture them over time, and convert them to move-ins faster.

Tips-for-Overcoming-SL-Sales-Objections

3 Tips for Overcoming Senior Living Sales Objections

In a perfect world, all senior living sales interactions would end with prospects saying, “YES! I want in.” But life is far from perfect, right? This is why sales reps must learn how to adeptly handle common sales objections. Here are three strategies to embrace.

1. Shift the conversation from negative to positive.

If a prospect is rattling off all the reasons they’re hesitant, shift the conversation to the things they do like about your community.

The goal is to reduce the anxious feelings that have bubbled up and help the prospect visualize their life in your community. (Remember, this anxiety-inducing stuff exists for most people moving into senior living. As the saying goes, the only way to get over it is by getting through it.)

For example, maybe a prospect has been lamenting about moving away from the only home they’ve known for the last several decades. Here’s how you could help shift the conversation . . .

“I know you love the home you’ve raised your children in. I can’t imagine how hard it will be to leave it. But I’m wondering if you can picture yourself living in our community. What are some of the exciting things that jumped out at you during the tour? Tell me some of the things that you could see yourself really enjoying if you lived here.”

Now, here’s a tip for taking things to the next level. Keep specific notes on what the person says they liked about your community. Is it the gorgeous gardens? The delicious meals they don’t have to cook? All the activities, like the thriving book club?

Use these things to entice people back to the table if they go cold on you. Playing off the above example:

  • If they love the gardens, hand deliver a vase filled with flowers that are currently blooming on the property. Include a note that says, “I thought you’d like to see what’s currently in bloom! You’d have a bird’s eye view of these gorgeous flowers from your apartment home.”
  • If they love the food, drop off a boxed lunch one day as a surprise. Include a note that says, “Here’s what people are enjoying for lunch today at The Elmwood. We had extra, so I thought I’d share. :) We’d love to have you by for lunch in person so that you can check out the dining room firsthand.”
  • If they love book club, drop off a copy of the new book that the club will be discussing . . . and invite them to attend the meeting, no strings attached. “We can’t wait to discuss this month’s book! Care to join us?”

Gestures like these can be extremely effective because of personalization. Everything comes across as thoughtful rather than pushy or salesy.

Yes, doing this requires a little extra work. And no, not every prospect will convert to a move-in. But look at it this way: If you deliver five lunches to various prospects over a two-month period and one of those converts to a move-in . . . well, suddenly that extra effort has a big pay-off, right?

2. Sound sincere in every interaction you have—and even more so with hesitant prospects.

One of the biggest mistakes we hear with senior living salespeople is the lack of sincerity in their voices. Sure, we understand how this happens. You might be encountering lots of sales objections any given day, week, or month, and it’s easy to sound like you’re mailing it in when you say something like “I understand” or “I hear what you’re saying.”

The trick is demonstrating that you truly do understand and that you are hearing what your prospects are saying.

We’re not going to lie: This requires practice and dedication. Yes, you need to learn the substance of various sales scripts inside and out. But then you need to practice various ways to deliver the substance of those scripts. HOW you say something matters just as much (if not more) than what you say.

Let’s pretend one of the objections you’re hearing is that the prospect is resisting moving out of their home. That’s a common objection, right? In the back of their minds, the prospects know they need to move. Or maybe you’re working with a couple, and one person is more hesitant than the other. Or maybe you’re working with an adult child and the adult child’s parents, but it’s clear the parents are NOT on board with the thought of moving . . . even if it’s truly time for them to do so.

Don’t simply say you get it. Demonstrate that you truly get it. Then, follow up with an actionable next step for the prospect to take that will help them overcome the objection organically. Or, at the very least, ask an open-ended follow-up question that creates deeper communication, trust, and empathy between yourself and the prospect.

Let’s see this in action . . .

“I get that you don’t want to move out of your home. You know what? I bet I’ll feel the same way when the time comes for me. But this also reminds me of something. I recently worked with a couple who’d been in the same home for over fifty years. They raised five kids in that house. So many memories. I’m not going to lie . . . they shed some tears the day they moved out and into their home here at The Elmwood. But they’ve transitioned nicely . . . certainly much better than either of them had expected. Hey, would you be interested in chatting with them about their experience?”

Here’s another approach:

“Oh, I hear you. They say moving is one of the most stressful life events—if not THE most stressful. Is it the stress of moving that’s giving you pause? Or is it something else?”

And yet another:

“I hear you. You’ve been so happy in your home . . . I can only imagine how tough that must feel at the thought of walking away after so many years. Let me ask you this: What would help make you feel better about making the move here?”

3. Anticipate common objections and react accordingly (and appropriately).

No doubt, if you’ve worked in senior living sales long enough, you’ll encounter the occasional sales objection you’ve never heard before.

But plenty of common objections exist. And guess what? You can prepare for those!

Some tips in overcoming those common sales objections. . .

Keep in mind that one size doesn’t fit all.

Price is often a big objection, but “price” is also broad. What is it about the price that’s giving them pause?

  • Can they afford to move in, but are they worried about what happens if they outlive their savings?
  • Are they confused about costs involved if they require more care over time (moving from an IL campus to AL, for example)?
  • Are they unaware of the financial resources they can tap into, like the Veterans Aid & Attendance Benefit?
  • Is it just plain sticker shock (which is common), but they actually are in a good position to buy—they just don’t know it?

Those are all very different scenarios. And yes, you need to prepare accordingly for each one. So do just that. Come up with a list of common objections. Then, think of all the various sub-sets for each objection. From there, practice role-playing how you’d respond to each objection. (Hint: We have a ton of free senior living sales resources you can download.)

For example . . . if your prospect is a veteran, introduce them to an outside consultant who specializes in the Veterans Aid & Attendance benefit. If the prospect is in your office, call the consultant and make the introduction right then and there.

Another example: If your prospect is struggling to understand what’s included in the number you quoted, offer a chart that provides context and is easy to skim. It’s easy for people to fixate on the big number, and yet they miss the value—the fact that number often includes two meals a day, utilities, housekeeping, maintenance, etc. The prospect needs to remember that even if the mortgage for their home is paid off, they still have monthly expenses—and that this BIG number you just shared covers stuff like that.

Pay attention to what isn’t being said.

The best sales reps are experts in nonverbal behaviors and reading between the lines. If someone says, “We can’t afford that,” but you have a good sense that they can afford to buy based on the asset info they shared, it’s possible the prospect is using price as an excuse.

An observant senior living salesperson will recognize that the prospect has other things on her mind and probe further. Asking some open-ended questions (gently) could help. “Gosh, I know. The pricing always causes a little sticker shock when people first see it. Let’s put that away and talk about how you feel about the community. If money weren’t an issue, how would you feel about our community? What do you like? How is it lacking—or what could I provide more info on?”

Work with your marketing team on materials that can address common objections.

Sending prospects home with the right collateral can make all the difference. This is why senior living sales and marketing alignment is so critical. You need to communicate common sales objections to the marketing team so that they can create content—guides, white papers, articles, case studies—that will help dismantle those sales objections one by one.

Go off script.

Magic happens during improv, right? Scripts should never be straightjackets. If you have an idea—even if it’s a little unconventional—that you think might work with a prospect, give it a whirl. Obviously, when we say unconventional, that doesn’t mean unprofessional. But don’t be afraid to experiment a little—and to share what you’ve learned with your colleagues.

Does your senior living sales team need some fresh inspiration?

If you need assistance aligning your sales and marketing initiatives, we can help. Get in touch and let’s brainstorm together.

creative marketing ideas

Creative Marketing Ideas for Senior Living

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

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

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?

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

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

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.