Content for Each Stage of the Senior Living Marketing Funnel

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Content makes the senior living marketing world go round, but not just any content. You must have strategic content that reaches the right prospect at the right time. Otherwise, what’s the point?

For example, you could have the most fantastic content to go with your sales pitch, but if someone is only in the early stages of learning about senior living, you’ll be wasting your time.

This is why we recommend focusing on the various stages of the sales funnel and matching the best content for each stage.

What’s the sales funnel?

The sales funnel indicates where your prospects are at any point during their buying journey. It is typically segmented into three sections: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.

The Awareness stage happens at the top of the funnel. In this stage, people realize that they or a loved one needs senior living. This stage is education focused. Prospects learn about senior living, how much it costs, how to finance it, and different care levels.

The Consideration stage happens in the middle of the funnel. As the name suggests, people in this stage are considering their options. Note: Not everyone in this stage will necessarily “buy” senior living. Some might decide to stay in their home or move in with family members, for example. They’re considering all their options.

The Decision stage happens at the bottom of the funnel. Folks in this stage are poised to buy. But again, not everyone will buy. And even if they buy, it might not be for months or years. (The sales cycle in senior living is notoriously long for certain lifestyle options, like independent living.) And, of course, they might not choose your community.

In senior living marketing, we also discuss three other stages—Whether, Where, and When—that coincide with the Awareness, Consideration, and Decision stages.

For example, during the Whether stage, people often wonder “whether” they should move into senior living, whether they can afford it, and whether they must sell their home before moving. They’ll turn to the Internet for answers to these questions and to educate themselves (which is why this stage coincides nicely with the Awareness stage). R ead more about the Whether, Where, and When stages.

Why is it critical to match the right content to the right stage?

As we mentioned, if you give someone good content at the wrong time, you’re essentially wasting good content. You’re also missing an opportunity to deliver content that will resonate better with the prospect.

For example, the divorced woman in her early sixties who is thinking about retirement isn’t interested in reading customer stories about your community or coming in for a tour yet. She’s still in the early Awareness stage, where she’s educating herself about senior living, costs, and so forth.

On the other hand, someone who has already toured your community doesn’t need a guide explaining what senior living is. They are way past that point. And if you send it to them as follow-up content after they tour your community, you’ll not only look silly, but you’ll also waste an opportunity to give them content that could actually be helpful in their decision-making process.

What type of content formats work best for each stage?

What follows isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good overview of the types of content that senior living marketers and writers should be planning.

Good senior living marketing content for the Awareness stage

Blog posts optimized for search
Infographics
Videos
Listicles
Educational guides (e.g., Senior Living 101, How to Fund Senior Living)
Educational webinars
General FAQs (about senior living in general)
Self-directed surveys (e.g., What senior living lifestyle is best for you?)

Good senior living marketing content for the Consideration stage

Case studies/customer stories
Comparison charts (your community compared to others in the area)
Day-in-the-life videos
Day-in-the-life blog posts
Meet the staff videos/blog posts
Webinars
Specific FAQs (about your community specifically)
Decision toolkit
Interactive elements (like interactive floor plans)
Lead nurturing emails

Good senior living marketing content for the Decision stage

Invites to on-site events (book clubs, musical events, lunch & learn series)
Testimonial videos
Case studies/customer stories
Schedule a tour (make sure people can schedule their own)
Post-tour nurturing emails

Notice that some content will overlap between stages. For example, case studies and customer stories can be used in both the Consideration stage, when people are thinking through their options, and the Decision stage when they have whittled their choices down to your community (hopefully) and one or two others.

When creating the content, make sure your buyer personas are current. Not every community’s ideal resident is the same. For example, a luxury community that caters to high-net-worth people won’t spend money developing content about how to afford senior living.