Advertising on Social Media

Advertising on Social Media: What to Keep in Mind

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There’s a reason why so many businesses are pouring money into social media advertising these days: It works.

Of course, the definition of “works” matters. Statista reminds us that “increased exposure” is the biggest benefit of social media marketing. In many ways, this makes perfect sense, right? Because increasing people’s awareness about a brand is what advertising is all about.

But like anything else, you need to be smart in your approach to social media advertising. Below, we’ll discuss several important tips to guide you on your journey.

Understand your goals—and know that they will (and should) change.

The more specific you can be about what you want to accomplish with your social media advertising, the better.

For example . . .

  • Do you want to see a 5% increase in referral traffic to your website?
  • Do you want to drive people to register for a webinar?
  • Do you want to increase the number of followers by 10%?

Those are all specific, measurable goals.

Keep in mind that you’ll have different goals for different social media platforms—and possibly different goals for different campaigns within the same platform. For example, maybe you’re advertising on Facebook about a special in-person event for adult children to learn about your assisted living community. And maybe you’re also advertising your assisted living community to older adults with a spouse who could benefit from this level of care. Separate campaigns, separate goals, same platform.

Don’t pick the most popular social media platform. Pick the most popular platforms for your target audience.

Hopefully, you have solid buyer personas. If you do, you should have a sense of what social media platforms your buyers frequent. Remember, you want to focus on where they hang out rather than what’s popular.

For example, TikTok is wildly popular right now, but it also skews young. Oberlo reports that 92.39% of all TikTok users are aged 13 to 34. This doesn’t mean you won’t find some hip and savvy older adults on there. But by and large—right now, as we write this in early 2023—you’d likely be wasting dollars pouring ad spend into TikTok since it’s unlikely any of your potential buyers frequent that platform.

We understand that you might WANT to advertise on TikTok because it’s fun and the hot new thing, but it’s not going to give you the return on your investment that other platforms will.

Measure, measure, measure. (But be willing to experiment, too.)

Social media advertising is part art and part science. You could have a specific goal, a clear offer, and the right platform for your personas, but what ends up “working” and engaging people can sometimes be a surprise. That ad you spent a ton of time creating might not get the results you were expecting. And yet that video ad you posted on the fly delivers big time.

That’s OK! Because that, right there, is useful intel. See if you can spot trends or themes in the ads that deliver the results you’re looking for. For example, do you get better engagement when your video ads are under 30 seconds? Or do people like the ones that last a full minute?

Another important point: Social media advertising “success” is a moving target. What works this year might not work next year—or even six months from now.

Keep in mind that even though social media is all about immediacy, social media advertising is all about the long game.

Given how immediate social media is, it’s easy to think social media advertising will “work” just as quickly. And it’s true that you could run an ad that gets a ton of engagement all at once.

But that one-off bit of activity is not going to suddenly flood you with move-ins. It probably won’t even help you stay on people’s radars for very long since people’s attention spans are notoriously short. The adage about people needing to see or hear a brand’s message seven times (at least) still holds true, even when the message appears in an ad on social media.

Bottom line: Approach social media advertising with a long-term mindset, and plan for it like you do any other digital marketing tactic.

Get comfortable making videos. Lots of videos.

We can’t stress the importance of video creation enough—for all of your senior living marketing efforts. We’re not the only ones making this claim, either. HubSpot says that “consumers increasingly expect to see video content from brands.”

So what should you be doing? Well, everyone on your marketing and sales teams needs to get comfortable with producing videos from start to finish using their smartphones.

If that feels like a big ask, start by getting everyone to record short, raw footage—a quick hello from a resident, what’s on the lunch menu, etc. They can dump the footage into a shared Dropbox. Then, you can have someone on the team with video expertise (or hire an outside video pro) edit and post the videos. From there, you can use some of the more popular videos in your social media advertising.

Why video ads? Some studies suggest video ads perform better than image-based static ads. In fact, even studies that suggest the opposite still note that video ads work better in some cases, like with middle- and bottom-of-the-funnel folks who are already familiar with your brand.

If you’re going to do social media advertising right, you’ll want to have a good mix of static ads and video ads. And, of course, you’ll want to test everything while monitoring engagement and conversions.

Don’t go it alone! We can help.

We have paid search and social media specialists on staff who can help you take your digital advertising to the next level. Get in touch and let’s chat!

Paid search vs organic search senior living lead management

Paid Search vs. Organic Search for Senior Living Lead Generation

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If boosting senior living lead generation is your main objective, you might be wondering which tactic is better: paid search or organic search. Like most things in life, the answer isn’t clear-cut. Both tactics have merits.

Below, we’ll discuss the following:

  • Definition of paid search and organic search
  • The benefits of paid search and organic search
  • Challenges associated with each
  • How both can affect your lead generation efforts

What is paid search?

When people go to a search engine like Google, they type in their query (e.g., “senior living communities near me”) the search engine produces the “search engine results page” (the SERP). At the top of this page, you’ll see paid listings followed by organic listings.

With paid search, you pay the search engine to display your ads at the top of the SERP. You choose the search terms (the keywords) that you want your ad to show up for. As Google explains, you’ll only be charged when someone clicks on the ad. (This is a simplified explanation, of course!)

Some keywords are more competitive than others, and you need to compete with other businesses for them by bidding and winning an auction. As Google notes: “The exact prices are determined by how many other businesses are bidding on the same keywords.”

That gives you the general gist. As its name suggests, paid search is a pay-to-play scenario.

Now, let’s discuss organic search.

What is organic search?

As the name suggests, organic search results are the “natural” or unpaid listings on the search engine results page (SERP).

In other words, you don’t pay to have your site show up on the SERP. It happens naturally because the Google algorithm has deemed a particular web page from your site as highly relevant to the searcher’s query.

How do you get your website pages and blog posts to show up in organic searches? By optimizing them. This is referred to as SEO, or search engine optimization.

SEO involves both on-page and off-page tactics. On-page elements include things like writing compelling content around specific keyword phrases. Off-page elements include things like how fast pages load and whether the site is mobile-friendly.

Again, we’ve simplified this explanation. You can read more about SEO for senior living here.

What are the benefits of paid search?

Increases visibility

People pay attention to what shows up on the first page of Google, which is where those all-important paid ads are located. In fact, according to marketing wizard Neil Patel, 75% of people will never scroll past the first page of Google results.

Boosts brand awareness

A popular tactic with paid searches is making sure your ads come up when people google your competitors’ names. Someone googling a competitor might be looking for something specific, like a phone number to reach a resident. But some folks might be googling because they heard about the community, and they’re interested in touring. (Meaning they’re a good prospect for your community!)

Here’s the thing: If your ad comes up when they google the other community’s name, their eyes will see your ad. They might not act on it. They might not even be aware they’re seeing it. But your name will register on a subliminal level. And if they DO notice your ad, they might click it instead of going to the competitor’s site.

Can quickly drive traffic to your website

Paid search, when done right, can drive traffic to your site quickly. Which is the point. The “done right” part is critical—and one of the inherent challenges (more on this below).

What are the benefits of organic search?

Cost-effective

Yes, it takes work to optimize your website. And you’ll need someone to do the work, whether a staff member or an outsourced marketing agency like ours. And while SEO is never truly done . . . if you’ve optimized your website and you do a good job of optimizing all new content that you publish (like blog posts), it will likely be a more cost-effective strategy in the long run.

A preferred option for some searchers

Not everyone trusts or pays attention to ads. In fact, according to End Point Digital, “70-80% of all searchers ignore paid ads and focus on organic results only.”

With effort, you could outrank competitors—naturally

Again, optimizing your site for organic search is a marathon, not a sprint. But if you put the time and effort in, the work can pay off by outranking your competitors in the organic search listings for a variety of competitive and long-tail keyword phrases.

Helps build website authority and brand authority

The more web pages and blog posts that rank well in Google, the better overall authority your website will have—which can further boost newer pages and blog posts. It’s a positive domino effect.

Challenges associated with paid search & organic search

The biggest challenge for one tends to be an advantage for the other.

For paid search, the biggest challenge is usually budget. You need to pay to play—and often you need to pay big dollars to get the momentum and ROI you’re looking for. You also need to pay someone to manage your ad campaigns. (We don’t recommend setting them and forgetting them.)

Organic search optimization requires someone to do the optimization work. So there is an initial cost (and that’s true whether you use a staff member or outsource to an agency like ours). But if you’ve done a good job optimizing your web pages and posts, they will continue to work on your behalf—even if you don’t invest much in them moving forward.

For organic search, time is the bigger issue. You need to devote a lot of time to optimizing your site. Not to mention, it can take time for pages to rank. On the flip side, with paid search, you could set up a campaign today and see traffic to your site right away.

Which one should you use for your senior living lead generation efforts?

Like all things in life and in marketing—it depends.

Things to consider include the following:

  • ROI and budget. In order to figure out ROI, you need to understand the total revenue generated by a customer (in senior living, it’s a resident, and that total revenue can come in over months or years). When you know that number, you can justify (or not) budgets and costs for paid search vs. organic search.
  • Time. Do you have the time, staff, and expertise to work on optimization? Do you have the budget to farm out this work—perhaps in addition to running paid search ads?
  • Immediate goals. If you’re looking to drive traffic to something specific and perhaps urgent—for example, the opening of a new community or a time-sensitive event at your community—running a highly-targeted ad campaign could make sense. If you’re looking to bolster brand awareness, especially against your competitors, a paid ad campaign would also make sense.

Usually, we don’t recommend one over the other. With most of our clients, we work on ongoing organic search optimization—which should be happening whether you run paid ads or not. Then, if it makes sense for the client’s budget and goals, we build out specific paid campaigns.

Keep in mind that paid search isn’t the only “pay to play” game in town. Paid social media advertising is another tactic, one that can be used instead of or in addition to paid search ads.

Is your head spinning? We can help.

Maybe you’re overwhelmed by everything we wrote above. Or maybe you simply want a fresh take on your current paid ads and organic search efforts. Either way, we can help! We have paid search and SEO specialists on our team who can work magic on your campaigns and organic search results. Get in touch and let’s talk.

How to choose a senior living call center

How to Choose a Senior Living Call Center: 5 Questions to Ask

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Wondering how to choose a senior living call center? Here are 5 important questions to ask—and what you should look for in the answers.

1. Are you locked into an annual contract?

Annual contracts stink. Why should you be locked into a whole year? Or be required to pay a penalty if you break the contract because you’re not happy with the service?

Being able to pay as you go makes more sense for everyone, including the call center. How so? Well, if you could conceivably cancel at any time, the call center will be much more motivated to deliver superior service every day. This great service will make you a happy customer. Happy customers become loyal customers and good sources of referrals (which will make the call center happy).

2. What sort of training does the call center provide?

Call center staff should receive training about the senior living industry in general and your community in particular.

Ideally, you’d want to work with a call center that specializes in senior living. This way, the call center staff will already be ahead of the curve since they’ll have an understanding of things like . . .

  • Different types of senior living lifestyles. Think independent living, assisted living, memory care, active adult, and so forth.
  • Questions that will help uncover a caller’s immediate needs. Is the caller interested in booking a tour? Do they have questions about amenities? The call center staff should be able to address these questions.
  • How to properly represent your brand and the senior living industry. Remember, the caller isn’t going to know they’ve reached a third-party service. The caller will assume the person answering their calls is part of your community.

3. Is it “just” a call center—or does the call center offer a true lead management solution?

There’s nothing wrong with “just” a call center. But if you’re going to make this investment, wouldn’t it make sense for the call center staff to do more than simply act as a glorified answering service?

Think about why you’re considering a call center in the first place. You probably suspect something’s “off” with your current sales process when potential leads call your community. You might not know exactly where things fall apart, but you know it starts when a prospect calls, especially after hours.

If this is the case, you don’t need “just” an answering service. You need a lead management solution, one where the call center staff can answer specific questions about your community, properly qualify callers, and funnel them into the right channels for follow-up and further communications.

For example, is the caller ready for an immediate sales interaction? Or are they still in the early stages and would benefit from email nurturing? Does the call center staff have experience with your senior living CRM so that they can properly score the lead and enter the person into the appropriate next stage for follow-up?

Bottom line: If what you need is a true lead management solution, then the senior living call center should seamlessly become an extension of your sales and marketing teams. And not every call center is capable of doing that, which is precisely why you need to ask.

4. Does the call center meet and/or comply with regulatory requirements?

Compliance matters! You want to use a provider that meets regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, TCPA, and various federal, state, and local consumer privacy laws (like CCPA) while recording up to 100% of interactions in a fully-compliant manner.

When vetting call centers, ask about things like . . .

  • Encryption
  • Automated and on-demand masking
  • Consent-based recording
  • Retention options

5. How’s the call center’s uptime?

You’re paying a senior living call center to TAKE CALLS, not lose them. Look for a provider that can offer a high-reliability environment with 99% uptime and no actual downtime for maintenance windows.

Your call center should never lose a call or session due to the center’s infrastructure going down, and there should never be any disruption of active or queued sessions or calls.

Need a recommendation? Say hello to LeadGenie!

We’re proud to offer LeadGenie. It’s more than a call center, it’s our senior living contact center solution. Check out the LeadGenie website to learn more!

Organic Search Visibility

Organic Search Visibility: Think Beyond Your Website

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Optimizing your senior living website is an excellent first step if you want to improve your community’s organic search visibility. But you also need to think beyond your website. Here are three ways to do exactly that.

1. Optimize your Google Business Profile.

Previously known as “Google My Business,” your Google Business Profile is exactly as it sounds—a profile of your business. Or in this case, a profile of your senior living community. (And yes, if you have multiple locations, you should claim your Google Business Profile for each location.)

Your Google Business Profile essentially acts as its own mini website. And since Google dominates the search market, you must pay attention to it.

The good news? Your Google Business Profile is free. And the interface is easy to use. Best of all, people pay attention to these profiles when they search on Google since business profiles are prominently displayed on the screen. The profile shows key information—address, phone number, hours of operation, and reviews—all in one place.

Here’s the thing: If you have a business, especially one in a physical location, your profile already exists (and sometimes with inaccurate information). This is why it’s essential that you claim your profile, double-check all info, and spruce it up to make it as appealing as possible.

And trust us: All of these efforts will pay off. Your Google Business Profile is tied closely to Google’s local search algorithm, which pays attention to a searcher’s physical location. (If you’ve ever done a search in Google and ended your search query with “near me,” like “Mexican restaurants near me” or “movie theaters near me,” you get the idea.)

Check out this article we wrote that takes a deeper dive into Google Business Profiles, including tips for keeping the content fresh and engaging.

2. Create and maintain an optimized YouTube channel.

Remember who owns YouTube: Google. So it’s no surprise that YouTube videos show up in Google’s organic search results. Not to mention that YouTube is the most viewed site globally, and the second most viewed site in the U.S. (Google is first).

Now, we’re not going to lie: Having a YouTube channel is a long-term strategy. You can’t simply start a YouTube channel tomorrow, post a couple of videos, and voila. (That’s why our tip says to “create and maintain” your channel).

However, if you consistently make helpful videos around keyword phrases that your buyer personas are searching on (especially long-tail keyword phrases), over time, this work will pay off by boosting your organic search visibility.

The best part is that you can repurpose your videos. Embed them into blog posts and lead nurturing emails. Share them on social media. Use them in advertising.

Your videos don’t need to be professionally shot, either. If you have a smartphone, a ring light, and a lavalier microphone, you can make professional-looking videos with free apps like InShot.

Wondering what sort of videos to make? Check out our article about YouTube content ideas. And check out marketing wizard Neil Patel’s article on the YouTube search algorithm.

3. Run Google Ads campaigns.

OK, we know what you’re thinking: Isn’t this supposed to be a blog post about improving organic search visibility? What does a Google Ads campaign have to do with organic search results?

First of all, a lot, thanks to Google. When you do a search in Google, paid ads show up before organic search results. (Go ahead and do a search on “senior living communities near me.” Notice the placement of the paid ads.)

Even if someone scrolls past the ads, their brain can’t unsee things. And it’s amazing how simply seeing the name of your community in a paid ad can reinforce the organic listing. It’s all about name recognition.

Bottom line: Running Google Ads campaigns is a smart strategy for boosting your overall exposure and improving your organic search visibility. (Running ads on Google’s Display Network is another excellent way to boost awareness. Those are the ads that “follow” you around on various websites.)

Need help improving your organic search visibility?

We understand that our suggestions above might sound good. But who’s got the time to execute these tactics when you’re already juggling ten million other things? Let us help. Our team can serve as an extension of your marketing department. Let’s talk!

Introducing Lead Genie

Introducing LeadGenie: Our Answer to the Senior Living Lead Management Conundrum

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When you hear the words “senior living lead management solution,” does “call center” come to mind?

Do you picture a sterile environment that’s far removed from your community with uninterested workers watching the clock—and that’s only when they’re not fumbling their way through generic scripts during calls?

No doubt, most of us can probably relate to Kieran Culkin’s frustration with call centers as demonstrated in this Saturday Night Live skit:

 

 

Here’s the thing, though: lead management solutions are not like that, provided they’re set up correctly and staffed with people who’ve been trained properly.

    • A good lead management solution can take the pressure off receptionists and front office staff who were hired to engage with residents and visitors, not field sales questions.
    • A good lead management solution can take the load off sales teams stretched too thin. It’s not the best use of your sales team’s time to qualify early-stage leads. Salespeople should be focusing on high-intent leads rather than leads that are at the top of the sales funnel.
    • A good lead management solution can help you “win” with third-party leads. Since third-party leads are shared leads, the only way you can win is to be first and persistent.

The problem is that too many lead management call centers haven’t been set up in a thoughtful manner and with staff members who’ve received the requisite training to do an excellent job.

Until now.

We decided that we wanted to turn senior living lead management on its head. The result is LeadGenie from Senior Living SMART.

Read more: Visit the LeadGenie site!

LeadGenie is the senior living lead management solution you’ve been waiting for.

LeadGenie as a complete lead management solution that goes beyond a call center. With LeadGenie, you get . . .

  • Virtual Sales Support. Your sales team can focus on high-intent leads while your LeadGenie team manages the rest.
  • Augmented Sales Staffing. This is ideal for shared markets—you’ll have a centralized sales hub.
  • Reduced Overhead Costs. You could save as much as $24K a year in some cases.
  • Better Turnover Management. No more panicking when one of your salespeople resigns or needs to take a leave of absence.
  • Virtual Front Desk Support. Avoid bottlenecking sales leads thanks to our dedicated sales response staff—a staff that we train and who know how to draw out relevant info from prospects for future nurturing.
  • Speed to the Lead. LeadGenie provides the quick, persistent responses required to win at the third-party lead generation game.

We customize LeadGenie to your community’s specific needs and sales challenges.

One of the biggest problems with other senior living lead management solutions is they tend to be one-size-fits-all. But your community’s challenges aren’t necessarily the same as another community’s. So shouldn’t the “solution” be different?

We think so, which is why we customize your LeadGenie solution to your community’s specific sales challenges. We do this by understanding your current lead volume, conversions, and the tools you use.

Don’t worry—we won’t try to upsell you on new software. Our job isn’t to reinvent the wheel. Rather, we focus on getting the most out of your existing tools and software, streamlining and improving workflows, and taking the pressure off your staff so they can focus on their jobs.

Plus, you don’t need to sign a 12-month contract like you do with so many other lead management solutions and call centers. Bottom line: You have nothing to lose and everything to gain with LeadGenie.

Learn more about LeadGenie from Senior Living SMART.

Are you intrigued by our answer to the senior living lead management conundrum? Visit the LeadGenie website to learn more and to schedule a no-obligation consult. Here’s to better leads!

5 Signs Your Community Needs a Senior Living Lead Management Solution

5 Signs Your Community Needs a Senior Living Lead Management Solution

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If you don’t have an effective way to respond to the senior living leads who contact your community, nothing else matters. Not your fabulous website. Not your great reviews. Not your warm-and-fuzzy social media posts featuring happy residents.

And no amount of marketing automation or digital wizardry is going to solve this problem, either. That’s because the issue isn’t pixels—it’s people. Your current staff likely isn’t equipped to manage the various leads who call your community because they’re busy doing their jobs. (And trust us, we’ve seen the mystery shop data to know this is true!)

But here’s the good news: A senior living lead management solution could help bridge the gap.

Now, we know what you might be thinking: That sounds like a call center! Isn’t that incompatible with inbound marketing’s approach?

Here’s the thing to keep in mind: not all call centers are created equal. Great ones do exist. But before we get to that topic, let’s first discuss five signs that your community could benefit from a senior living lead management solution in the first place.

1. You’re seeing issues in your CRM about inadequate response times to leads.

You probably already suspect there’s a problem, thanks to your CRM data. Most senior living CRMs provide insightful reports on leads, including success rates with connecting to leads and the number of leads categorized as “lost – unable to reach.” For the latter, some leads are labeled as such after only one or two attempts! This isn’t OK. As we often say, there’s a gold mine in those so-called “cold” leads.

Another way to evaluate is to look at your call tracking reports to see . . .

  • How many leads are not answered (and when)
  • How many are abandoned while on hold
  • How many are transferred to voicemail

You should also regularly listen to the quality of the interactions when a lead is (finally) able to connect with a concierge or member of the sales team.

  • Does the lead sound happy with the interaction?
  • Are their questions answered?
  • Are they treated warmly and/or in a way that reflects your brand’s values?
  • Is there a clear plan about what happens next?

2. You have a smaller market share of third-party leads compared to your competitors.

Pay attention to reports issued by third-party lead sources, like A Place for Mom. How many leads were delivered, what was the close rate, and how does your market share compare with your competitors?

With third-party leads, speed to the lead is critical—along with persistence. Both are often in short supply if your sales team is stretched thin and/or if they’re busy working with other prospects, giving tours, preparing for move-ins, hosting events, networking, and the like. A good senior living call center can fill in the gaps.

3. Your front desk person is the first line of defense. (And that’s not a good thing.)

Your receptionist or concierge probably isn’t prioritizing sales calls because they’re busy juggling many other tasks for residents and their families. Consequently, sales calls might go unanswered, be put on hold, or end up dumped into general voice mail.

But here’s the thing: Even if your receptionist attempted to engage with a lead, they probably won’t have the information and insights the person is looking for. (We’ve listened to enough calls and always marvel at receptionists who have no idea how or when tours are booked.)

Again, a senior living lead management solution can solve this problem because its sole focus is qualifying leads that come in and shepherding them through your marketing and sales workflows.

4. You’ve had turnover on the sales side that’s affected momentum.

Do you ever feel like your community sales team is just starting to gain traction when WHAM! Someone on the team leaves and the momentum stutters and stalls? We don’t have to tell you how much time it takes to recruit, hire, and onboard sales reps and managers.

Meanwhile, everyone else has to pick up the slack, which doesn’t happen—or it doesn’t happen well since everyone is busy working their own leads. Oftentimes, the leads just sit in the CRM. After one or two lackluster attempts at contact, they’re labeled cold.

A quality lead management solution, on the other hand, will always be “on duty” 24/7, fielding inquiries, qualifying leads, scheduling tours, and enrolling people in automated follow-ups—in other words, all the things you wish you could find in a good sales backup team. And a good lead management solution can help bridge the gap if someone on your sales team resigns or needs to take an extended leave.

5. You’re using outdated telephone technology. (Or you’re not maximizing newer systems.)

This goes hand-in-hand with point #3. Your concierge is only there during business hours. What happens after hours? Or what happens when they’re on another call? Don’t underestimate how important the right phone technology is. Yours needs to be simple for older people to navigate. It needs to be equal parts intuitive and fast—and that’s no easy feat. We’ve all complained about getting lost in phone directory hell.

Nothing can turn off leads faster than antiquated phone technology. A quick way to assess yours: Are you using IVR technology? IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. IVR is automated phone technology that allows people to interact with the system using only their voice. This is especially helpful for older adults (no more fumbling for the pound button) or for people using mobile devices. But even IVR systems can be cumbersome or convoluted if not set up thoughtfully.

A senior living lead management solution wouldn’t replace your IVR system. Instead, it would work in harmony with it, particularly when the lead makes it clear they want to speak to a human. The key is having an IVR system that quickly identifies callers who want this level of interaction and routes them accordingly.

How many of the above signs can you relate to?

Even if you can relate to only one or two, your sales numbers could take a beating because of it. Luckily, good senior living lead management solutions that incorporate a call center do exist. Hint: We’ve just launched ours. It’s called LeadGenie. Check it out and discover how our solution for senior living lead management can help your community.

Mistakes you're making with your senior living leads

6 Mistakes You’re Making with Your Senior Living Leads

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An evergreen topic is one that’s always relevant (no matter how much we might wish it wasn’t). That’s why we’re revisiting this evergreen topic: mistakes you’re probably making with your senior living leads—and what you can do about it.

No, you might not be making all of these errors. But even one or two can have a dramatic effect on your numbers. Resolve to do better this year! Here’s what to look for with your senior living leads—and how to make fixes that stick.

Mistake #1. You’re treating all leads the same.

Remember, every lead will be at a slightly different point in their journey. Some are in research mode—maybe for themselves, maybe for a loved one. Others are gathering options as they think more seriously about making a move to senior living in “a couple of years.” Others are looking to make a move within a few months. Still, others might be in panic mode—their mom has fallen or their dad has died and now mom’s alone—and they’re looking to decide soon.

Why on earth would you give everyone we described above the same emails, the same content, or the same cadence of sales calls? You wouldn’t—or you shouldn’t. One size does not fit all when it comes to leads.

  • WHAT TO DO: Develop a lead-scoring strategy and score leads accordingly. Then, create a plan for communicating further with each “set” of leads that need nurturing. Only serve up true sales-ready leads to the sales team.

Mistake #2. You still think that you’re in control of the sales process.

Before the Internet, people relied on salespeople to educate them about the things they wanted to buy. Today, people have all the information they need—at their fingertips—to educate themselves when making a purchase, whether that’s a pair of sneakers, a used car, or a place to start the next chapter of their lives post-retirement.

Prospects can check out a brand’s website, read online reviews, ask friends and family for quick recommendations via text and email, and seek opinions on social media before ever entertaining the thought of speaking to a salesperson.

  • WHAT TO DO: We’re not suggesting that salespeople are irrelevant. What we are saying is that to be successful in senior living sales today, you need to embrace this shift. If someone hasn’t asked to speak to you yet, you shouldn’t be hounding them with calls. They will let you know when they want to connect. In the meantime, focus on folks who have requested your help or insight. Note: you’ll likely be working fewer leads at any given time, but they will be better leads since they’ll have high intent.

Mistake #3. You’ve underestimated the length of the sales cycle.

The sales cycle has increased in length dramatically in recent years. Remember, the prospect doesn’t care about your sales quotas or projections. If a younger Boomer is planning her retirement two years out, you need to adapt to her schedule—and you need to keep her engaged at every step along the way.

  • WHAT TO DO: This is why great content and marketing automation are critical. To keep people engaged at every touchpoint of the longer sales cycle, you need to provide the right content at the right time—and get it to them easily (again, removing all points of friction). Generic content won’t cut it. Producing content that’s similar to your competitors won’t work, either. You need original content that resonates. And yes, that is an investment.

Mistake #4. You’re not maximizing marketing automation to its fullest.

Speaking of marketing automation . . . we find that most communities haven’t begun to scratch the service in terms of maximizing available features.

  • WHAT TO DO: Audit your marketing automation and make sure you’re using all features. Or, downgrade your license so that you’re only paying for what you use. Hint: We’ve helped other communities save money because we know what to look for in the licensing agreements, especially with complex marketing automation products like HubSpot. Get in touch if you want us to take a peek under the hood.

Mistake #5. You have people interacting with leads who shouldn’t be.

Your front desk person is wonderful for routing calls to residents, greeting visitors, and helping residents make calls or check on deliveries. But don’t expect your front desk person to be a surrogate salesperson. That’s not their specialty.

  • WHAT TO DO: Some communities get lots of phone “traffic” from potential residents. If that’s the case with your community—and if you’re finding that these leads fall through the cracks or don’t covert—it might be time to think of a better way to manage these leads. A good solution? A call center with expertise in senior living.

Mistake #6. You have leads who get added to the “cold” list way too quickly.

Too often, we see a community’s CRM filled with “lost” or “cold” leads—and yet, these leads only received a couple of “touches” before they were moved to the cold/lost list. As we mentioned earlier, the sales cycle in senior living is long. You need to nurture early-stage leads. And you need to be persistent with sales-qualified leads that have expressed direct interest in your community.

Not only that, but let’s talk about third-party leads for a moment. Since these are shared leads, they require a different strategy. The community that responds to the lead the fastest tends to have better conversions.

Once again, treating all leads the same way is not a winning strategy.

  • WHAT TO DO: Audit your CRM’s lost/cold lists. As we like to say, there can be gold in those cold leads. Luckily, we have a turnkey re-engagement campaign that can help you sift for the gold. You should also revisit how you manage third-party leads. Need help? Consider trying our “speed to the lead” solution. This is an automated five-step lead nurturing workflow that nudges people along the sales funnel and encourages them to request a tour.

Do you know something’s off with your leads, but you’re not sure what to do next? Call us.

The ultimate fix for any breakdown in your lead management process is simple. Call us! We combine our senior living expertise with our marketing expertise to create a lead management process that gets results. Get in touch and let’s talk.

How to improve you lead management process in 2023

How to Improve Your Lead Management Process in 2023

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We’ve spent a lot of time on this blog discussing how to get senior living leads. But what happens when all your hard work begins to pay off and you’ve got more leads than your team can handle? Yes, it’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem, right?

Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe you’ve been doing all the work, but you’re not getting the results you were hoping for.

Both situations require a hard look at your overall lead management process. When you do a better job of monitoring lead quality, scoring leads, and choosing the right technology to funnel leads based on their scores, the easier it will be for your teams to manage an influx of leads—or to get your lead gen machine humming in a way that makes everyone happy.

Below, we take a deeper dive into developing this smarter lead management process.

1. Monitor lead quality.

You want to make sure the leads you’re bringing in are the leads you actually want. It sounds so basic, right? And yet many sales and marketing teams too often focus on bringing in more leads rather than the right leads. By “right,” we mean leads that reflect your community’s residents.

  • WHAT TO DO: If your site is bringing in leads, but your overall conversions are low, the problem could be lead quality. If that’s the case, revisit your buyer personas. Note: personas can and will change over time as demographics shift. For example, consider all the younger Boomers entering into senior living territory who weren’t part of the equation five years ago.

2. Audit your lead scoring methodology.

OK, we get it. The concept of “scoring leads” can conjure nightmares from eighth-grade algebra class. But here’s the thing: If you take the time to do this piece right, your lead management process will improve—seemingly overnight.

3. Evaluate your technology.

Your tech stack should be working for you, not against you. From marketing automation to your senior living CRM to your phone system . . . your technology shouldn’t be creating any friction in the sales process.

Believe it or not, the biggest friction point can be the phone. If a lead calls your community, what happens to their call? Is the front desk person equipped to answer sales-related questions? (Short answer: probably not.) Do people’s voicemails get returned in a timely manner?

  • WHAT TO DO: Monitor calls for quality. (Or use senior living mystery shopping for quality control purposes.) Make sure your phone menus are intuitive and fast. (People shouldn’t have to drill down multiple levels to speak to a human.) Consider using a call center with expertise in senior living.

4. Revisit your email nurturing.

Thoughtful email nurturing should empower leads to take appropriate next steps. Here’s where the problem tends to crop up, however: Oftentimes, marketing and sales teams will take a one-size-fits-all approach to their lead-nurturing emails. They’ve done the persona work. They’ve done the lead scoring. But then they create one set of nurturing emails with mostly similar messages. That’s not a very thoughtful approach, is it?

Effective lead nurturing involves understanding each persona’s journey and developing compelling content for each leg of the journey. The content you develop for the adult child who’s reaching out on behalf of her mother who needs assisted living is going to be much different from the content you develop for a Baby Boomer approaching retirement who’s making plans two years out.

  • WHAT TO DO: You must develop multiple content “paths,” depending on who you’re talking to and when. Think about your ideal buyers and their journeys. Now, map out the various points in their journeys. Use your website analytics to guide you. Look at leads who closed successfully and see if you can identify the emails and content that helped them convert. You want to build email nurturing workflows using content paths that inspire leads to take the next step.

5. Audit your content offers.

The senior living sales cycle has grown longer and requires many more touches than it did only five years ago. To stay competitive, your content needs to be just as strong for touch #20 as it is for touch #2.

  • WHAT TO DO: Take a hard look at your content offers—from guides to blog posts to the calls-to-action that drive people to download. Which content converts best? What is it about the content that’s so effective? Can you create more content like it? Do you have any content “gaps”? Are you repurposing your best content across multiple channels? Bottom line: Content creation isn’t a once-and-done thing.

6. Work with a lead gen agency if you need help.

There’s no shame in outsourcing some of this work to a lead gen agency that understands the senior living industry. Hint: That’s precisely what we do at Senior Living SMART. Get in touch and let’s discuss how we can help your team manage leads better.

Marketing predictions for 2023

Senior Living Marketing Predictions for 2023

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We recently shared some long-term senior living marketing predictions for the next decade (in honor of our 10th anniversary). Now, we’re shining the light on some short-term marketing predictions for 2023. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Share them on LinkedIn and Facebook!

Prediction #1: The forecasted housing slump will impact senior living sales.

We’re coming off one of the wildest real estate markets in history. As CNN notes, “The pandemic boom, which sent prices into the stratosphere, is running out of steam and house prices now are falling from Canada to China, setting the stage for the broadest housing market slowdown since the global financial crisis.”

What does this housing slump mean for the senior living industry?

We predict it will give many older Americans pause about selling their homes in 2023 and moving into senior living.

What can senior living marketing and sales teams do to compensate for this possible slowdown?

Anticipate and plan accordingly. Revisit sales forecasts. Be prepared for marketing and sales cycles to stretch out even longer.

People will likely spend 2023 doing more research and visiting more communities as they wait out the year and monitor the real estate market. The communities that are willing to go the distance by providing engaging content and meaningful check-ins over the course of 12, 18, and even 24 months will reap the biggest rewards over the long term.

You need to accept that you’re running a marathon, not a sprint.

We know that’s easier said than done, especially if marketing and sales teams are feeling pressure from management to hit certain numbers.

The good news? This housing slump shouldn’t be like the 2008 crash.

Fingers crossed that the slump eases quickly. In the meantime, focus on your marketing fundamentals: producing excellent content, shoring up referral programs and other word-of-mouth activities, and hunkering down for long-haul marketing. Do those things right, and prospective buyers will remember you when the time comes for them to take the next step.

Prediction #2: Prospects will crave in-person events. (Yes, even if they’re not ready to buy in 2023.)

Expect 2023 to be the year that everyone gets back to in-person events. Sure, we’ve been seeing this happen ever since President Biden officially declared the pandemic over back in September.

But 2022 was still a mish-mash of masks, jabs, and extra precautions, especially for vulnerable populations like those over 65.

Now, we’re not suggesting that people will throw caution to the wind in 2023.

But we do expect that most folks—including older adults and their families—will be eager to participate in tours and other senior living events they haven’t done in three years. Think things like accepting invitations to wine-tasting events, joining you for a free lunch, or taking you up on an invite to join your community’s monthly book club.

In-person events are extremely important for building long-term relationships with prospects as they wait out a housing market slowdown.

This is why you should consider doing more of them—and opening them up to the general public. For example, maybe you host a weekly singer or band every Wednesday. You can promote the event in places where your target market hangs out, like the local senior center, the local library, and the local paper.

By giving people the opportunity to experience your community in such a relaxed manner, you’re planting the seed. And planting seeds is part of long-haul marketing!

Another example: If you’ve normally been hosting lunches once a month, maybe you shift to once a week—and you don’t limit repeat guests, either.

Remember, your job is to kindle the connection. Keep those fires burning.

The sales cycle is going to be long. Don’t expect someone who attends a luncheon to convert tomorrow or even six months from now—no matter how much they rave about the food.

Prediction #3: Google Analytics 4 will take some marketers by surprise. (Despite our best efforts!)

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) officially replaces Universal Analytics on July 1, 2023. We predict that some communities will have failed to act in time to set up GA4 and will be scrambling to do so at the last minute.

The good news? We can help you make the transition.

We offer training on what you need to know. Don’t procrastinate. Get in touch now and let’s get the ball rolling.

Prediction #4: Live industry events will make a BIG comeback next year.

In 2022, we saw more senior living marketing and sales professionals in attendance at state- and national-level events (like SMASH).

But we predict that 2023 will be bigger than ever before as people feel comfortable with flying and being around groups of people again.

Start planning now. Think about travel, lodging, and which people from your team are best suited for specific events and sessions.

Prediction #5: The popularity of call centers will continue to grow.

Being responsive to leads has always been important. But it’s going to be even more important next year since everyone will be competing aggressively for sales due to the housing slowdown, inflation, and a potential recession. As a result, we predict that more communities will turn to call centers to handle inbound inquiries faster.

But an important caveat: Not all call centers are created equal.

You want to work with people who understand senior living in general and your community in particular. And you want to work with a call center that’s adept at empowering prospects. (Because remember: the prospects are in charge of the sales cycle.)

Guess what? Senior Living SMART will be offering this service in 2023, so stay tuned. Or reach out directly if you want details now rather than later.

On behalf of all of us at Senior Living SMART, we wish you a happy and healthy new year!

 

Top 10 Senior Living Blogs of 2020

Our Most Popular Senior Living Blog Topics from 2022

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We like to follow our own advice and review analytics on the content we produce. Since it’s the end of the year, we dug into the top 10 senior living blog topics that generated the most traffic over the last twelve months. Here are the results, including our take on why these particular blog posts resonated with people so much. (Links included in case you missed any.)

Top 10 Most Popular Senior Living SMART Blog Topics from 2022

#1: Senior Living Marketing Events: Fresh Ideas the Drive Leads

Even though we published this in 2017, it was our most popular blog post of 2022. And no wonder! Marketing and sales teams had to up the ante as they returned to hosting in-person events in 2022. What better way to get inspired than with an article like this.

#2: Senior Living Marketing Event Ideas to Try

Hmm. Are you sensing a trend here? We are! Senior living marketing and sales teams are always on the hunt for fresh ideas for events—even more so this last year. Given this interest, our team is thinking about diving deeper into this topic:

  • What can we do as an agency to help more with event development?
  • Would it make sense to develop event-planning guides and checklists?
  • Should we create more granular blog posts around senior living marketing events? Maybe ideas around promotional items for event attendees. And different types of events, depending on where people are in their buying journey.
  • The above is a brief demonstration that you can follow when digging into your own content analytics. What conclusions can you draw from the numbers? What content is resonating—and what related content can you create as a result?

#3: Senior Living Sales Strategies: How to Handle the Initial Phone Inquiry

We’re a senior living marketing agency first and foremost. But our founders (as well as other team members) have experience in senior living sales as well. This helps us marry marketing and sales together—we understand the needs and pressures of both sides, and we often write about senior living sales topics in addition to marketing topics.

This post is also from 2017. The fact that it’s in the top five for 2022 isn’t a surprise. The senior living sales cycle is long. Leads require many more touches than they ever have before. And they decide when they want a sales interaction via phone. How reps act during that initial call matters. No wonder sales folks are googling effective senior living strategies via phone.

#4: Senior Living Referral Sources: Outreach & Engagement Strategies

Again, we’re seeing themes emerge. This blog post, written in 2021, has been gaining in popularity ever since we published it, and no wonder. For two years, many of the “normal” ways people networked were put on hold, thanks to the pandemic. Getting back into the swing of things requires inspiration and friendly reminders, and this post delivers on both.

#5: Senior Living Advertising: Digital vs. Print

We’re not ready to declare the death of print advertisements this year or next. (Although we do predict big shifts within the next decade—you can read more about that here.) This blog post serves as the voice of reason when trying to find the right balance between print and digital ads.

#6: Independent Living Marketing Ideas That’ll Resonate with Boomers

This blog post is only six months old, so we were really pleased to see how well it’s performed. Our team thinks it’s one of the most important blog posts we published this year. Why’s that? Because how a community markets to Boomers is going to matter more as Boomers replace the Silent Generation and Greatest Generation.

#7: Senior Living SEO: 8 Must-Haves for Better Google Ranking

We published this post right before the pandemic broke. All of the strategies still hold true today since we don’t chase SEO fads. Instead, our recommendations focus on evergreen elements. For example, having plenty of compelling content will always be a solid SEO strategy.

#8: Why Senior Living Leads Require Many More Touches

This is another “must read” from the past year, simply because the research we reference is eye-opening. And here’s the thing: We expect the sales cycle is only going to grow longer, especially for younger Boomers eyeing independent living and active adult communities.

#9: How to Create a New Resident Welcome Program

We LOVE the fact that this article is resonating with people because it’s super important—and so often overlooked. Remember, your best form of advertisement (for anything, not just senior living) is a happy customer. When you foster a wonderful, welcoming environment where people can easily become raving fans, these raving fans will more likely write a positive review and/or refer friends and neighbors. Conversion rates tend to be higher on those sorts of referrals.

#10: How to Write a Great Senior Living Blog Post

Talk about meta, right? It seems quite apt that this article is what rounds out our top 10 list. When it comes to effective content marketing—especially blogging—it’s all about keeping people engaged with your words. And this blog post gives you simple steps to follow so you can do exactly that.

What topics would you like us to cover?

We want to hear from you! What questions do you have about senior living marketing? What’s a topic that you think we should cover (or cover better)? Share your ideas in the comments, contact us directly, or let us know on LinkedIn or FB.