Marketing Tips

Senior Living Marketing Tips for Google My Business

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In a recent blog post on overlooked marketing opportunities, we mentioned Google My Business. We received some questions and figured we should provide more comprehensive tips for Google My Business specifically.

Let’s get to it!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: In early 2022, shortly after we developed this blog post, Google changed the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile. We’ve kept the article below “as is” since everything still applies. The only thing that’s changed is the name.]

What is Google My Business (GMB) and why should I care?

Since its inception, Google has (amazingly) maintained its dominance of the search engine market. Statista reports that in September of 2021, “online search engine Bing accounted for nearly 7 percent of the global search market, while market leader Google had a market share of 86.64 percent. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s market share was 2.75 percent during that period.”

Any business that doesn’t pay attention to its presence within the Google universe does so at its own peril. And one of the biggest things that influences that presence is your Google My Business listing. Google uses it to inform your company’s entire presence across Google, including all related products from Search to Maps.

Keep in mind, too, that Google is always tweaking its algorithms so that it serves up better results for users. In late 2021, Google rolled out its biggest update to its local search algorithm in five years. The update is called Vicinity, and according to Bright Local, the update is all about targeting proximity as a ranking factor.

Bright Local says, “Although proximity has long been an important signal for local search results, it’s also been the case that businesses can optimize to successfully rank far from their actual business location. Through the Vicinity update, Google now appears to be clamping down on this, which will naturally make local search results more relevant to the user. In terms of the benefit to businesses, this gives them a greater chance to rank well in relevant local searches, as they’ll be competing less with businesses that are further away.”

Google My Business sounds more important to Google than it does to me. Do I really need to pay attention to it?

Short answer: Yes, you should. Think of your Google My Business listing as a second website—one that often gets served up long before anyone would organically land on your main website. Your GMB listing 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 “Indian restaurants near me” or “bowling alleys near me,” you get the idea.)

The Google My Business listing takes up valuable real estate on the search engine results page (SERP), showing up in the right-hand sidebar on desktops and at the top of the results on mobile devices.

Like anything else with search results, what people can scan quickly from your GMB listing will determine whether they dig deeper into your listing or move on to a competitor.

The listing (on both desktop and mobile) will show the nuts and bolts automatically, like the name of your business, a few pics, location info, map info, and reviews. People can click in for a deeper look at more pictures, videos, reviews, and the like. 

An important point: Your GMB listing exists whether you’ve “claimed” it or not. If you don’t claim it, you risk having inaccurate info and a drabby, boring listing. By claiming your listing, you have the opportunity to manage and monitor it—and make it as engaging as possible.

How does having a Google My Business listing help my senior living community?

It can increase overall brand awareness and name recognition. If your listing keeps coming up as people conduct searches on senior living communities in your area (and related searches—more on this in a moment), people will become more familiar with your name and overall brand, even if they don’t click through. Because of the real estate the listing takes up, a person can’t not see it. Sure, they might only give it a cursory glance, but a glance is still a glance—our subconscious minds remain at work. 

Your GMB listing also reinforces brand recognition for people who are already familiar with your name. They might be doing a search on your name—perhaps trying to get an address and phone number. A robust GMB listing will give them those things—but so much more, including reviews, pictures, compelling info about the community, and any recent news or updates (think COVID).

Check out the screenshot below that we pulled from a client’s GMB analytics.

The green area shows the “direct” searchers—people searching on the client’s business name and address.

But the blue shows the “discovery” searches—people searching on a category, product, or service related to seniors and senior living in that area. This high level of discovery is not unusual for Google My Business listings, provided they’re set up properly.

How Customers Search

Bottom line: A good Google My Business Listing can help people discover your business on that all-important first page of Google search results. That’s another psychological aspect at play: Whether right or wrong, people do tend to trust what’s served up on the first page of Google, especially items that are prominently displayed, like GMB listings.

Wow! That sounds great! So all I have to do is “claim” my Google My Business listing and add a few pictures? Or are there some other tips for Google My Business that I should be following?

Remember how we mentioned earlier that your GMB listing is like a second website? Well, just as you optimized your website for search, you need to optimize your Google My Business listing for search as well. And just like you do for your senior living community’s website, you have “on-page” optimization elements as well “off-page” optimization elements to consider.

Tips for Google My Business: On-page elements

The Google My Business interface is extremely user-friendly. Your job is to simply fill out all relevant sections listed in the backend of your GMB account—and to do so clearly and compellingly. The on-page elements refer to items that are customer-facing, meaning folks who land on your listing will see the info you provide.

Sections to pay close attention to:

  • Info section. The “info” section lets you provide all the forward-facing information about your community, like a brief overview, hours, and location info.
  • Pictures. You can—and should—add plenty of pictures. And double-check how they look on desktop and mobile. Follow Google’s guidelines regarding pictures. The recommended resolution is 720 px tall, 720 px wide. The minimum resolution is 250 px tall, 250 px wide.
  • Videos. People LOVE videos. If you have good ones, add them, particularly ones that highlight the lifestyle and vibe within your community. Follow Google’s video guidelines for maximum effect.
  • Reviews. You want to make sure you’re responsive to reviews. Thank people for giving positive reviews. For negative reviews, tread carefully—avoid sounding defensive or dismissive. And don’t repeat the same canned response to negative reviews. Humility can go a long way. So can offering a real person’s name and number to contact on your end. 
  • Questions and answers. If someone takes the time to ask a question, ANSWER IT! First of all, it’s only polite to do so. If one person has the question, we can guarantee many other folks do as well. Answering the question thoughtfully helps demonstrate your community’s responsiveness. And questions can be a great source of intel for you. The questions could inspire a blog post or info you need to add to the website.
  • Ongoing updates: You can post updates, just like you do on social media. So post a link to a blog, a premium offer, etc. Keep it fresh and share items regularly.

Accessibility attributes. This is especially important for our industry since it speaks to how accessible your communities are to people in wheelchairs.

Tips for Google My Business: Off-page elements

GMB TipsWhen we say “off-page,” we’re referring to the stuff behind the scenes (people searching won’t see this info). A good example is the category you choose. As Google explains, “Categories describe your business and connect you to customers who search for the products or services you offer.”

Identify a primary category (like assisted living). You can also add additional categories (think keywords) related to your business. See the screenshot from one of our client’s listings that we helped set up.

My senior living community has multiple locations. Can I have multiple Google My Business listings?

YES! Google understands that many businesses, from banks to hotels to senior living communities, have multiple locations and, as a result, need multiple listings. Google provides excellent step-by-step instructions for bulk location management (there are different steps for businesses with fewer than 10 locations vs. those with 10 or more). 

An important caveat: When you have multiple locations to manage, the work you need to do in Google My Business increases—and often by a lot. This is why we recommend working with a senior living marketing agency like ours. We can help you set up, manage, and maintain multiple listings with consistent messaging and accurate info.

Whew! That’s a lot. Where else can I learn about Google My Business?

Honestly, the best place to start is Google—it provides excellent step-by-step instructions if you want to go the DIY route. And, of course, working with an agency partner like Senior Living SMART also makes a whole lot of sense. We can either do it all for you or double-check and make sure everything is fully optimized. Having a second set of eyes never hurts. Get in touch and let’s talk about your senior living community’s presence on Google!

How to Market to Senior Living Communities

How to Market Senior Living Communities: 4 Overlooked Places

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We can discuss how to market senior living communities . . . or we can discuss how to EFFECTIVELY market senior living communities via four places our industry tends to overlook or treat as an afterthought: 

  • Google My Business
  • Hyper-local online publications
  • Social media advertising
  • Traditional advertising (radio and print) 

How to market senior living communities: Think Google My Business.

Why does maintaining a robust Google My Business (GMB) listing matter? Three reasons. First, the majority of searches happen on Google (its market share is over 92 percent). Second, Google is always quick to serve up relevant and well-maintained Google business listings in its results. And last but not least, a strong Google My Business presence is critical to local search.

Consider your Google My Business listing an off-shoot of your main website. Just as you update your website, you need to update your GMB listing. 

What to focus on:

  • Complete all info, particularly the About section. Make it compelling! 
  • Monitor and respond to reviews. Thank people for giving positive reviews. For negative reviews, tread carefully and respond mindfully. Avoid sounding defensive or dismissive. Don’t make every response (to either positive or negative reviews) sound the same. For negative reviews, invite the person to contact someone on your end to discuss things further—but make it a REAL offer. Provide a real name and real phone number—and make sure the person is on top of fielding these calls. 
  • Regularly add new photos. Swap out older ones. Add in fresh views, new scenes, amenity shots, etc.
  • Audit the page every quarter (at least). Get in the habit of buzzing through your listing to make sure everything is current. For example, right now, you might have verbiage around COVID-19 protocols, like face masks. At some point, that info will no longer be necessary. (We hope, anyway.) 

Note: If you work with us, your Google My Business Listing will be one of the first things we audit and spruce up on your behalf. 

How to market senior living communities: Think hyper-local online publications.

Running ads on local online publications, like your region’s local Patch.com or Nextdoor.com, is an excellent way to build brand awareness and name recognition. Plus, you can easily measure traffic that comes to your site via these ad channels.

  • Patch.com, which has over 1,200 hyper-local sites across all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C., offers a self-serve ad platform that lets advertisers get super granular with their targeting. Whether you operate a national chain of senior living communities or only a handful in one state or region, you can run ad campaigns on the Patch site that makes the most sense for each community. 
  • Nextdoor.com offers advertising options designed specifically for local businesses as well as an option for regional and national companies. The former allows you to target people within 30 miles of your location, while the latter allows you to reach prospects across multiple markets, making it ideal for senior living communities that operate properties across multiple states.

By the way, these aren’t the only players on the hyper-local scene. Your town or city might have its own online publications. 

Of course, with any advertising, you must have compelling creative assets in terms of both the message and the design. Don’t skimp just because you’re running online ads. (Need help? We have a library of compelling digital ads that are ready to go—you simply customize with your information. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more.)

How to market senior living communities: Think social media advertising.

It’s not so much that the senior living industry “overlooks” social media as an effective place to run ads. Instead, we suspect most communities are a bit skittish about trying to launch social media advertising in general. Or maybe they’ve tried it briefly and “failed” because of problematic execution or a lack of reasonable expectations.

But social media advertising can be an incredibly effective and budget-friendly way to reach your target market, provided everything is set up correctly. (We can help with that, too!)

Like the advertising programs offered by the hyper-local online pubs, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer similar levels of control over your targeting. 

For example, with Facebook ads, you can target attributes like age, gender, behaviors, and locations. Facebook owns Instagram (with similar options for targeting). The nice thing about Instagram ads is how visual they are—they can truly help capture and tell the story behind your community.

Like anything else, however, you need an overarching strategy to guide your social media advertising. You need to think through the messaging, the design, and what you ultimately want people to do. You need the ability to measure and monitor results as well. And you need to invest enough dollars to get the results and ROI that would make it worth your while.

Note: This can be challenging for smaller in-house senior living marketing teams to manage on their own. That’s why working with an outside agency like ours can be an excellent way to make sure your campaigns are poised for maximum success.

How to market senior living communities: Think radio and print.

OK, we know this suggestion probably sounds odd after the other tips about online marketing channels. And the truth is, we don’t know if this suggestion will still be one we make a decade from now. (Time will tell.) 

But for now anyway, at least some of your demographic, especially those in the Silent Generation, still listen to the radio and read daily newspapers. So running campaigns (often in tandem!) on these channels can be a smart strategy to consider, provided you do them right.

Speaking of doing things right, check out our guide to senior living advertising on the radio. It goes into the nitty-gritty of pricing and how to create winning copy. We also discuss the pros and cons of print advertising in this article about print vs digital ads.

Bonus tip about how to market senior living communities: ALWAYS think strategy first.

You can’t expect your marketing or advertising to work over the long haul without a sound strategy. And sometimes the most important thing you need when it comes to strategy is an objective opinion. That’s where we come in. Let’s discuss your senior living marketing strategy for 2022—get 30 minutes on us!

How to Rock Senior Living SEO

How to Rock Senior Living SEO in 2022

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Are you looking to improve your senior care SEO in 2022? Follow these four tips.

Tip #1 for better senior care SEO: Take a fresh look at your keyword strategy.

OK, ‘fess up. When was the last time you did a thorough review of your keyword strategy? If your answer is “not sure” or “never,” don’t fret. (And if you’re the unicorn who regularly does keyword research, bonus points for you! You can skip to the next tip.)

The reality is most senior living communities don’t regularly do the keyword strategy work. And the word “regularly” is the main point. You need to review and monitor your keywords like you do any other analytics. We recommend quarterly at the very least (and perhaps more often if you’re more aggressive with pay-per-click advertising). 

Why? Well, keywords can and will change over time. Some might become more competitive. Others might increase or decrease in search volume. New phrases might come into play. Local search terms might be needed if your company expands into new markets. And, of course, you need to pay attention to competitors and the words they use.

Like all other aspects of your senior living marketing, you need to take a thoughtful approach to your keyword strategy for senior care SEO. An intent-based strategy can be an excellent way to tackle this. The Semrush blog discusses the four main types of keyword intent: 

  • Informational keywords. These keywords answer a specific question, like “how much does senior living cost”? (That search query receives 140 monthly searches.) These keyword phrases tend to be more of the longtail variety and can make for excellent blog posts. They can perform well in search, especially if they have less competition. These are great words for people at the top of the sales funnel who are in the research/education stage and who may or may not be familiar with your name.
  • Navigational keywords. These keywords tend to be looking for a specific page on your site: “brookdale senior living address.” (That search query also receives 140 monthly searches.) In this case, people are already familiar with your name. They’re looking for something very specific.
  • Commercial keywords. We’re talking about all the keyword-phrase results that would come up if you did a search in your SEO tool on your community’s name. (It’s a great exercise, one that many communities overlook!) 
  • Transactional keywords. The searcher appears intent on taking some sort of action (or even making a purchase). These folks are likely in the bottom of the sales funnel. Think “how much does brookdale senior living cost.” (That search query receives 56 monthly searches.) These search terms can help fuel your PPC strategy, too.

By breaking out keywords into intent, you can make sure that . . . 

  • Your site has compelling content around informational keywords.
  • Your brand name has great visibility throughout the site, especially in obvious places, like the header and footer. But also think about less obvious places. For example, consider your logo. If someone hovers over it, does the alt text say your community’s name? Little things like that can have an impact.
  • You’ve created smart buyer journeys based on the research you’re seeing with transactional keywords.
  • You haven’t lost sight of local search terms (more on this below).

Tip #2 for better senior care SEO: Have awesome content.

Google’s main goal is to provide the best, most helpful results to searchers. That’s it. To do this, it has a complex algorithm to help decide which sites to serve up on the first page of its search results. Remember, the site listed in the first spot in the organic listing gets the highest click-through rate.)

The best way you can ensure your site gets served up is to have awesome content. It sounds so simple, right? That’s because it is (in a way). If you have great content and use keywords thoughtfully in that content, you’re more than halfway there.

  • Write for humans first, search engines second. Don’t stuff keyword phrases into sentences. Use them naturally. Use synonyms. Don’t become obsessed with how many times you use a keyword phrase in the content (because we guarantee that will lead to clunky, unreadable sentences).
  • Title tags shouldn’t exceed 60 characters. In fact, studies show that title tags between 15 and 40 characters tend to have a higher click-through rate (8.6% higher). This is likely due to the number of folks conducting searches on smartphones.
  • Meta descriptions shouldn’t exceed 155 characters. Pay attention to how you write them. This serves as a mini ad for the page or blog post you’re inviting people to click through to.
  • Always write content with your buyers in mind. A friendly, casual tone works best. Keep sentences short and easy to digest. Break up longer blocks of text with sub-headlines and other formatting (like bullets).
  • Don’t be afraid to go long. This is especially true with blog posts. Studies show that longer blog posts perform better. HigherVisibility reports, “Articles of 3,000 words or more get twice the amount of page views, as well as 24% more shares.”

Tip #3 for better senior care SEO: Don’t overlook or underestimate the importance of technical SEO.

Does your site load quickly? Is it easy for Google to crawl and index? Is the architecture sound? Have you optimized the site for mobile devices?

Google considers the entire landscape: on-page SEO (the copy), off-page SEO (typically the quality of the backlinks pointing to your site), and technical SEO. Don’t put all your effort into awesome content, only to have it flounder on a poorly built site bloated with unnecessary code. Check out HubSpot’s ultimate guide to technical SEO for more specifics.

Tip #4 for better senior care SEO: Think beyond your senior living website.

When it comes to SEO, you might think you only need to focus on your community’s website. But to successfully compete, you must optimize your entire online presence for search. This includes social media platforms, popular senior living directories, and the all-important Google My Business listing.

  • Make sure you weave in relevant keyword phrases, particularly in the “about” and profile sections.
  • Follow best practices for each platform. At a minimum, this will likely include filling out all relevant sections, having current and accurate contact info, and posting plenty of images.
  • Audit these sites regularly (every quarter) to make sure everything is in working order. Things can and will break.

Need help with your senior care SEO? Give us a shout.

We know senior living. And we know digital marketing. Our team can make sure your entire online presence is optimized for search. Let’s chat about your senior care SEO!

Marketing Strategy Website Forms

Senior Living Marketing Strategy for Website Forms

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Here’s a true story regarding one community’s senior living marketing strategy. (Or lack thereof.) 

Debbie Howard (our CEO and co-founder) was on a call with a prospective client: the COO of a senior living community. They were discussing the community’s website, and the COO said they had no idea what happened when someone filled out a form on the site. So Debbie went ahead and filled one out. She specifically requested pricing and floor plans.

Instead of receiving what she asked for, she got an immediate call from a salesperson saying, “I got your phone number, but I can’t make out what you’re looking for.”

UGH! Talk about a poor website experience.

Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Whenever we perform a website audit for clients or prospects, we always test the website forms and opt-ins. And too often, they result in an annoying sales call rather than the info we requested. Sometimes after filling out a form, nothing happens at all—no thank-you page saying our info was successfully submitted. No follow-up email. Nothing. It’s as if our request got sucked into a black hole. That’s NOT the first impression you want to give prospects.

Your senior living marketing strategy should include a thoughtful approach to website forms.

Don’t treat your website forms as an afterthought. Your forms serve as the connection between anonymity and bona fide leads. Treat website forms with the respect and reverence they deserve.

Are you asking for the right information?

Mileage will vary, but you want to ask for just enough information to get the ball rolling. Having too many fields on your forms could discourage people from filling them out. Pay attention to conversion rates on landing pages. If it’s lower than you’d like, experimenting with the form length is a good thing to test.

Do you use progressive profiling?

Good marketing automation software will offer progressive profiling. This means after someone fills out one set of fields on a form, they’ll be offered up a new set of fields on subsequent forms. You can get more information about a prospect as they explore your site and engage with more content. From there, you can serve up custom content designed for their particular needs and pain points.

Do you have a SMART senior living marketing strategy in place for what happens AFTER someone submits a form?

This is often where the trouble starts. In a perfect world, here’s what would happen after someone fills out a form on your senior living website . . .

The prospect would be redirected to a thank-you page. The page would indicate that their info was successfully submitted. If the person requested a specific piece of content—like a guide or floor plans—this content would be served on the thank-you page (usually via a link). 

The prospect would also receive an email autoresponder. The email would include the same info as the thank-you page. This way, if someone navigates away from the thank-you page, they can still access the info within the email.

The email and thank-you page would include relevant calls-to-action (CTAs). The goal is to enable the buyer by providing helpful content that speaks to where they are in their journey. If they just requested a guide on financing senior living, you could serve up other content related to financing, such as a blog post on the Veterans Aid & Attendance benefit.

Lead scoring would automatically kick in. Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) would enter a relevant email nurturing campaign. Sales-qualified leads (SQLs) would go to the sales team. Only SQLs would receive a follow-up call or email from a sales rep. (Read more about the difference between MQLs and SQLs.)

The last bit is usually the hardest pill for senior living sales teams to swallow. The temptation is to contact every single lead that comes through the site, no matter what. Remember: The buyer controls the sales process, not the sales team. 

Buyers want to engage with content on their own. And they want to self-identify when they’re ready to talk to sales. Your sales team will be wasting its time calling people who are not ready to buy. Or worse: They’ll annoy prospects with the intrusion. (Which is how Debbie felt after she filled out the form on the client’s website.) 

Bottom line: A submitted website form is NOT an automatic invitation for a phone call.

Yet too many senior living communities default to that line of thinking. Instead, they should focus on a SMART senior living marketing strategy when it comes to website forms. 

  • Make sure your form fields are the right length. Monitor results. If your landing pages aren’t converting, your forms might be the culprit.
  • Make sure you ask for the right info at the right time. Start with the most important info—name, email, location, where they are in their journey. Then, build from there by using progressive form fields.
  • Remove friction and respect boundaries. Give people what they ask for when they ask for it. If they don’t want a sales call, DON’T CALL. 
  • Spot-check forms. Things can break on the back end. It happens. Get in the habit of spot-checking forms every quarter.
  • Make sure everyone’s on the same page. Your marketing and sales teams need to agree on what happens after someone submits a form. MQLs should be nurtured with compelling campaigns designed for where they are in their journey. Sales reps should only reach out to SQLs (prospective buyers in the bottom of the funnel who’ve requested a sales interaction).

Need help with your senior living marketing strategy?

We can take an objective look at your website’s forms and get them in tip-top shape. Let’s chat about your senior living website.

How to Boost Website Conversions

Senior Living Website Design: Tips to Boost Conversions

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Senior living website design involves so much more than fonts, colors, images, and layout. Sure, those things are important. But if your site only looks pretty, but doesn’t convert anonymous website traffic into leads, what’s the point? 

Bottom line: Your design strategy must go hand-in-hand with your overall marketing strategy. Follow these tips to accomplish exactly that. 

Design your site for multiple buyer journey “pathways.”

Remember, the buyer controls the sales process, not the other way around. In fact, buyers often interact with content anywhere from 8-10 times (if not more) before showing any interest in talking to sales.

As a result, your senior living website design needs to enable the buyer to take the next logical step in their specific journey. On the home page, provide clear paths. If they self-identify as an older adult researching senior living communities for a move within the next year, provide a logical path through the site. The same is true for an adult child looking on behalf of a parent.

By providing paths that reflect each buyer’s journey, you’ll increase conversions along the way. How so? Well, the various conversion points will happen in a way that makes sense to that particular buyer. 

For example, for the adult child, you’d offer content downloads that make sense to them, such as “A Guide to Helping Loved Ones Make the Move to Senior Living.” On the flip side, for an older adult evaluating different communities, you might offer content like: “What to Expect in Your First Month Living in Our Community.”

On any given page, make it clear what people should do next.

Your senior living website serves as your virtual storefront. Brick-and-mortar retail stores are designed to lead people deeper and deeper into the store so that they stay in-store longer. (The same is true with grocery stores—that’s why the meat and deli departments are in the back of the store.) 

Your senior living website design needs to do the same thing: You need to entice people to stay and explore your site. Here are some strategies for keeping people invested:

  • Use sticky menus. Navigation that remains at the top even as people scroll can be an excellent way to keep people oriented as to where they are—and to stop them from backing out in frustration.
  • Use well-designed and thoughtfully placed CTAs. The CTAs should lead people to valuable content that will help them on their journey. Read more about the power of CTAs in senior living marketing.
  • Use video. Video tends to increase the time spent on a page. Studies suggest that including video on landing pages can increase conversions by as much as 80%. But like anything else, you need to be thoughtful in how you use video—where it’s placed, how it integrates with the page, how quickly it loads, and so forth. 

Be mindful of how your senior living website design renders across all devices.

Creating a consistent experience is key to consistent conversions. If the desktop experience is fine, but the experience on a phone leaves a lot to be desired, you might lose the person to a competitor simply due to that frustrating experience. 

When we say a “consistent” experience, we don’t simply mean making sure the site looks exactly the same across all devices. The experience on smartphones should be different from the experience a person has on a desktop since they are two very different devices. What you want to avoid is having someone experience a disconnect from one device to another—the branding should be consistent, as should the pathways people follow. But how you optimize your site for mobile will and should be different.

For example, you might need to adjust CTA designs so that they’re super easy to read on mobile. Your font and text size on mobile might need to be different from the desktop experience. You get the idea. (Need more tips? Read HubSpot’s article on how to optimize websites for mobile users.)

Now, if you’re thinking smartphones aren’t as popular with your key demos, think again. Sure, the Silent Generation (born 1925 to 1945) might not be married to them. But the demo right behind them—Baby Boomers—most certainly are (and so are their kids). In fact, according to this report from HigherVisibilty, “In the first quarter of 2021, 54.8% of web searches were done via mobile devices (excluding tablets).” And guess what? That number is only going to go up.

Practice good technical SEO.

When we talk about search engine optimization (SEO), we’re usually discussing it in relation to the copy on the page. But technical SEO is just as important. And that’s specifically something the web team needs to shoulder.

What is technical SEO? Backlinko has a good definition: “Technical SEO is the process of ensuring that a website meets the technical requirements of modern search engines with the goal of improved organic rankings. Important elements of Technical SEO include crawling, indexing, rendering, and website architecture.” 

Run A/B testing with various elements of your senior living website design.

If you want to boost conversions, run A/B tests of various design elements to see which ones give you the biggest increase. Simple things—from font size to text color—can greatly impact conversions. 

SEO guru Neil Patel lists 19 obvious A/B tests to conduct on your website. His recommendations include:

  • Typography
  • Colors
  • Font size
  • CTA design and placement
  • Landing page styles (long copy vs. short copy – layout plays a critical role)

Don’t treat your senior living website as a static thing.

This is especially true after launching a new site—or relaunching an existing site. It’s easy to think the heavy lifting is over and that you can just sit back. While this might have been OK a decade ago, it’s not the case today. Monitor analytics (especially on high-priority landing pages), conduct A/B testing, and adjust things, as needed. 

Experiment with interactive elements within your senior living website design.

Building off the above point, be willing to try different things, from live chat to pop-ups. The challenge is seamlessly working these elements into your senior living website design so that they feel natural rather than intrusive. (And the look-and-feel needs to reflect the brand.)

Need help rocking your senior living website design?

Let’s boost conversions on your senior living website. Either opt for our budget-friendly website audit. Or we can chat about a custom strategy. Either way, get in touch!

Marketing CTAs

Senior Living Marketing: All About CTAs

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When it comes to effective senior living marketing, the little things can make a BIG difference. And that is most certainly true when it comes to calls-to-action or CTAs. Let’s take a deeper look . . . 

What’s a call-to-action (CTA)?

A call-to-action is exactly how it sounds—words that motivate someone to do something specific, like register for a webinar, listen to a podcast, or download a piece of content.

A CTA can be subtle, like a hyperlinked line of text within a longer piece of content. The link leads to the offer; this is known as an anchor text CTA. Using anchor text CTAs in your blog posts, for example, can increase conversion rates by 121%.

CTAs can also be more obvious, like a bright red button that says: REGISTER FOR OUR WEBINAR. (One company found that using red CTA buttons increased its conversion rates by 21%.)

Bottom line: Never underestimate a CTA’s importance. Implementing a thoughtful CTA strategy throughout your website can help convert anonymous website traffic into bonafide leads—and leads into move-ins. 

What are some examples of CTAs in senior living marketing?

Popular CTAs in the senior living industry include the following:

  • Book a Tour
  • Plan a Visit
  • Get in Touch
  • Request Pricing
  • Download Floorplans
  • Chat with a Live Agent
  • Get Our Free Guide 
  • Sign Up for Our Newsletter

But honestly, the sky’s the limit when it comes to CTAs. If there’s an action you want a person to take, you can create a specific CTA to urge them to do exactly that.

By the way, using first-person phrasing in CTAs has been shown to increase conversions. Using some of the examples from above, we’d recommend rewriting and testing some of these:

  • Yes! I want to book a tour.
  • Yes! I want to plan a visit.
  • Please send me pricing!
  • Yes, I’d like to view floorplans.

Are there any best practices when it comes to creating CTAs for senior living marketing?

Always remember your audience and put yourself in their shoes. You’re either talking to older adults who are investigating senior living options for any number of reasons (both happy and sad ones). Or you’re talking to adult children (or other family members) seeking info on behalf of their older loved ones.

For senior living marketing, the best CTAs will be . . . 

  • Clear, not coy. Save playful copy for the content itself rather than the CTA. That said, “clear” doesn’t mean “cold.” The tone should reflect the overall tone of your senior living website and other marketing materials. You’ll be using only a handful of words, usually no more than five. Make every single one count.
  • Easy to read. Even if you use an anchor text CTA, make sure the hyperlink is obvious. Remember, you’re often dealing with aging eyes, so you want a clear contrast between the font color and hyperlink color. With image CTAs, like buttons, the words within any graphics should also be easy to read.
  • Accurate. Meaning that when someone clicks, they are led to a page that will make sense to them. For example, if someone clicks on “Book a Tour,” but they’re brought to your site’s main Contact page, they might feel a disconnect. Instead, the “Book a Tour” CTA should lead to a dedicated landing page for booking tours. On it, you’d have a short form to schedule a tour AND information about what to expect on a tour, like how long tours last, where people should go for the tour, current policies about masks, and so forth.
  • Used thoughtfully throughout the site (and other marketing materials). Be intentional with your CTA placement. Look at high-trafficked pages on your site and ask yourself: “Where’s the most logical place for people to go next?” Create a CTA that then leads people to that next logical place. CTAs aren’t just for your website, either. Think about emails. Think about digital ads. Think about social media posts. 

How do you determine if your CTAs are working hard enough in your senior living marketing? (And how can you make them work harder?)

The worst thing you can do with a CTA is set it and forget it. Like any other marketing tactic or campaign, you need to review results and adjust accordingly. Follow these tips.

  • Know what you’re measuring. 

Make sure you understand the difference between click-through rate (of the call-to-action button itself) and conversion rate on the page you send people to.

For example, let’s say you have a CTA button that says, “Get our guide on senior living financing,” and it has a high click-through rate (CTR). But once people land on the page with the form to download the guide, they bounce away quickly, resulting in a low landing page conversion rate. 

It’s easy to think the problem is the landing page—and that might very well be true. But you’ll want to take an objective look at the CTA as well. And vice versa: If a CTA button doesn’t have a high click-through-rate, but for those who DO click, they convert on the landing page . . . you need to take a hard look at both and figure out where the friction or disconnect is.

  • Conduct A/B testing. (Also known as split tests.)

The key with A/B testing is to test only one change at a time. So, for example, maybe one CTA button is red and the other is blue. If more people click the red button, then you can (likely) deem red the winner. From there, you can conduct another test. Perhaps you change the verbiage: “Download our guide” to “Yes! I want the guide.” Read HubSpot’s tutorial on how to do A/B testing.

  • Experiment with smart or dynamic CTAs. 

Smart or dynamic CTAs are personalized to the person visiting the site. The CTA might use a person’s first name. (HubSpot reports that personalized CTAs perform 202% better than basic CTAs.) Or the smart CTA workflow might deliver certain calls-to-action based on info a person provided elsewhere (like a form) or the path they’re taking through the site.

Still having issues with CTAs in your senior living marketing? Let us help.

If you’re not getting the results you want, seek advice from an agency that understands the ins and outs of CTAs. At Senior Living SMART, we know digital marketing and senior living. Get in touch and let’s chat about CTAs. (And that right there is an example of one!)

Marketing Solutions

2 Senior Living Marketing Solutions for the New Year

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It’s hard to believe 2021 is winding down. We don’t have to tell you that it’s been quite a year. As we look ahead to 2022, we wanted to share two straightforward senior living marketing solutions that’ll help get your community off to a strong start. Order them directly from us and you’ll be well on your way to marketing success in Q1!

Total Online Presence Audit

The beginning of the new year is an excellent time to take stock of what’s working—and what isn’t—with your online marketing strategy. 

Our Total Online Presence Audit takes a deep dive into the following:

Senior living community website. Your website is your virtual storefront and your 24/7 sales team. Is it working for you? Or against you? We review the following:

The above isn’t an exhaustive list, but it gives you the idea.

Social media platforms. Does your social media presence reinforce your brand? Or does it appear you’re simply going through the motions? Or worse—have certain platforms gone dark? 

Google My Business Listing. Local search engine optimization (SEO) matters! Having a strong Google My Business listing is a must. We’ll look to see if yours . . .

  • Has been claimed by your community
  • Includes current information
  • Truly acts as a micro-website that accurately captures the brand

Directory listings. The senior living industry is famous for its directories. It’s impossible for one person to keep up, but we have the tools and a proven strategy to do a high-level review of the most important listings to make sure your community’s info is current and correct.

Online reputation. What other people are saying about your community carries much more weight than what you say about your community. We double-check to make sure the major review sites in our industry have correct info—and we’ll flag anything that needs your immediate attention.

Competitive analysis. We take a look at the competitive landscape—what they’re doing well, and opportunities for your community to shine.

From there, we create an action plan. We don’t just deliver the results of our audit and send you on your way. Instead, we provide an action plan with immediate fixes and other recommendations you can easily and quickly implement. You and your team can take the plan and run with it. (We really do make the tasks super simple!) Or you can have us implement the fixes and recommendations.

Bottom line: What you get is an incredibly comprehensive audit that will position your community for success in Q1. And the best part? The price: a budget-friendly $995. Go here to learn more and to order your online presence audit.

Strategic Marketing Roadmap: The Marketing Plan You Need

It’s hard to start a new quarter—or a fresh new year—without some sort of marketing plan. But it’s easy to get lost in the weeds when putting one together. That’s where this solution comes in. We call it our Strategic Marketing Roadmap. We have a proven formula for putting together a strong plan for you quickly so you can focus on execution. (Or we can help with that as well.)

How it works:

We have an in-depth discovery call (or two or three!). We come prepared with the RIGHT questions. Our goal is to learn about your current marketing efforts, growth goals, and competitors. We’ll also audit your existing marketing and online presence.

We refine your buyer personas. So many communities fail when it comes to developing workable personas that get you the results you’re looking for. Based on this persona work, we’ll create a roadmap of suggested marketing tactics for each phase of your customer’s buying journey.

We develop a smart content strategy. Content isn’t king. It’s emperor. And you need amazing content to get results. Don’t worry—we got you covered here. Based on our keyword research, we’ll build a content strategy that’ll allow you to map out 6-12 months of content as part of your ongoing marketing efforts.

We present the goods—your extremely comprehensive strategic marketing roadmap. We don’t do a fancy presentation and walk away, either. We provide an action plan that’s simple enough for marketing teams to execute—but that still gets results. (And if you need help with the execution, we can do that, too!)

Bottom line: Don’t leave your senior living marketing for 2022 to chance. Learn more about this product and order your strategic marketing roadmap soon.

On the hunt for other senior living marketing solutions?

You’re in the right place. The two products above are just the tip of the iceberg. We have plenty of other marketing services to fit your needs and budget. Get in touch!

Marketing Trends

Senior Living Marketing Trends: Our Predictions

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‘Tis the season for reflecting on the past and making predictions for the future. In the spirit of the latter, we’re sharing four senior living marketing trends that everyone should keep in mind in 2022.

  1. The pandemic might be winding down, but virtual tours won’t be going away.

Even though we’re quickly approaching two years (!) since the start of the pandemic, this doesn’t mean we’ll be reverting to pre-pandemic ways in all areas of life. Take virtual tours and other virtual tactics that senior living sales folks adopted and adapted to engage with prospects. Even though the virtual tours were originally considered a stop-gap or Band-Aid, a funny thing happened: They worked really well. Senior living sales were still made. And offering virtual tours expanded a community’s reach. (Think of the adult child who lives in a different state than her father.) Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.

Prediction: Virtual tours and 3D walk-throughs are here to stay.

  1. Prospects will continue to increase their control over the sales process. 

This goes along with the previous point. Sales reps are no longer in control of the sales cycle. Buyers are. That’s why virtual tours won’t be going away—because buyers like having options about how and when to experience a community. The job of the sales and marketing teams is to enable the buyers by providing them with the info they want when they want it—and without an intrusive sales call. Not until the prospect raises their hand and asks for one. 

This can be an incredibly hard pill for sales teams to swallow. Sales reps are used to being go-getters. They follow the mantra, “The person who responds first, wins the sale.” But unless the prospect has self-identified that they’re ready for a sales call, you’ll be wasting your time. Today’s buyers are savvy. They know what they want and what they don’t. And what they definitely don’t want is a pushy salesperson. 

And sure, while many older adults (think those from the Silent Generation) might not fall into this category, Baby Boomers (many of whom are beginning their journeys into active adult and senior living) DO fall into this category. So at some point, your senior living sales team will need to accept this reality—and adjust its sales tactics accordingly.

Prediction: Buyer enablement will need to be the centerpiece of any successful senior living marketing plan.

  1. Marketing automation is no longer optional.

OK, so this is part wish, part prediction. Marketing automation is no longer optional if a senior living community wants to achieve its occupancy goals in 2022. Humans can’t effectively manage the multiple touches that today’s prospects require before engaging with sales (see the above point). 

That said, we’re also realists. And while we’ve been firmly stating the importance of marketing automation in senior living success, we also know some communities will continue to resist. All we can say is this: Do so at your own peril. You can’t afford to ignore marketing automation any longer. 

By the way, marketing automation isn’t as daunting as you might think, especially when you work with an agency like ours that’s got a ton of experience with popular software, like HubSpot for senior living.

Prediction: Communities that haven’t adopted marketing automation will. And those that already have adopted automation will continue to get better at using it.

  1. Sales cycles will continue to get longer, especially as Boomers start dipping their toes in the senior living/active adult waters.

Older Boomers (those born in 1964) will be turning 58 in 2022. And they are not your grandparents’ retirees. Many of these folks see themselves working well into their sixties and early seventies (by choice or necessity) and even beyond. 

Still, they appreciate and crave low-maintenance living now that they’ve raised their families and have done the American Dream of homeownership. They’re thinking about the next chapter in their lives—and what that will look like. They’ll be basing their next move on pleasure, not pain. They won’t be moving into active adult living or senior living due to a physical impairment or some other decline, but rather because they want a better way to live in their sixties and seventies (and beyond).

Prediction: The smartest senior living communities are going to start thinking NOW about how to cater to this audience. Will it involve expanding their own campuses to include another living option, like active adult or 55+? Will it involve redefining what independent living is and perhaps coming up with a hybrid version for people in their mid to late fifties and early sixties? 

One thing we DO know: How you market to Boomers will be vastly different from the way you currently market to prospects. Again, younger prospects, like Boomers, are in control of the buying process. They can take time—A LOT of time—deciding on this next step. Some studies suggest you’ll need to have anywhere from 22-28 touches before the prospect is fully engaged with you. And touch #28 needs to be just as engaging as touch #1. No easy task. 

What senior living marketing trends are you seeing/hearing about?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or on social media. And, as always, if you need help talking through new strategies or senior living marketing plans, give us a shout!

Marketing-Firms-vs-Consultants

Senior Living Marketing Firms vs. Consultants: Which Do You Need?

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When it comes to senior living marketing firms vs senior living marketing consultants, is one better than the other? Like so many things in life, it depends on things like your community’s goals and budget. Let’s take a deeper look.

Senior Living Marketing Consultants: Pros & Cons

A senior living marketing consultant is usually a one-person shop. (Otherwise, they’d refer to themselves as a marketing firm or agency.)

Outsourcing to a senior living marketing consultant can have many benefits:

  • Fees are typically lower (at least at first) than engaging with a marketing agency. An agency offers numerous service providers under its umbrella—think designers, writers, PPC specialists—resulting in a higher fee.
  • Working directly with one person might feel less overwhelming and more efficient. You have one go-to person rather than an account team with several different players.
  • Starting and stopping your engagement might be easier with a consultant. Again, since you’re only dealing with one person, you can more easily monitor what they’re doing. Hitting pause is easier—it’s akin to slowing down a small car rather than a long train.

Some of the downsides to working with a senior living marketing consultant:

  • They’re only one person, meaning they can’t be your everything. Consultants typically shine in one broad area—like marketing—but they need to bring in others (web developers and writers, for example) to complete projects. 
  • Other fees can add up quickly. Since the consultant will need to bring in other folks, additional fees can add up fast. Not to mention paying for everything separately isn’t as efficient from a monetary standpoint.
  • If the consultant disappears, work can come to a grinding halt. If something happens to the consultant—illness, family emergency—their work for you might stall indefinitely.

Senior Living Marketing Firms: Pros & Cons

Marketing firms or agencies, on the other hand, typically have a full-time staff as well as a stable of dependable freelancers.

Benefits of working with a senior living marketing firm:

  • You get a whole marketing department at your disposal, usually for one price. Whether you need a writer, a designer, or a PPC specialist, a reputable firm will already have a stable of expert resources in place.
  • If one person on your account team goes down, the work still goes on. Listen, life happens. People get sick. Family emergencies come up. But when you have a team of people working on your behalf, the team itself won’t miss a beat—which means your marketing campaigns won’t either.
  • More heads are better than one. The adage holds true here, especially given the topic. Senior living marketing is incredibly complex, given all the different channels, tactics, and personas. The good news is that a marketing firm is often built on the shoulders of specialists rather than generalists. So, for example, the social media person REALLY understands all aspects of social. The SEO writer knows all the best optimization practices. And so forth. Check out our talented team of specialists.

Some of the downsides to working with senior living marketing firms:

  • You’ll probably pay more up front. But the good news is you get a much better overall value, especially if you keep the agency on retainer. And reputable firms often have various retainer price points—and even budget-friendly products to help you sample their work. (To wit: See our total online presence audit, which you can buy for $995.)
  • Recommendations can pile up quickly—and overwhelm. The recommendations can also lead to friction between marketing and sales teams if everyone hasn’t bought into working with an agency. It’s important to get everyone on board before proceeding.
  • Price points might put some agencies outside the reach of smaller owner-operators. The fact that pricing and scale go hand-in-hand means smaller operators are at a bit of disadvantage in that they do not have the ability to allocate their marketing investment across a larger portfolio; the financial impact per community can therefore be higher. In this case, working with a good marketing consultant might make more sense.

When in doubt, interview both senior living marketing firms and consultants.

Interview a few options in each category. Make sure you understand their fee structure, what’s included, and what they can—and can’t—do. Talk to a couple of their clients as well. (Clients with a similar portfolio as yours.) You’ll get a sense of which one will likely be a better fit for your needs and budget. 

And, of course, if you’re considering a senior living marketing agency, we’d love to be in the running. Reach out and let’s discuss how our approach can help your community boost occupancy.

Marketing Ideas

Senior Living Marketing Ideas We Wish More Clients Would Try

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We’re making a list (and checking it twice!) of senior living marketing ideas that we wish more clients would consider implementing in their marketing plans for 2022.

  1. Use marketing automation.

Out of all the senior living marketing ideas floating around out there, this is the one you need to seriously consider following (if you’re not already). Why? Simple. You can’t have a successful marketing strategy without marketing automation. Full stop.

First, it’s impossible for one or two humans to manage all the different moving parts in today’s digital marketing landscape. Think scoring senior living leads, segmenting leads, and making sure the right lead gets the right follow-up email at exactly the right time. Marketing automation removes the manual labor so that your marketing and sales teams can focus on more relevant tasks. 

Second, good automation gives you real-time insights into important metrics, like engagement and conversions. You can make better decisions (and invest your marketing budget more strategically) based on this intelligence.

  1. Use edgier copy.

We know, we know. The word edgy can set people’s teeth on edge. But edgy doesn’t necessarily mean unprofessional. To us, edgy simply means more playful—and more personal and honest. 

Keep in mind that senior living communities are essentially selling the same thing. Sure, some differences exist from one community to the next. But in reality, differentiating your community can prove challenging. Don’t use the same tired marketing speak to describe your community. Be surprising with your copy—in a good way. 

Interested in trying out this idea? Ask us about our turnkey senior living marketing campaigns. We’ve created gorgeously designed pieces for direct mail, website pages, social media posts, email marketing, and more—all with fun, playful, authentic copy. All you need to do is add your branding and you’re good to go.

  1. Continue to offer virtual tours.

Sure, we’re all excited about 2022 since (we hope, at least) it’s going to feel more like the world that we all knew pre-pandemic. But not everything that happened as a result of the pandemic was bad. The pandemic forced many businesses to reevaluate strategies that had been in place forever. In senior living, we’ve always assumed in-person tours were necessary to close a sale. But thanks to the pandemic, we learned this wasn’t the case. Senior living sales teams still found effective ways to sell—virtually.

Now, we’re not suggesting that you abandon in-person tours. They’re still relevant, popular, and effective. But giving prospects more control about how they experience your community? That’s important as well, especially as you start catering to younger demographics like Baby Boomers—demographics who expect to have plenty of choices and control. Give them those choices and control by offering in-person tours, virtual tours, 3D-walkthroughs, and the like.

  1. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

We get it. It’s much safer to follow the “well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. The problem with that mindset? Eventually, things will break, simply because people evolve. Their needs evolve. And trends evolve, too. What worked in 2010 isn’t necessarily going to work in 2022. (Think of everything that’s entered the marketing stratosphere since 2010 like Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, and wide adoption of smartphones.)

As we mentioned earlier, the demographic for senior living is starting to shift—and the shift is only going to speed up. Older Boomers (those born around 1964) are entering 55+ communities and even senior living, like independent living and active adult living (or they will be soon). Those on the older side of Gen X are right behind them. 

These demos 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. They’re not quiet, stoic, or uncomplaining, like their parents. Bottom line: You’ll need fresh approaches for engaging, nurturing, and converting the people in these demographics.

All that said, we know trying out new senior living marketing ideas can be intimidating. For example, if you haven’t spent any time on TikTok and have no clue how to make a TikTok video, you might think it’s easier to simply stay with tried-and-true tactics like Facebook. The problem? You will fall behind the curve. And there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to catch up.

  1. Don’t just seek expert advice about marketing senior living—follow it!

We get it: Just because you’ve sought advice from an expert, it doesn’t mean you must follow it. But we encourage everyone to reconsider that stance, especially if you’re spending money with reputable senior living consultants or marketing agencies (like ours). 

We want to see you succeed! And we’re not suggesting things “just because.” Sound reasoning and analytics always guide our recommendations. So if you’re going to invest in getting the advice, you might as well accept—and implement—the advice.

Interested in taking any of these senior living marketing ideas for a spin?

Now’s an excellent time to discuss your marketing plans for 2022. Reach out and let’s chat!