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9 Buyer Persona Questions for Your Best Residents

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Editor’s note: This article was revised and updated in September 2025.

If you’re not spending time talking to your best residents, you’re missing out on valuable marketing and sales intelligence.

Your community’s happiest residents can:

  • Serve as a living and breathing example of your ideal prospect
  • Share thoughts about your competitors
  • Indicate which messages resonated with them and which ones fell flat

This doesn’t need to be a formal sit-down. Have a casual conversation. Write up your notes afterward. Once you have critical mass (meaning notes from five or more conversations with some of your best residents), revisit your existing personas and refine your messaging and engagement strategies to best market to your intended audience.

Below, we dive deeper into these tasks, starting with what a buyer persona is and nine buyer persona questions we recommend asking your best residents.

Let’s get to it.

What is a buyer persona?

Buyer personas are semi-fictional profiles that represent your ideal residents and the family members who influence their decisions. These profiles help you understand your audience on a deeper level so you can communicate more effectively.

Instead of blasting the same message to every lead, you can segment your audience by persona and deliver personalized content that speaks directly to their needs and concerns.

Remember, buyer personas are internal tools meant to guide your sales and marketing strategies—not something you share with prospects.

Now, let’s move onto the persona questions you should ask your best residents.

1. What was your biggest concern or fear about our community before you chose it? What helped you overcome these concerns?

Why ask this question? It’s helpful to understand people’s objections about your community and how they overcame them.

  • Was it something your marketing or sales team did to help address their concerns? If yes, you’ll want to know so you can continue doing it.
  • Or did they somehow convince themselves? In this case, you can focus on having your marketing and sales team better address specific concerns, especially if you note a common theme among the residents you chat with.

Keep in mind that objections can change over time, and they will change from demo to demo. The objections that folks from the Greatest Generation had five years ago likely won’t be the same as the objections boomers have.

Asking this question can also help challenge your own assumptions. For example, one of our clients with an older community worried it would be impossible to compete with the glitzy and glamorous new community down the road.

But once we began talking to the happiest residents, we learned they were turned off by the new place’s glitz and glamour and preferred a more homey and comfortable setting. This intel fueled our marketing and paid ad initiatives so we could attract more people like our happiest residents.

2. What would you tell someone else considering a move to our community about your move-in experience?

Why ask this question? Here’s where you can uncover important gaps, especially between the marketing and sales handoff. Do the residents talk about any issues after they made their deposit? Are they neutral about it? Or did they have a seamless experience from first interaction to move-in (and beyond)? If yes to the latter, what was so great about the experience?

Bottom line: You want to do more of what’s working and fix what isn’t.

3. What specific amenities or services made the biggest difference in your decision?

Why ask this question? Marketing and sales teams are often too close to the product they’re selling. What sounds exciting to your team might not matter much to the resident.

But there’s another reason to ask this question: Hearing how real residents discuss various services and amenities can help with messaging.

For example, many communities have an on-site hair salon, but only your community has a stylist named Liz with a penchant for color and pin-curls. You get the idea. Having those conversations with residents will surface compelling words and phrases that you can sprinkle throughout your marketing for added authenticity.

4. How did you first hear about our community, and what resources did you use to research us?

Why ask this question? You might think you’re covered if your marketing automation and CRM are integrated properly. Don’t get us wrong: You want your martech platform connected bilaterally to your senior living CRM so you can see when, where, and how a lead first enters your site and their conversion touch points along the way.

But how do you track the conversation that happened at a cookout two summers ago where your now-happy resident first learned about your community from an old friend—and that friend’s testimonial made your resident aware of your senior living brand in the first place?

Asking this question can help you better gauge how much brand awareness residents had before they began their search and how well your brand-building initiatives have and haven’t been working.

5. What was the most frustrating part of the senior living search process?

Why ask this question? Residents might not have any frustrations with your community specifically—and if so, great. But listen closely for broader complaints like, “Everywhere we looked did this,” or “No one ever did that.” These comments can shine a light on common pain points in the senior living search. If your community can avoid or solve these issues, you’ll stand out.

Note: Some frustrations may fall outside of sales and marketing’s control. If that’s the case, pass along the feedback to the right team, whether that’s operations, dining, or activities.

6. What did other communities do better than us, and what ultimately convinced you our community was the right fit?

Why ask this question? Understanding the final “tipping point” for residents can offer invaluable insights into what truly resonates with prospects during their decision-making process.

Whether it’s specific amenities, the level of care, or the community’s atmosphere, identifying these factors can ensure you promote them to like-minded prospects (think look-alike audiences).

  • PRO TIP: Knowing what intrigued people about your competitors is also valuable intel. For example, maybe your best residents mentioned a feature about your competitors that they didn’t realize is also available in your community. That suggests you need to better highlight this feature on your site, social media channels, and during tours.

7. What’s something you wish you knew before moving in that would’ve made the transition easier?

Why ask this question? Too often, marketing thinks their job is done once they hand off a sales-qualified lead (SQL) to the sales team. And too often, the sales team thinks their job is done once an SQL makes a deposit. But what about that precious time between deposit and move-in? And those critical 30 days after move-in?

We’re not trying to make more work for people, but the reality is that there’s a gap that needs closing. If you make a person’s move-in experience seamless and their first month as wonderful as possible, you’re positioning the resident for ultimate success in your community, which can lead to fabulous five-star reviews and excellent referrals.

The good news? This gap doesn’t require a heavy lift. Just as marketing automation helps nurture not-ready-yet leads to sales-qualified status, marketing automation can help guide soon-to-be-new residents through the transition with a friendly welcome letter, helpful resources (such as local movers), and the like.

8. How has living here impacted your daily routine or quality of life compared to your previous living situation?

Why ask this question? This question gives you a direct window into how your community has improved residents’ lives. Identifying the tangible benefits of living in your community is crucial, such as increased socialization, improved wellness, or a better sense of security.

You can then leverage these real-life benefits to create more compelling, value-driven messaging and stories that align with the prospect’s ultimate goal: enhancing their lifestyle. By focusing on the positive transformations, you’re showing prospects what they have to gain by moving in.

9. How do you define “feeling at home” in a community, and what aspects of our community helped create that feeling?

Why ask this question? A sense of home is deeply personal and often subjective, but it’s also a powerful driver in senior living decisions. Asking this question helps you pinpoint the specific elements—whether it’s staff interactions, social opportunities, or even the physical environment—that make residents feel truly at home.

These insights allow your marketing team to highlight those emotional and environmental aspects in your campaigns, making your messaging resonate more deeply with prospects searching for a comfortable and welcoming community.

How to use the insights that you gather from these conversations

Once you’ve gathered responses to these questions, revisiting and refining your buyer personas is essential. Use the insights to update key persona traits, such as motivations, pain points, and decision-making triggers. From there, adjust messaging and other engagement strategies accordingly.

For example, if many residents cite specific amenities or a strong sense of community as top reasons for choosing your community, your marketing should emphasize those elements more.

Additionally, note any behavior shifts, such as the increased use of a particular digital channel, and rethink how you’re using that channel. For example, if you’re finding that your happiest residents are big Instagram users, you might want to look into how you can leverage the platform more, whether encouraging user-generated content to promote your brand or experimenting with paid ads.

By updating your marketing personas with honest resident feedback and the messaging you use to engage them, your marketing will align better with your target audience’s evolving preferences and expectations.

Need help perfecting your personas and messaging?

We understand the customer journey in senior living and can help you fine-tune your personas and messaging. Get in touch, and let’s chat.

How to Manage Senior Living Occupancy Challenges in Q4

How to Manage Senior Living Occupancy Challenges in Q4

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This blog was originally on 10/24/2023 and updated in August 2025.

Historically, the fourth quarter has been the most challenging time of year for growing senior living occupancy. Not only are move-ins down, but overall leads are often down as well.

Plus, this year has been even more fraught with economic uncertainty, which is why it’s more important than ever before to pay attention to your pipeline and have a plan for keeping it warm through Q4.

We realize this isn’t an easy task, given that many families want to cherish one more holiday season with Mom or Dad (or other older loved ones) in the comfort of their own homes before considering a move. Unless the senior is in some sort of crisis mode—for example, maybe the person fell, and the doctor has indicated it’s unsafe for them to return home—you’ll have difficulty convincing folks to move this time of year.

All that said, there are strategic approaches to senior living occupancy management that you can implement now to squeeze out some sales and make sure everyone is ready to hit the ground running on January 1.

5 tips to increase your Q4 occupancy

1. Tap into “solo agers”

A growing demographic in the senior living landscape is the “solo ager.” Solo agers are single older adults who may not be in crisis mode (yet) but find themselves alone because they don’t have children and are not married (either by choice or because they’re divorced or widowed).

According to U.S. Census data, nearly one in six Americans aged 55+ are childless. And AARP notes that about 33% of women and nearly 22% of men aged 65 and older in the U.S. live on their own.

Even though solo agers don’t have a medical need for senior living, many have a social need and could benefit from the right independent living community. And the holidays are an excellent time to show them what’s possible if they move into a community like yours.

2. Continue leveraging your existing leads database

Your senior living CRM is often an untapped gold mine. Now is an excellent time to re-engage with once-hot leads that have since cooled down (for whatever reason). Focus on those who completed tours but haven’t yet committed to a community. These individuals could benefit from a gentle nudge. And, at the very least, you’ll remain prominent on their internal radars.

3. Invite pre-tour leads to holiday events

The holiday season provides an excellent backdrop for showcasing the warmth and camaraderie within your community. Organize fun events and extend invitations to pre-tour marketing qualified leads (MQLs).

Focus on the MQLs in the middle of the sales funnel (and the ones your sales team expected to book tours but haven’t yet—likely because of the holiday chaos).

Most senior living communities shine during this time of year with gorgeous decorations and a festive atmosphere, making it a great time to extend invitations to these MQLs and their families. While most won’t commit to moving right now, this positive engagement can progress them along the marketing and sales funnel, positioning them as prime prospects for Q1.

  • What to do: Make sure you have plenty of sales reps available during these events to conduct casual, last-minute tours for anyone interested. Send your guests home with something special, like homemade holiday cookies that your pastry chef made and a calendar of upcoming events (including ones that extend into January). Then, follow up with these prospects during the first week of January.

PRO TIP: Can’t get them on-site? Host a virtual “Holiday Happy Hour” or livestream part of your tree-lighting or resident talent show so leads can still get a feel for your community vibe from home

4. Continue networking with professional referral sources (especially those in urgent care settings)

Forge partnerships with professional referral sources dealing with urgent cases. Hospitals, rehab facilities, and home care agencies often encounter individuals with immediate senior living needs, especially during the holidays and winter months. By establishing solid relationships with these sources, you can position your community as a reliable solution for those facing pressing decisions.

  • What to do: Your urgent-care referral sources often work thankless jobs. Make it your job to thank them. Drop off cookies and cocoa to show your gratitude for the long hours they put in protecting vulnerable older adults. These professionals will appreciate your kindness—and they will remember your name (and your community’s) when they need to make a referral.

PRO TIP: Check out this episode from our podcast that discusses tips for developing a stronger professional and referral network.

5. Use an incentive like a “rate lock” promotion

Remember, it’s not always about the physical move-in when it comes to senior living occupancy. It’s about a financial move-in, meaning you have a signed lease agreement, and you’ve collected some revenue on the unit. The person doesn’t need to be physically in the community to count as occupancy.

Also, keep in mind that many communities are making up for lost revenue from COVID. Yearly rental increases that used to be 2% to 4% are now 5% to 8%.

Capitalize on this by using a rate-lock incentive with prospects who want to move into your community—but who want to push it off until after the holidays.

This initiative allows prospective residents to secure current rates by signing a lease agreement now, even if their physical move-in occurs in Q1. Individuals can shield themselves from potential rate hikes, making acting faster—even during the holiday chaos—much more financially appealing.

  • What to do: Make it feel less like a promotion and more like an exclusive offer you’re extending to them: “Mary, I know you love our community, but you also want one more holiday season in your home. Here’s the thing: I just found out our rents are going up in January by X%. However, if you sign the lease agreement now, I can get you in at this year’s rate—even if you don’t move in until next year. You could save upwards of [THIS MUCH]. Would you like to review the lease agreement?”

Bottom line: When it comes to growing senior living occupancy, don’t let up on the gas just because it’s Q4.

While Q4 often presents challenges for growing senior living occupancy, there are strategies you can take now to possibly encourage move-ins—or, at the very least, to make sure the pipeline is primed for Q1.

Need help with your senior living occupancy management? Get in touch. We know how to turbocharge a community’s lead gen engine.

Senior Living Sales Tips: Why SQLs Aren’t Everything

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You know that feeling when something is working really well, and then someone decides to “fix” it?

That’s exactly what happened here. We helped a senior living provider build a rock-solid lead generation system. We’re talking about a balanced strategy that generated sales-qualified leads (SQLs) and marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), which we nurtured over time, with many of those MQLs ultimately converting into SQLs.

Everything was clicking until the client decided to shift gears and focus only on SQLs.

What happened next? Keep reading.

Senior Living Sales Tips

What Was Working (And Why)

Before the client shifted the strategy, things were in a good place. We had built a lead generation engine that was doing exactly what it was supposed to do: generate a steady stream of high-intent SQLs and engaged MQLs.

The goal was to attract a healthy mix of prospects who needed to move quickly (within 30 to 60 days) and those who were just beginning to explore their options but showed strong engagement.

The SQLs were routed directly to the sales team, while MQLs were enrolled in highly personalized email nurturing campaigns designed to build trust, educate, and keep the conversation going.

Here’s how we did it:

  • High-intent prospects were given multiple, easy ways to connect with the sales team across every channel—paid ads, social media, and the website. They could click to call (with tracked numbers), schedule a tour instantly, or request a callback on their terms.
  • Earlier-stage prospects were offered value without pressure. They could download a brochure, grab an educational guide, or sign up for a newsletter—no sales conversation required. These actions automatically enrolled them into nurture tracks tailored to their interests, relationship to the future resident, and decision stage (e.g., “just starting my research” or “ready to choose a community”).

The result? A smart balance between urgent, ready-to-move leads for the sales team and a robust pipeline of engaged prospects advancing on their own timeline.

Senior Living Sales Tips

In the first half of 2024, our lead generation strategy delivered:

  • 989 first-touch MQLs
  • 215 first-touch SQLs

And get this: 19% of the first-touch MQLs converted themselves into SQLs for an additional 188 SQLs, resulting in a grand total of 403 SQLs in six months for two communities.

The Pivot (And the Fallout)

Midway through 2024, the client decided to shift focus. Their new strategy? Go all in on SQLs.

Their logic: If SQLs are the people ready to move, why not focus exclusively on generating more of them?

So they made some significant changes (despite our protests!):

  • Reworked the content and paid media strategy to push harder on sales-ready actions
  • Removed softer, early-stage CTAs
  • Added a virtual sales assistant (VSA) to “boost” SQL conversion
  • Cut back on nurture campaigns for MQLs

But instead of increasing SQLs, the entire pipeline suffered.

Senior Living Sales Tips

In the first half of 2025, here’s how the client’s misguided strategy played out.

  • 292 first-touch MQLs
  • 152 first-touch SQLs

As for those first-touch MQLs, 14% of them converted to SQLs (down from 19%), resulting in an additional 41 SQLs, for a total of 193 SQLs in six months across two communities.

Consider that again. Our approach delivered 403 SQLs in six months. The client’s ill-advised approach resulted in only 193 SQLs. That’s a 52.1% reduction in SQLs from year one to year two.

The Bigger Picture: Why MQLs Matter

Remember, pushing only for quick wins limits how—and when—people are willing to engage. Most leads don’t wake up one morning ready to tour. They need space, support, and the ability to control how they interact with your brand. When those choices disappear, so do the conversions.

Once the client made the pivot, the slower-moving, early-stage leads—the ones who would have converted with the right nurturing—never had a chance. They didn’t get the emails. They didn’t see the helpful content. They didn’t feel understood or supported. And so they chose another community or went to a third-party aggregator (which meant the client might have paid for the lead all over again).

Senior Living Sales Tips

But here’s the thing: Generating fewer leads isn’t the only problem.

When you focus solely on SQLs, you also change the type of resident you’re attracting, and that can have long-term consequences.

According to Aline’s 2024 Year in Review Benchmark Report, high-intent, fast-move-in leads often have:

  • Higher acuity needs
  • Shorter lengths of stay
  • Higher resident acquisition costs

In other words, these leads are more expensive to convert, more complex to serve, and more likely to move out quickly.

The takeaway? MQLs matter, and lead nurturing isn’t fluff. It’s the foundation of a sustainable, cost-effective sales strategy.

Don’t let your funnel flatline.

If your lead gen system is out of balance—or just not delivering the results you need—we can help you fix it. Let’s build something that works now and over the long haul. Get in touch.


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Marketing to Seniors and Adult Kids? Start Here.

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During a panel discussion at the 2025 Aline Innovation Summit, one statistic in particular caught our attention: while 55% of adult children cite safety as their top motivator for researching senior living, only 12% of older adults share the same sentiment.

That’s a striking disconnect and a reminder that what motivates an adult child is quite different from what motivates a future resident.

And yet, there’s one thing both audiences agree on: having a clearer picture of life in the community would make the decision easier (55% of older adults and 56% of adult children, according to Aline’s data).

So how do you speak to two vastly different personas at the same time? How do you market to one, nurture the other, and ultimately bring them both to a confident yes? That’s where segmentation, smart messaging, and marketing automation come into play.

Let’s dive into each below.

Step #1: Segment by persona.

If you want your senior living marketing and sales efforts to pay off, you have to start with one fundamental shift: Stop treating all prospects the same.

That means moving beyond the generic “Contact Us” approach and getting intentional about segmenting your audiences into two primary groups:

  • Older adult/future resident
  • Adult child/influencer

On your contact form, encourage people to self-identify. You can accomplish this through a simple statement that requires people to categorize themselves:

I’m researching senior living on behalf of . . .

  • Myself
  • Myself and my spouse/partner
  • My spouse
  • My mother
  • My father
  • Another family member

On the marketing side, the person’s selection is what triggers the segmentation. The first three options indicate an older adult/future resident. The other three options indicate an adult child/caregiver.

Marketing to Seniors and Adult Kids

Marketing automation platforms like HubSpot can automatically sort contacts into segmented lists based on that answer. Instead of just collecting name and contact info, you’ll know which journey the person is on.

On the sales side, it’s about building the right profiles. Every sales opportunity should be created with two contacts in mind:

  • The prospect (the older adult)
  • The influencer (typically the adult child)

When your CRM and marketing automation platform are connected bi-directionally, you can sync this information in real time.

Now, your marketing team can launch targeted nurture campaigns, and your sales team can track engagement and pick up the conversation exactly where the automation left off.

Bottom line: Proper segmentation is the critical first step in making sure the right message reaches the right prospect at the right time. Without segmentation, you might end up sending multiple messages about safety to everyone. Sure, that messaging might resonate with the adult child. But it might also cause the older adult to start looking elsewhere since they care more about other things.

Step #2: Speak their language.

Once you’ve segmented your site visitors into the right personas, the next step is to tailor your messaging to match their motivations. Remember, a one-size-fits-all message won’t work when your personas are coming from such different places.

For the adult child/influencer, the messaging should focus on peace of mind.

As the Aline data suggested, adult kids are often worried about safety, health concerns, and the growing complexity of caregiving. They want to know their loved one will be safe, supported, and well cared for.

Marketing to Seniors and Adult Kids

So, for example, your safety messaging could include developing content around . . .

  • 24/7 staffing. Don’t just state it. SHOW it. Spotlight staff members who work the overnight shift, for example.
  • Emergency call systems and fall prevention technology. Talk up the technology you use and why you chose it. Show how it works.
    • EXAMPLE: One of our SLS team members recalls touring a senior living community with detached homes, where all residents had to push a button by a specific time each morning to signal they were awake and doing well. (Think of a cute video you could make around that!)
  • Overall security around the community’s grounds: Consider lighting, alarms, and other security measures.
  • Reviews that highlight safety wins. Monitor your Google reviews for those that mention safety concerns.
    • PRO TIP: This could be an excellent task for an AI agent, like ChatGPT Agent. The agent can monitor for new reviews about safety and alert you when one is published. Then, you can use these fresh reviews across social media, in lead nurturing emails, and on key website pages.

For the older adult/future resident, the messaging should feel more aspirational.

As the Aline data suggests, older adults are curious about what life might look like if they lived in your community. For example, they might be eager to know that they can maintain independence, enjoy flexibility, and continue living life on their own terms.

Messaging that resonates with this group includes:

  • “A day in the life” stories and videos (this will also resonate with the adult child)
  • Resident testimonials that focus on lifestyle and autonomy
  • Opportunities to make new friends and try new things
  • Dining programs, happy hours, outings, and self-care options
  • Beautiful apartments and vibrant common spaces

This persona needs to see what’s possible. They’re not looking for care; they’re looking for community.

Bottom line: Segmenting your audiences doesn’t mean diddly-squat if you don’t take the time to create custom messaging that resonates with each persona.

Marketing to Seniors and Adult Kids

Step #3: Create campaigns for every stage.

Not every lead is ready for a tour tomorrow, and that’s OK. The key is making sure you’re meeting future residents and adult children where they are in their respective journeys.

This is where automated campaigns shine. But not just any campaigns. You need a mix of touchpoints designed for each persona and each stage of the decision-making process.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the campaign types we build at SLS:

  • Welcome campaigns. The goal here is to make sure that every lead is acknowledged and nurtured immediately, even outside of business hours.
  • Speed to the Lead campaigns. These are built specifically for leads that come in from third-party aggregators, where a fast response can make or break the opportunity. (And by fast, we mean minutes, not hours.)
  • “Still Thinking?” campaigns. You need a plan to re-engage leads that have stalled in the pre-tour stage. They’re often still evaluating their options, and a little nudge can make all the difference.
  • “What Are You Waiting For?” campaigns. This campaign is for people who stall after they’ve toured. The goal is to get them back on track and move them closer to a decision.
  • Stay in Touch campaigns. We use this campaign (to great success) to revive cold leads and spark new interest with updated content, recent event photos, or stories from current residents.

You can (and should) also build persona- and care-level-specific campaigns. The experience should feel tailored, whether you’re talking to:

  • An adult daughter looking into memory care for her father
  • A couple considering independent living for themselves
  • A son exploring assisted living options for his mom

Each of these journeys is different. Your content and tone should reflect that.

Bottom line: A single drip campaign won’t cut it. You need a campaign ecosystem that speaks to who the person is, what they’re looking for, and where they are in their journey. When you get this right, your messaging feels less like marketing and more like a helpful guide along the way.

Marketing to Seniors and Adult Kids

Step #4: Support with smart content and tools

Strengthen your campaigns with the right mix of content, touchpoints, and tools. This is where you turn your segmented strategy into a fully personalized experience that feels useful, timely, and human.

Here are some of the ways we support campaigns at SLS:

  • Well-crafted email messaging. Not too long, not too salesy, and never generic. Each email should speak directly to the prospect’s situation and mindset. (And yes, this means writing different email workflows for each persona.)
  • SMS touchpoints. Text messaging can be an effective and respectful way to follow up, especially with adult children who are busy juggling jobs, caregiving, and other responsibilities. The key is to be helpful, not intrusive.
  • Premium content. Think downloadable guides, eBooks, interactive videos, checklists, and short quizzes. These resources help educate prospects and build trust. They’re also great for surfacing intent and moving people further down the funnel.
  • Interactive tools. Tools like Roobrik and Money Gauge are incredibly effective at teasing out a lead’s mindset. Are they overwhelmed? Are they ready to move soon? What are they most concerned about? Cost? Care? Lifestyle? These tools gather insights while also providing value to the user.

The best part? When integrated with your marketing automation platform, these tools can automatically update the prospect’s profile and trigger the right next step in their journey—no manual effort required.

Bottom line: The tools and tech only work if the content behind them is strong. Invest in making every email, video, guide, and touchpoint feel relevant and human. That’s how you build trust and move people forward.

Bridging the motivation gap between adult children and older adults is essential for effective senior living marketing and sales.

With precise segmentation, targeted messaging, personalized campaigns, and smart tools, you can meet both audiences where they are and guide them forward with clarity and confidence.

Need help? Get in touch with our senior living marketing team.


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4 Ways to Improve Off-Page SEO for Senior Living Communities

4 Ways to Improve Off-Page SEO for Senior Living Communities

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4 Ways to Improve Off-Page SEO for Senior Living Communities

Editor’s note: We updated this blog post in July 2025.

There’s a saying in senior living SEO that “all search is local search.” It makes sense, right? Most people thinking about senior living probably want to remain in their local community near family, friends, and the organizations they’re active in.

The data supports this theory. Consider the search volume for “senior living near me” phrases. We’re talking thousands of monthly searches.

This is why optimizing your senior living community’s website for local search is important. And the good news is you don’t have to stuff “near me” search terms into your site since Google has gotten quite good at understanding a user’s search intent, including how it relates to the user’s location. (Read this interesting article from BrightLocal on its recent study of “near me” searches.)

The question is, what else can you do? Should your optimization efforts extend beyond your website’s boundaries?

The short answer is YES. There are actions you can take outside of your website to help improve your site’s visibility in search results, including local search.

It’s called off-page search engine optimization (SEO), and it’s all about boosting your site’s reputation so that search engines see your community’s site as reputable, trustworthy, and authoritative.

Remember, the more reputable your site seems to Google (and other search engines), the more visibility your site will have in the search results.

Below, we discuss four ways to improve off-page SEO for senior living communities.

1. Become a wiz at managing your community’s online reputation.

People rely on reviews when making purchasing decisions. This is why you must have a plan for soliciting and managing reviews, especially on the all-mighty Google.

The more positive reviews you have (especially on Google), the more reputable and trustworthy your site will seem to search engines, and the more likely your site will be served up, especially on relevant local searches.

Don’t take our word for it, though. Google says, “High-quality, positive reviews from your customers can improve your business visibility and increase the likelihood that a shopper will visit your location.”

So, how can you get more reviews? Senior Living SMART’s Debbie Howard says the key is being “intentional” about your approach to senior living reputation management.

She recommends doing the following:

  • Develop a proactive review strategy. Create opportunities for residents or visitors to leave reviews. For example, in your post-tour follow-ups, include a line like, “Thanks for stopping by for a visit today. We’d love to know about your experience. What did you like best about the tour? Leave a quick review here. It takes only 30 seconds.”
  • Try different delivery methods. Most people have smartphones, so they can easily access email and texts. Experiment with both and see which medium converts better.
  • Re-post positive reviews across multiple channels, especially social media. Share those glowing four- and five-star reviews on your site, in email campaigns, and across all of your social media channels. Experiment with how you present the review snippets. For example, create a video montage and see what it does for engagement.
  • Lather, rinse, repeat. You’re never done asking for reviews because people expect to see recent ones (within the last three months or so) on places like Google.

More helpful reading:

2. Embrace Link Building

Earning high-quality backlinks to your community’s website signals to Google that you have a site worth serving up in search results.

Some links will happen organically. For example, a news site might link to one of your guides about funding senior living. But other links require a strategy. Semrush offers some good (but time-consuming) suggestions for generating backlinks.

Here are some other link-building tactics that might be more accessible and that can help with local search.

  • Whenever your community is involved in a sponsorship, request a backlink to your site from the sponsor’s website.
  • Pay attention to local businesses’ websites and collaborate with those that are a good fit and have good Domain Authority. Make sure you cross-promote and cross-link.
  • Create valuable local content that naturally attracts links. For example, highlight local attractions, like museums and theaters, in blog posts or “fun stuff to do” content.
  • Make sure members of your team who appear as guests on podcasts, videos, and blogs get a link back to your site in the show notes or bio blurb.

BONUS TIP: While Google is still king when it comes to search, people are becoming more comfortable conducting searches on large language models, like ChatGPT. In fact, ChatGPT recently reached one BILLION daily searches, a notable milestone. And it did it 5.5 times quicker than Google.

But here’s the thing. According to Semrush, “The strategies that make you visible in search rankings are largely the same ones that get you mentioned in AI answers. Traditional SEO is all about creating high-quality content, making it accessible to search engines, and building backlinks. GEO [Generative Engine Optimization] works off of a similar foundation.”

3. Ensure consistency in local citations and directories.

Building consistent citations across the web helps establish your community’s credibility.

  • Make sure your community’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all online directories.
  • List your community on relevant local directories and senior living-specific platforms.
  • Claim and verify your listings on major sites.

At Senior Living SMART, we use BrightLocal to clean up our clients’ online business listings. We usually find that 75% are inaccurate or unclaimed.

4. Optimize your Google Business Profile and continue giving it TLC over the long haul.

We feel like we talk about this tip A LOT. And yet, whenever we think we can ease up on this directive, we come across a Google Business Profile that needs a ton of work. (Or that hasn’t even been claimed yet—yikes!)

Remember, Google is still king when it comes to search, and there’s a good chance people will come across your community’s GBP before they make it to your website. Treat it like a microsite that you keep updated with current info, real pics (not stock images), and videos. And as we mentioned earlier, pay attention to reviews, too.

SOMETHING TO WATCH: Here’s an update you should keep your eye on. In May 2025, Google launched a “What’s happening?” feature on Google Business Profiles for single locations in the food and drink industry. It’s all about driving real-time engagement (like today’s dinner specials or the band playing at the local pub on Saturday night).

We wouldn’t be surprised if this feature (or some version of it) became available for other types of businesses.

Think of the potential for senior living. You could highlight today’s “lunch and learn” or the music event open to the public on Thursday night.

Need help with your Google Business Profile? Check out these resources:

Remember, off-page SEO for senior living is a long game.

SEO is never done, so don’t treat it like a box on a to-do list that you check off once. Instead, include SEO in your ongoing marketing strategy. Need help? Our dedicated SEO team can assist you with all aspects of your senior living search engine optimization.

Nonprofit CCRC Marketing Best Practices

Nonprofit CCRC Marketing Best Practices

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Nonprofit CCRC Marketing Best Practices

Editor’s note: We updated this article in July 2025.

Anyone working for a nonprofit CCRC knows it’s quite different from a for-profit senior living community, especially when it comes to marketing.

That’s why we asked Stephanie Landes, one of our fabulous customer success managers, to share some of her CCRC marketing best practices. Stephanie got her start in senior living by working for a CCRC, so she has a good sense of what CCRC marketing and sales teams should keep in mind.

Get comfortable explaining the nonprofit CCRC model, especially to those in the earliest stages of the buying journey.

One of the biggest challenges in marketing nonprofit CCRCs is making sure prospects and their families understand how the model works.

Stephanie says, “The life care promises should be emphasized. The security and peace of mind of knowing that you or your loved one won’t be asked to leave or kicked out due to the inability to pay, should financial means be exhausted outside of one’s control, is huge.”

At the same time, the life care promise can often sound too good to be true to people new to the concept. Constant education and easily accessible resources are critical to helping people understand what CCRCs are all about.

At a minimum, make sure you . . .

  • Offer a thorough FAQ page about the life care promise—what it means in general, what it means in practice in your community, common objections, legitimate pitfalls, etc.
  • Provide financial transparency. Disclose your community’s financials even if your state doesn’t require such disclosures.
  • Explain essential concepts in different formats. Some people learn best by reading. Others prefer videos or interactive formats. Offer a good mix of guides, checklists, and videos (both long- and short-form).

Never assume when it comes to financial qualifications.

While the initial investment into a CCRC is significant, Stephanie cautions against assuming your target audience only includes people from high-paying industries, like doctors and lawyers.

Stephanie explains, “One example from my CCRC experience included two women who were both former teachers. They ended up leaving a multi-million-dollar gift to the organization after their deaths—in addition to the entry and monthly fees they paid while living in the community. We refer to them and others like them as the ‘everyday millionaires’ who were financially sound and planned appropriately.”

Instead of making assumptions about prospects’ finances, help prospects self-qualify by being transparent about your CCRC’s costs, your community’s approach to contracts (for example, clauses about refunds on the entry fee), and info on medical tax deductions.

PRO TIP: Free lunch-and-learn series can be an excellent way to educate prospects and their families about critical financial considerations while introducing people to your community.

Be prepared for a longer sales cycle.

The sales cycle for traditional senior living models is already lengthy. Stephanie says you should be prepared for an even longer sales cycle with CCRCs.

“I think, given the financial commitment, it may take more time and nurturing to gain trust and confidence in making the investment. It may also take prospects more time to gather paperwork in order to complete the admissions process.”

Family members typically need more time to get on board with the decision as well.

“Consider it a marathon,” Stephanie explains, “and an opportunity to really get to know these people rather than a meet-and-greet sprint.”

Stay focused on—and genuinely interested in—the prospect.

A prospect-focused approach to your life plan community marketing is a winning formula. Stephanie offers three ways to keep prospects front and center.

1. Get to really know each prospect. Learn their interests and passions, as well as their care needs and financial capability. Lunch-and-learns are an excellent first step. But go beyond those. Pair up prospects with residents to spend the day or attend activities together. This will encourage them to start forming relationships within your CCRC.

PRO TIP: Online surveys like Roobrik and Waypoint offer great opportunities to help prospects self-assess what’s important to them as they consider transitioning to a senior living community. Plus, the info will help the sales team better personalize touchpoints and the prospects’ visits.

2. Make prospects feel like the community isn’t the same without them there. Highlight the strengths and unique characteristics the prospects bring to the community whenever they visit—and how residents and team members would benefit from their full-time presence if they move in.

3. Keep in touch with prospects over the long haul. Many nonprofit CCRCs are at full occupancy with long waiting lists. Automated nurture campaigns can allow your community to stay engaged with prospects while they wait. The goal is to make it easy for them to jump when a vacancy opens up.

Avoid common CCRC marketing mistakes.

Don’t dismiss traditional marketing tactics.

Stephanie says direct mail and in-person events can work well with the CCRC audience. Both can help prospects stay informed and feel welcome in the community.

Stephanie does point out that many seniors hate waste, so be mindful about how much direct mail you send. If you have prospects’ email addresses, you can send correspondence that way.

As for events?

“Just make sure the events are well-planned and have substance,” Stephanie says, “and that both the prospects and residents are treated like royalty.”

Here are some event topics that tend to be crowd-pleasers.

  • How to fund senior care, particularly CCRCs
  • Education about how to avoid elder fraud and scams
  • Estate and legacy planning
  • Downsizing and selling a home
  • Understanding different care options

Don’t let the sales and admissions teams become complacent about getting involved in the local community.

CCRCs need to be active participants in local associations, so much so that the representative is almost synonymous with the cause. Think of things like the local chamber of commerce, senior living association, senior safety/TRIAD chapter, Walk to End Alzheimer’s, American Heart Association, etc.

“Getting involved and caring for more than just the people within the community’s physical boundaries speaks volumes,” Stephanies says. “And it also holds the CCRC accountable for its nonprofit status.”

Don’t dismiss the importance of nurturing professional referral sources.

Networking is essential (and it’s never done, either).

Stephanie says, “Help your referral partners answer the hard questions that they get asked by their clients. Provide your partners with information and education to pass along on your behalf. And keep them apprised of your CCRC’s availability and vacancies so they can help match their clients with your living options.”

Remember, the partnership goes both ways. “You must genuinely care about the work they’re trying to achieve and how you can help be a referral source for them, too,” Stephanie says.

Need help with nonprofit marketing for your senior living community?

Nonprofit senior living communities face longer timelines and more complex pipelines—and that requires a smarter marketing approach. Senior Living SMART knows how to help CCRCs attract the right prospects, nurture them through a thoughtful, mission-aligned process, and turn satisfied residents into your most powerful advocates.

Intrigued?  Let’s discuss how we can support your CCRC marketing efforts.

4 Smart Ways to Use ChatGPT in Senior Living Marketing

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Editor’s note: We updated this blog post in June 2025.

Wondering how to use ChatGPT to level up your senior living marketing without adding more AI slop to the mix?

Below, we discuss how to train ChatGPT to write in your brand voice plus several other ways to use ChatGPT in your marketing efforts. (Spoiler: You’ll still need humans!)

1. Train ChatGPT how to write in your brand’s voice.

This has been the biggest complaint about AI in general, not just ChatGPT: How do you get generative AI to sound like your voice instead of that generic, vanilla, wooden voice that’s the hallmark of so-called AI slop?

The best way to train ChatGPT to produce content that sounds more like your brand’s voice is to ask it to reverse-engineer a custom prompt for you, based on your existing content.

Why does this work? Well, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are excellent at recognizing patterns. You’ve likely seen demonstrations where ChatGPT is asked to produce content that sounds like Hemingway, and it does this brilliantly.

That’s because it’s been trained on everything Hemingway has written, so it can replicate Hemingway’s style.

But here’s a secret: ChatGPT doesn’t need a whole library’s worth of content to figure out these patterns.

Ten to 15 (or so) solid samples of your brand’s voice are usually enough to train it. However, that’s just the first step.

The second step is asking ChatGPT to reverse-engineer a custom prompt for you. You’ll use this prompt in the future every time you want ChatGPT to write content for your community. Why does this work? Simple: No one is better at writing prompts than ChatGPT.

Here’s how the training process works:

Step 1: Gather writing samples that nail your brand’s voice. The samples can include emails, website pages, blog posts, guides, white papers, social media posts—it doesn’t matter where the sample comes from as long as it reflects your brand’s voice to a T.

Aim for 10 to 15 samples and copy and paste all the content into a Word doc. Upload the doc to ChatGPT (you can upload docs in the free or paid version, but see our note below about potential limitations).

Now, ask ChatGPT to analyze and develop rules about your brand voice.

  • Here’s the prompt you can use: I’m going to share several examples of our brand voice. (See the attached.) Please analyze and break down the style, tone, language, and structure into specific rules.

Step 2: Once ChatGPT analyzes the samples and develops the rules, you’ll want to continue the conversation and ask it to reverse-engineer a prompt that you can give it in the future so that it will be able to produce content in your brand’s voice.

  • Here’s the prompt you can use: OK, given the rules you just created and the knowledge you gained from the content examples I shared, please reverse-engineer a prompt template I can give you in the future that will help you write in our brand voice.

Once ChatGPT generates this custom prompt template, save it to your prompt library and use it whenever you’re asking ChatGPT to draft something.

When you do this exercise, you’ll see that ChatGPT leaves a space for you to describe the specific writing project you want it to work on. This is where you’d share the details (think of it as a thorough creative brief) and where you’d ask for the first deliverable, like an introduction to a blog post, the first email in a lead nurturing series, or a script for a YouTube video.

You’ll likely be surprised (and impressed) at how much better ChatGPT is at producing writing that sounds like your brand when you use this prompt. Yes, you will still need a strong human writer to direct, oversee, and revise, as needed. (We can’t stress this point enough. Use a human WRITER to oversee this work, not someone without any writing chops). But this prompt will help ChatGPT produce better content from the jump, which means your human writer will spend less time rewriting.

Some important notes about training ChatGPT to write in your brand voice:

NOTE #1: There are limits to how many tokens—or characters—you can give to ChatGPT, either as an upload or in the conversation/chat window. And these limitation parameters will vary, depending on whether you’re on a free or paid plan and which model you’re using. (We’re being vague on purpose since this is a moving target that constantly changes. If you’re unsure about the limit for the model you’re on, Google the answer. Or ask ChatGPT for the answer. :))

NOTE #2: LLMs still struggle to produce long content in one fell swoop. For example, we don’t recommend asking it to write a 3000-word article even if you’ve given it your custom prompt and have provided plenty of details.

Instead, work in sections. First, ask ChatGPT to draft the introduction. Again, you’ll still need a human to review, revise, and tweak. Share your revised intro with ChatGPT and then move onto the next section and so on until you have a complete draft.

ChatGPT will continue learning as you go through this back-and-forth process. While this approach might take a little more time up front, it will ultimately save time in the end.

If you asked it to produce a 3000-word piece all at once, we can almost guarantee it would fizzle fast (by losing the thread), and you’d need to do a lot more revising or a complete rewrite.

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chatgpt

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2. Train ChatGPT to understand your personas.

You likely already have personas. (If you don’t, you should!)

Open a new chat, copy and paste your persona info into it, and ask ChatGPT to take on the role of this persona. Then, you can prompt it to do things like . . .

  • Have ChatGPT brainstorm blog article topics that it would want to read. Again, it’s important to instruct ChatGPT to take on the role of the persona.
  • Task ChatGPT with brainstorming headlines and subject lines that will likely resonate with the persona. Or give it the headlines/subject lines your team created. Ask ChatGPT to assume the persona’s role and ask which versions it likes best and why.
  • Ask ChatGPT to assume the persona’s role and fetch recent articles, blog posts, and offers it finds interesting. Talk about valuable intel! You’ll better understand what content resonates with the persona.
  • Go a step further with the suggestion above, and ask ChatGPT to tell you what it liked about each piece of content—and where it could be improved or what questions it was left with. Pay attention to any content gaps ChatGPT points out. This will be an opportunity for your brand. You can create content that fills the gaps.

Any time you close a chat, ChatGPT automatically saves it. You can rename it accordingly—for example, “Adult Daughter Debbie Persona.” Then, return to this saved persona and open the chat whenever you want to do further work with ChatGPT about this persona.

If you don’t have personas, you might be tempted to have ChatGPT craft them. While this could work for certain industries/brands, we don’t recommend doing this for senior living since many human emotions are at play—nuances exist between care levels and the people involved in the decision-making (for example, adult children vs. seniors).

Instead, develop personas based on actual conversations with residents, their families, and lost prospects. Need help? Persona development is one of our many areas of expertise.

  • PRO TIP: If you conduct interviews with real residents, you could take the transcripts from the interviews, feed them to ChatGPT, and ask it to pull out the recurring pain points, etc.

3. Have ChatGPT perform competitor research and analysis.

When it launched, ChatGPT couldn’t access the web and was only trained on data through September 2021. But now all tiers of ChatGPT (including the free version) can search the web and get up-to-date information (through Microsoft-owned Bing).

So, ask ChatGPT to perform competitor research for you. Give it 10 of your competitors’ websites and ask it to analyze things like messaging and on-page calls-to-action.

  • PROMPT: Assume the role of an expert in competitor analysis. Please review the following competitor websites. [List URLS] For each one, analyze messaging strengths and weaknesses and share your findings. Then, suggest ways for my community [URL] to differentiate its messaging.

This is one of dozens of prompts you could devise for competitor analysis and research. Remember, the more detailed and specific your prompt, the better. Tips for writing effective ChatGPT prompts:

  • Be precise, be specific. The more you can do both, the better your results.
  • Don’t go too long. A thorough prompt is good. But a multiple-page prompt with myriad steps and instructions will often trip up ChatGPT, at least right now. It’s better to work with ChatGPT in smaller chunks.
  • Provide context. Pretend ChatGPT is an intern. How much background would you give a human intern to get the results you’re looking for? Do the same with ChatGPT. It’s a great tool, but it’s not a mind-reader.
  • Ask ChatGPT to assume a specific role or persona. Studies show that directing ChatGPT to assume a particular role, persona, job description, and so forth will help it produce better results.
  • Approach prompts like an ongoing conversation, not a once-and-done task. Asking follow-up questions is an excellent way to refine ChatGPT’s responses.
  • Practice makes better. You can absolutely learn how to rock ChatGPT prompts on your own with practice.

4. Have ChatGPT perform data analysis.

You’ll notice a little paperclip or plus sign in the lower left-hand corner whenever you open a chat. From there, you can upload files and ask ChatGPT to analyze the content or data. (Again, see our note in our first point above about character-count limitations.)

chatgpt
For example, you could have ChatGPT analyze trends and themes in your community’s online reviews.

Here’s what you’d need to do:

  • Copy and paste all your Google reviews into a spreadsheet.
  • Open a new chat in ChatGPT and attach the spreadsheet.
  • Ask ChatGPT to assume the role of a data analyst and to look for messaging themes in the reviews, questions that would make good blog content, and areas that might need further clarification on your website and elsewhere.

You could have it conduct a similar analysis with surveys or even more analytical data that you download from GA4 or YouTube dashboards. You get the idea.

Remember, ChatGPT is a great tool, but it still needs humans!

Don’t mistake this article as an endorsement for ditching humans (especially your human writers) and using AI-generated content.

Instead, focus on creating AI-assisted content, where the assistant is a very fast and smart intern, but one who still needs human oversight from a skilled writer.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to provide helpful tips and strategies for using ChatGPT in your senior living marketing. Subscribe to our blog to make sure you don’t miss any of our articles. And make sure you’re connected with us on LinkedIn.

More great resources about ChatGPT & AI:

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How Google’s AI Overviews Are Affecting Senior Living SEO

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Editor’s note: This blog post was reviewed and updated in June 2025.

We originally wrote this article in September 2024, shortly after Google began rolling out AI Overviews. We’ve since updated the post to reflect current data and strategies.

Refresher: What are AI Overviews (AIOs)?

When you conduct a search in Google, you’ll often see AI-generated answers and summaries at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) The space that AIOs are taking up has traditionally been reserved for paid ads. When AI Overviews appear, paid ads have less visibility since they’re placed farther down the page. Organic search listings have also been pushed down.

We did a search on “what is senior living.” Below is the screenshot from our desktop.

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According to Google, AI Overviews have reached 1.5 billion users across 200+ countries. In major markets like the U.S. and India, they’re driving more searches and expanding the types of queries being made, making this one of Google’s biggest Search launches in a decade.

The AI Overviews are certainly helpful from a user’s perspective (which is Google’s main concern). But what about all the businesses and organizations that rely on people clicking on ads and organic search results to drive traffic to their websites? Won’t the rise in AI Overviews mean a major decrease in click-through rates (CTR)? The short answer is yes.

How are AIOs affecting CTR?

Search Engine Roundtable shared these stats:

  • According to Ahrefs, pages with AI Overviews see a 34.5% drop in average clickthrough rate compared to similar searches without AI-generated summaries.
  • Amsive reports that the presence of AI Overviews leads to an average 15.5% decline in clickthrough rates across search results.
  • Data from Similarweb indicates that search results featuring AI Overviews get 20% fewer clicks overall.

The same article cites another study that found that when AI Overviews show up, CTRs are lower for both paid and organic listings compared to when they don’t appear.

NOTE: It’s not just Google that’s sending less traffic to websites. Most of the big social media platforms either penalize posts that include external links, or the posts don’t enjoy as much reach (because the platform wants people to remain on the platform).

What does this mean for marketers? Say hello to the era of “zero click marketing.”

The concept is simple: Don’t fixate on the lost traffic due to AI Overviews. The drop in traffic doesn’t mean the number of people interested in senior living has dropped. It simply means the way they’re getting their info about senior living is changing.

Instead, people can . . .

  • Get answers from AI Overviews, as noted above
  • Visit relevant subreddits like this one
  • Ask ChatGPT (or another LLM) questions like, “How can I finance memory care for my mom?”
  • Hear about experiences on Facebook or other social media platforms from friends and family who have a loved one in a community

And that isn’t an exhaustive list.

Rand Fishkin and the folks at SparkToro have been spreading the word about zero click marketing. Fishkin notes that you still need to market your brand, but that marketing is no longer about chasing clicks and traffic to your website, which is where the bulk of the “marketing” has typically taken place.

Instead, your marketing must engage with people outside of your senior living community’s website and accept that people won’t visit your website unless they want to or need to (in which case, they’ll likely be much farther down the sales funnel).

With zero click marketing the goal is to build awareness, trust, and engagement on the platforms people are already hanging out on. When the person is ready to buy (or, in this case, tour a community), they will then go to your website.

Essentially, you’ll be getting less traffic to your site, but the traffic that does come will likely have higher sales intent, which isn’t a bad thing.

Having awesome website content still matters, because once people are on your site, you still need to deliver a great experience. But the website content itself isn’t drawing people in via organic search or paid search at the same levels before AI Overviews came into play or before social media platforms began discouraging external links.

Rand is quick to point out that zero clicks doesn’t mean zero sales. Instead, it’s about getting sales a different way, shifting from traffic to influence. Watch the video below for a great explanation of how zero click marketing works.

NOTE #1: We’re not suggesting you should ditch paid ads or site optimization. AI Overviews aren’t triggered for every search query. There’s definitely still a place for paid search and site optimization, especially when it comes to local search queries like ”senior living near me.” (We talk about this further down.)

NOTE #2: As we go to press with this updated article, Google just launched “AI Mode,” which will likely decrease CTR even more. We’ll do an article on this in the coming months. For now, we recommend reading this good summation from our friends at BrightLocal.

So what does this shift in strategy mean for senior living communities?

We love this article from Animalz, a content marketing firm that specializes in enterprise companies, start-ups, and VC firms. The article talks about how to adapt to AI Overviews specifically. We can apply many of the suggestions to senior living.

Focus on creating more platform-optimized content.

You need to think about how people use and engage with each specific platform you’re targeting. Sure, the core points or message you’re trying to convey might be consistent across platforms, but how you convey this info will change.

For example, on Facebook, you might share a text-based post. On Instagram, you might create a Reel. For YouTube, you might share a longer video that’s over three minutes (in horizontal layout rather than vertical).

NOTE: You don’t need to target every platform under the sun. Use analytics and prospect/resident research to understand what platforms your target audience is using.

The key is genuinely embracing the platform. Respond to comments. Listen to what people are saying. Answer questions. Demonstrate that you’re listening through subsequent content. For example, if a bunch of people have the same question on one of your IG posts or Reels, do a follow-up post or Reel that answers the question.

Bottom line: You can’t just schedule stuff and forget about it. You need to be ON the platform in an authentic way. This requires a team effort.

Focus on BOFU (bottom of the funnel) keywords.

Informational searches (i.e., top of the funnel search queries) tend to trigger AI Overviews, much more so than bottom of the funnel queries like “best senior living communities in Florida.”

Focus on capturing users who are searching on BOFU keyword phrases. For senior living, this means identifying search terms people use when they are close to choosing a community.

This could include queries using modifiers like the following:

  • [Community Name] cost
  • [Community Name] pricing
  • Alternatives to [Competitor Name]
  • [Community Type] communities in [Location]
  • Best senior living in [Location]
  • Affordable senior living in [Location]
  • Luxury senior living in [Location]
  • [Retirement communities] in [Location]

(Again, this isn’t an exhaustive list.)

You’d create content pieces that directly address these specific topics. Examples could include:

Guides on understanding the costs of your community and a solid overview of financing options.

Content highlighting specific amenities or programs that differentiate your community from others in the area.

Pages or articles directly comparing your community’s offerings to common alternatives or highlighting reasons families choose your community over competitors. (Create a separate page for each comparison: [Your Community Name] vs. [Competitor Name])

Don’t stop optimizing for organic or paid search.

Remember, not all search queries trigger AI Overviews, so you should continue to follow optimization best practices for organic search and paid search.

You can also optimize your site content so it stands a chance of being referenced in the AI Overview (or in large language models like ChatGPT).

Google explains it best: “Google’s systems automatically determine which links appear. There is nothing special for creators to do to be considered other than to follow our regular guidance for appearing in search, as covered in Google Search Essentials.”

And here’s the thing: You should already be following Google Search Essentials, which involves providing helpful, human-centric content that demonstrates expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness (EEAT).

Create content in formats that AIOs can’t produce.

We love Orbit Media’s suggestion of creating content in formats that AI Overviews can’t produce (at least not yet), like videos.

YouTube videos pop up regularly in organic search. So, level up your YouTube game. An easy way: Take those informational blog posts you already have and turn them into short Q&A videos.

AI Overview

Final thoughts: Remain aware of AI Overviews, but don’t panic.

Remember, SEO has never been a static “thing.” And while AI Overviews might be one of the biggest disruptors we’ve seen in recent memory, that doesn’t mean the sky is falling all at once. (HubSpot has a great piece on the evolution of search.)

And here’s even more good news: Local search queries are still the least likely to trigger AI Overviews. (Here’s the article from Bright Edge that we originally referenced back in September; Bright Edge has since updated the article, but the conclusion about local search queries still holds.)

For example, people searching for “senior living near me” get served “normal” results based on their location. (The monthly search volume for that phrase is a whopping 49,500, according to Semrush.)

That’s why optimizing for local search, which has always been important, is even more critical now, given AIO. (And this includes making sure you have a fabulous Google Business Profile.)

optimize for local search

Need help adapting to AIOs? That’s what we’re here for. Get in touch. We’re always happy to jump on a free brainstorming call.

4 Key Questions to Ask a Senior Living Marketing Agency Before You Sign

4 Key Questions to Ask a Senior Living Marketing Agency Before You Sign

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To get the most out of an outsourced marketing arrangement, you need to have a strong alignment between your communities and the senior living marketing agency.

How will you know if you’re aligned? By asking these four pivotal questions and paying close attention to the answers.

1. Who owns the marketing channels and assets?

We’ve made this the number one question for good reason. Over the years, we’ve seen too many operators get lured in by what looks like an easy button: a “free” website (just a small monthly licensing fee!), bundled tech tools, or agency-managed ad spend.

But “free” and “easy” won’t necessarily translate into “simple” and “fair” if you decide to leave the agency (or worse: it goes belly up).

Here are some red flags to pay attention to.

Be skeptical of a so-called “free” website.

If there’s no upfront build fee, that usually means the agency owns the site. They likely built it on a proprietary platform designed to make it hard (if not impossible) to transfer to you. If you leave, you’ll have to start over. Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure you own and host your website.

Avoid percentage-based ad spend models.

Some agencies will offer to front your Google Ads budget and take a percentage of the spend instead of a flat management fee. That might sound nice until you realize it incentivizes them to spend more, not get better results. It’s all too easy for them to opt for broad match keywords and cheap clicks instead of the high-intent conversions you actually need. (And yes, some agencies charge up to 30%. We refer to this as marketing malpractice.)

Audit the tech stack.

Many agencies will manage your review platforms, citation tools, Google Business Profile optimization, and analytics under their accounts and/or licenses. That’s absolutely fine as long as you can take everything with you when you leave. Confirm up front that everything is transferable, and make sure they understand that they’ll be using your Google Suite, not theirs.

Protect your creative assets.

Logos, floor plans, brand guidelines, design files—make sure you own it all. We’ve had clients come to us with nothing but heartbreak because their last agency refused to release editable files, which meant we had to rebuild everything from scratch. Talk about a waste of money and time.

2. How will the agency build a customized marketing strategy for your brand?

Remember, tactics are not strategy. If an agency starts talking about blog posts, digital ads, or email campaigns before they’ve asked about your business goals, brand identity, and ideal prospects, consider that a giant red flag. The best agencies will always talk about strategy first.

Here are some additional questions to confirm the agency’s strategy-first approach:

What’s your process for building a strategy?

You want to hear the agency’s process for learning about your brand, your value proposition, your unique selling proposition, and your ideal resident—and how these things will inform the strategy they develop. (And if they don’t have experience in senior living, they should talk about their process for getting up to speed.)

How do you measure success?

Strategy without data is just guesswork. Ask what KPIs they track, how often they report, and—most importantly—how they course-correct when something isn’t working.

Bonus tip: Ask to see real reports. If you can’t understand them, neither will your executive team.

Does the strategy go beyond “generate more leads”?

Every agency will say they’re focused on lead generation. But a great agency will go further. They’ll not only ask about your reliance on third-party lead aggregators like A Place for Mom, but also discuss ways you can reduce reliance. (Yes, it is possible.) They’ll also talk about eliminating blind spots between marketing and sales. And finally, they’ll talk about their approach for bolstering brand recognition in a competitive market.

3. Does your marketing tech stack align with the agency’s expertise?

During the vetting process, review your current marketing tools with the agency. What tools are they familiar with? For example, maybe you use Birdeye or Yext for reputation management, but your agency prefers something else. (At SLS, we love BrightLocal.)

Are you willing to change tools so the new team can continue using their preferred toolset? Is the agency partner willing to work in your existing platform until the end of the contract?

This conversation isn’t about vendor loyalty. It’s about making sure the tools you’re using line up with your agency’s strengths. A powerful tech stack only works if the tools sync up and everyone knows how to use and get the most out of all the tech.

Bottom line: A strong tech stack combined with agency expertise will lead to better results.

4. Are you aligned where it really counts—on culture, values, and vision?

You can have the best tools, tactics, and reporting, but if the agency’s culture doesn’t align with yours, it likely won’t work over the long haul.

Culture fit isn’t fluff. It affects communication, trust, collaboration, and results. A strong agency partner should be able to clearly define their ideal client. That way, you can determine if you’re genuinely a good match.

Here’s how we define our ideal client. (And we’re not shy about sharing it with prospects.)

​​✔​ Growth-Oriented Leadership

  • Actively seeking to increase occupancy
  • Investing in branding, expansion, or repositioning
  • Marketing is seen as a strategic lever, not just a cost

​​✔​ Values-Aligned Partners

  • Collaborative, transparent, mission-driven
  • Trusts expert guidance and long-term partnerships
  • Open to innovation and marketing transformation

​​✔​ Operationally Ready

  • Has a marketing leader/team or is open to fractional support
  • Comfortable using CRMs, marketing automation, and digital tools
  • Wants aligned sales + marketing and measurable ROI

​​✔​ Multi-location Senior Living Operators

  • For-profit or nonprofit
  • 5 to 75 communities in size
  • Regional or national footprint

Remember, anyone can call themselves a senior living marketing agency. Look for ones that want to be your occupancy partner.

Take the time to probe and ask smart questions. Strategy-first agencies that are genuinely a good fit for your community and want to help grow your occupancy are harder to find, yet worth it when you do.

By the way, if you match our ideal client persona, get in touch and let’s talk.

How to Talk about Memory Care

How to Talk About Memory Care (Without Creating More Guilt)

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Senior living sales reps already know how hard it can be to sell memory care to families who are on the fence about it. The families often want to give it “one more go,” which usually means more work for the family or more money if home care is involved (or both).

As an objective observer, you know memory care is the better choice (and what will likely be the inevitable choice). But pushing people before they’re ready to accept this reality isn’t the way to go about it.

Luckily, there’s a middle ground. You can guide people to memory care WITHOUT creating more guilt. Below are three strategies that accomplish exactly that.

1. Start with empathy.

Moving a loved one into memory care is one of the most difficult—and emotionally charged—decisions a family will ever face. There’s a heightened sense of vulnerability because the future resident often can’t advocate for themselves. They may be unable to communicate basic needs like hunger, thirst, or distress. Their caregivers have learned a new language, decoding nonverbal cues and adapting routines to meet those needs.

These families know how hard it is to get through something as simple as a meal or a shower, and they can’t imagine anyone else doing it “right.” They’re exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, scared, and wracked with guilt for even considering that they can’t do it alone anymore.

In these moments, the only right approach is empathy.

Empathy means truly seeing the situation through the caregiver’s eyes, not offering quick fixes or surface-level reassurance. It’s about listening without judgment, validating their feelings, and acknowledging the grief, guilt, and exhaustion they’re carrying.

It’s also different from sympathy. Sympathy might sound like, “I’m so sorry you’re going through this.” Empathy goes deeper: “I can hear how hard this is. You’ve done so much for your loved one. I’m here. I’m listening.”

Where sympathy feels like offering comfort from a distance, empathy sits in the discomfort with the person. It doesn’t try to steer the conversation to a silver lining or gloss over the pain. Instead, it honors the reality that every caregiver’s journey is different—and that some moments are just plain hard.

For now, your job is to check in (without expecting a “sale”). Here are some ideas:

  • Send a handwritten card letting them know you’re thinking of them. (Don’t just do it once.)
  • Call. If you catch them at a bad time, let them know you wanted to see how they’re doing, but then let them go (you don’t want to add to their stress). If you catch them at a “good” time, let them talk. (And pay attention.) If you get their voicemail, simply leave a heartfelt message (and tell them it’s OK if they don’t have time to call back).
  • Deliver dinner. You can organize this with your community’s chef, but if that isn’t feasible, having salads and pizza delivered (or dropping them off) can be a bright point in an otherwise hard day.
  • Stock the freezer with healthy prepared meals. Families often need fast options when it’s hectic.

Giving each sales rep a discretionary spending account for these sorts of small but super meaningful gestures makes it easy for the reps to follow through.

PRO TIP: Stop by for a home visit.

(Always check with them first.) Sometimes, families can’t make it in for a tour, either emotionally or logistically. That’s where home visits come in. Bring over a meal or an activity. Sit with them. Talk with them. Listen more than you speak. Share books and helpful resources, and let the conversation unfold organically.

These visits will give you incredible insight into the caregiving dynamic, the home environment, and the prospective resident’s personality, interests, and life story (and which family members are truly running the show). You’ll see firsthand what matters to the family and what makes their loved one unique.

Because at the end of the day, caregivers want to know that their loved one is seen, that they aren’t just a diagnosis, and that you recognize the vibrant, capable person they were before this disease began to take hold.

2. Educate them on what memory care is like in your community.

Memory care gets a bad rap, thanks to TV shows and movies perpetuating stereotypes or people using words like “facility” that can be a real turn-off. (Who wants to put their parent in a facility?)

No, you can’t speak about memory care in all communities, but you can educate folks on what memory care is like in your community.

  • Invite caregivers and their loved ones to experience your community in a natural and low-pressure way, like attending a lunch, an event, or a favorite activity. Let them see firsthand how their loved one responds to the environment and how others living with dementia and Alzheimer’s are thriving.
  • Sponsor a memory café offsite to create a supportive, social space for caregivers and their loved ones.
  • Host a monthly educational series with expert guest speakers, and while the caregivers attend, offer a parallel group activity for their loved ones.
  • Offer respite stays to give caregivers a break and help their loved ones begin to feel at home in your community.

Most importantly, remind families that you’re not here to replace them. You’re here to partner with them. Reassure them that they’ve already done so much and that choosing memory care isn’t giving up. It’s the next phase of loving and supporting their loved one.

PRO TIP: Be sure to highlight your community’s approach to safety and independence.

Help families understand that your memory care neighborhood isn’t just safer than home—it’s more enriching, supportive, and purpose-built for this exact moment in their loved one’s journey.

  • Talk about the thoughtful details: motion sensors, secured doors, resident monitoring, grab bars, walk-in showers, and intentional lighting that supports natural circadian rhythms.
  • Explain how colors, textures, and layout all support engagement and orientation.
  • Show how your environment empowers independence with guardrails in place.

3. Help them see what memory care offers that home care can’t.

Many families start by hoping that home care will be enough. Plus, most people want to keep their loved one in familiar surroundings as long as possible.

But home care has real limitations, especially as dementia progresses. Safety becomes a major concern. Most homes weren’t designed for aging in place, never mind for memory loss. Offering a home safety evaluation or checklist is a gentle way to help families start seeing the gaps, like trip hazards, poor lighting, or unsecured doors.

Then there’s the issue of engagement. One-on-one care can be supportive, but it’s isolating. Share your activity calendar. Point to the outings, entertainment, and daily programming that bring residents joy and structure. Paint a vivid contrast: a loved one sitting quietly with a caregiver at home vs. laughing over lunch with peers or dancing to live music.

And finally, cost. Home care often feels more affordable at first. But hourly care (especially 24-hour or live-in support) adds up fast. Families are also still paying to maintain the home. Help them see the whole picture: community life often provides more support, safety, and connection for less over the long haul.

PRO TIP: Dedicate a section of your website where you get into all of the above.

Develop a guide that people can download. Then, create a lead nurturing workflow that speaks to this persona (someone deciding between memory care and home care). Use this workflow to promote the educational items mentioned earlier, like memory cafes and the monthly speaker series.

When it comes to an emotional subject like memory care, your job isn’t to push people into a decision.

Instead, it’s about giving them the information they need to make the right call when they’re ready. When you lead with empathy, show up with support, and paint a clear picture of what’s possible, you empower families to make the transition to memory care with more confidence and much less guilt.

Need help with your memory care marketing? Get in touch and let’s chat.