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How to Create a Great Brand Experience for Residents

How to Create a Great Brand Experience for Residents

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It’s easy to think the senior living marketing team’s job ends once a prospect becomes a resident. But consider this sobering stat: According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs’ 2023 Annual Aggregated Data Report for Assisted Living Residencies, 17% of residents who moved out did so within just ninety days of moving in.

And while that data reflects one state, we’ve heard similar stories from clients across the country.

Early move-outs are more than just frustrating—they’re disruptive to occupancy, revenue, and reputation. Preventing them starts with one essential strategy: delivering an exceptional brand experience that turns residents into raving fans.

Why create a great brand experience?

When you create a standout brand experience, you lay the groundwork for long-term satisfaction, glowing reviews, and referral-rich word of mouth.

Just ask Megan Longley, VP of Sales at ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, who shared during a recent panel that 50% of ACTS’ move-ins come from resident and family referrals.

Their secret? An intentional approach that focuses on consistently surprising and delighting new residents, and a formal referral program that taps into the enthusiasm of those happy residents and families.

At Senior Living SMART, we call this the “delight” stage—the critical window of time when you go beyond simply welcoming new residents and instead create a warm, memorable experience that builds lasting loyalty.

How to create a brand experience that delights residents and their families

Creating an exceptional brand experience begins before the new resident moves in. It requires careful planning, empathy, and a well-executed strategy.

Every transition point—from the initial deposit to the first month in the community—presents an opportunity to build trust and a sense of belonging.

Upon deposit, set the stage for a smooth transition.

The moment a resident makes a financial commitment is a pivotal point in their journey. It should feel seamless, not stressful.

  • Make it easy to pay. Many people don’t carry checkbooks anymore, so don’t force prospects to leave and return with a check, which only gives them time to reconsider. To eliminate unnecessary roadblocks, offer digital payment options.
  • Digitize paperwork. No one wants to take home a stack of forms to fill out manually. A digital process makes it easier for multiple family members to collaborate and stay organized.
  • Coordinate logistics. As soon as the prospect makes the deposit, families start thinking about all the work ahead, like downsizing, selling a home, and finding movers. Reduce stress by providing resources and partnerships. Consider working with a professional relocation service to guide families through the process. (We recommend LivNow.)

PRO TIP: If your senior living community offers relocation services, do the following:

  • Create a dedicated landing page on your site about the relocation services. Ideally, make it available and visible in the top-level navigation. Discuss how this service can benefit your future residents. Share testimonials from residents who’ve used the services. If the service doesn’t cost the resident anything, be sure to highlight this point.
  • Promote the services in all pre-tour communications. For example, when someone schedules a tour online, the thank-you page and the auto-responder email should highlight this service and explain how people can contact a counselor for a free consultation.
  • Highlight the service in all post-tour communications. Remind people about this service and make it easy for someone to contact a relocation counselor.
  • Make virtual intros. If the salesperson senses a once-hot lead is getting cold feet, they should take the initiative and make a virtual introduction between the prospect and a relocation counselor.
  • Promote the service throughout the community’s website, social media platforms, and marketing events. Again, if moving is one of the biggest barriers to entry, break down this barrier.

Formally transfer the relationship from sales to operations.

The salesperson has spent weeks, sometimes months, building rapport and trust and knows the future resident’s hopes, interests, and life story. If this information isn’t transferred to the rest of the community’s key team members, that personal connection is lost, and the transition can feel cold and impersonal.

  • Create a new resident profile. Pull notes from the CRM and supplement with a resident life history survey. Mining social media for additional personal insights can help staff make meaningful connections early on.
  • Host a transition meeting. Gather department heads and team leaders to share details about the new resident, ensuring everyone is prepared to create a warm welcome.
  • Develop a personalized transition plan. Identify residents with similar interests or backgrounds who can serve as buddies. Schedule introductory activities that align with the new resident’s hobbies. Maintain their daily routines as much as possible.
  • Introduce staff in advance. Provide families with a directory of key team members, including photos and contact information. Some communities even create playing cards with employee faces, names, and fun facts to make introductions easier.

Plan a memorable move-in day.

Move-in day can be overwhelming. Whether a planned transition or a sudden move, the experience should be well-coordinated to minimize stress.

  • Personalize the welcome. Engage the resident welcome committee to prepare for the new arrival. Share relevant background information so they can create a thoughtful orientation plan. A personal note from a current resident can go a long way in making a newcomer feel expected and valued.
  • Create move-in day checklists. Give each department in your senior living community an internal checklist to make sure they are ready for the new resident. For example, the apartment readiness checklist, dining/meal plan checklist, activities checklist, etc.
  • Develop move-in day protocols. Examples include leaving a welcome basket on the kitchen counter, providing a welcome packet in people’s apartments with helpful info, issuing a resident handbook, or assigning a resident from the welcome committee to be the new resident’s go-to person during the first few weeks.
  • Make the arrival special. Some communities roll out the red carpet, while others place a ribbon across the apartment door for the resident to cut. Personalized wreaths and welcome signs on the door create an instant sense of belonging.
  • Assign a staff member to assist the family. Designate a team member to stay with the resident and their family throughout the move-in process—helping them settle in, answering questions, and providing escorts to meals or activities.
  • Offer hospitality. A stocked fridge, snacks, and a goody basket with necessities (paper goods, hand soap, etc.) can make the transition smoother. Encourage the family to stay for a meal in the dining room to start integrating into the community.

Foster connection and engagement during the first week.

The first week is all about relationships. Residents need to feel comfortable with both staff and fellow residents.

  • Schedule personal meet-and-greets. Staff should take time to introduce themselves personally and explain their roles. Create an internal orientation checklist so each department knows what to cover.
  • Empower the resident welcome committee. Assign experienced residents to check in with newcomers, invite them to meals, and help them navigate community life.
  • Overcommunicate with families. Send updates and photos showing them engaging with staff and fellow residents. Address concerns immediately to avoid minor issues snowballing into bigger problems.

Focus on creating a sense of belonging during the first month.

The first month sets the tone for a resident’s long-term satisfaction. Boomers, in particular, aren’t looking for a passive retirement. They want to stay socially, physically, and mentally engaged, which means communities must go beyond bingo and crafts to offer experiences that align with their interests.

  • Automate surprises and special treats. Schedule weekly surprises like gift certificates for the salon, dining passes for family visits, or a small bouquet of flowers on day thirty to celebrate their first month.
  • Create opportunities for social integration. Set up a community dining table where new residents can meet others in a structured setting. Develop a digital directory or app where residents can find others with similar interests, browse the activity calendar, and submit service requests.
  • Monitor progress. Use daily stand-up meetings to track how new residents are adjusting. Are they attending activities? Are they making connections? Is their family expressing concerns? Small course corrections can prevent larger issues down the road.

Great brand experiences don’t just happen.

Creating a positive brand experience for new residents isn’t just about making a good first impression. It’s about laying the foundation for long-term satisfaction, referrals, and retention. Need help developing a brand experience that turns your residents into raving fans? Get in touch, and let us help.

Tips for Managing a Waitlist

5 Tips for Managing Senior Living Waitlists

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Having a waitlist for your senior living community might sound like a good problem to have—and generally speaking, it is. But having a waiting list doesn’t mean you should forget about marketing to people on it.

After all, people on waitlists could change their minds, especially if they lose sight of what made them so excited about your community in the first place. Or they could choose a competitor since many prospects get on multiple waitlists at the same time.

If you’re not careful, that once-robust list of eager prospects could tank at the worst possible time—when you need to boost occupancy.

Below, we discuss five tips for how to manage a waiting list for your senior living community.

1. Create a club for future residents.

Just because someone is on your waitlist doesn’t mean they should feel like they’re in limbo. One effective strategy is to invite them into a special “Future Residents Club.” This club can offer exclusive perks designed to build connections and excitement while people wait.

For example, you could provide day passes to the fitness center and pool or offer complimentary meals in the community’s restaurant.

Over time, these experiences will help future residents feel a sense of ownership and belonging, making their eventual move-in feel like a natural next step rather than a major leap.

2. Give future residents early online access.

Debbie Howard, Senior Living SMART’s CEO, and Megan Longley, VP of Sales at ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, appeared on a panel at a recent Senior Housing News Sales and Marketing Conference.

Longley mentioned that at ACTS, future residents don’t wait until they move in to access their online portal. They start using it early in the process.

This is a brilliant idea!

By digitizing essential documents like health screening forms, handbooks, and activity calendars and loading them into an online portal, the community allows new residents to chip away at the “to-dos” in advance. It turns the logistics into a low-stress, step-by-step process instead of a last-minute scramble, and it helps future residents remain committed to their choice.

This early access also doubles as an onboarding tool. Future residents begin to see themselves as part of the community. By the time move-in day arrives, they’re not just showing up. They’re stepping into something they already feel connected to.

3. Use interest-based groups to build brand affinity.

Another creative way to keep waitlist members engaged is by organizing them into micro-interest groups. These aren’t just social clubs—they’re strategic tools to build loyalty and connection. Think about a men’s group that meets monthly for cards or coffee, or a book club that includes both current and future residents. These shared experiences spark genuine relationships and meaningful ties to your brand.

Some communities even design waitlist-exclusive activities around these groups, giving future residents something to look forward to while reinforcing that they’ve made the right decision.

4. Build excitement and trust with construction updates.

For new communities still under construction, keeping future residents engaged is just as important as securing deposits. The most effective way? Consistent, honest communication. Whether it’s a quick text message with a weather-related delay or a longer email with design renderings and timeline adjustments, ongoing updates help people stay connected and confident in their decisions.

Bonus points if you give people opportunities to participate. Some communities allow future residents to vote on finishes or choose preferred color schemes. These are small decisions that make a big impact on an emotional investment. When people feel like they’re part of the process, they’re more likely to stay excited—even if the wait gets longer.

Another great strategy is to create a private Facebook group just for depositors or waitlist members. Use it to share behind-the-scenes photos, video walk-throughs, and essential updates. You can also use it to answer questions, address concerns, and gauge how people are feeling as timelines evolve. A little communication goes a long way.

5. Use special events to remind people why they wanted to be added to the waitlist in the first place.

Tours are important, but they only tell part of the story. Special events give future residents a chance to see your community’s real energy and personality. From live music and wine tastings to holiday-themed parties and hobby expos, these events show that life here is active, joyful, and full of opportunities to connect.

Events also highlight something the best brochures can’t capture: participation. When waitlist members see how many residents show up and how much fun they’re having, it helps them picture themselves in the mix. Hosting seasonal or themed events that are open to future residents can give them that spark of “I can’t wait to be part of this.”

Need help keeping your waitlist engaged?

Our team can help you figure out a strategy that works for your community. Get in touch, and let’s chat.

How to Write a Great Senior Living Blog Post

How to Write a Great Senior Living Blog Post

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This blog was originally published on 3/6/2020 and updated on 4/21/2025

We’ve discussed why all senior living websites should have a blog. Now, let’s talk about the anatomy of a great senior living blog post.

1. Always use subject matter experts.

We can’t stress this point enough: If you want blog content that stands a chance at ranking and converting amidst the glut of AI slop, interview subject matter experts (SMEs) in your community.

Remember, no other community has your activities director, head chef, nursing staff, etc. And AI doesn’t have access to these people or their insights, either. So, talk to your SMEs to make your content stand out.

Keep things organized and moving forward by creating an editorial calendar. It doesn’t need to be fancy, either. Add a working title (one that’s compelling and that includes a keyword phrase you’re targeting), any relevant notes, the due date, and the assigned writer.

Need ideas for topics? Turn to…

  • FAQs. Think about the common questions people ask your sales team and/or the questions you get on Live Chat.
  • Your competitors. Are they covering any topics you’ve overlooked? We’re not suggesting plagiarizing—the content you write should always be original—but you can certainly go to other sites for inspiration.
  • Senior-focused publications. Both online and in print. Again, think inspiration.
  • Your staff. And not just marketing and sales, either. Ask everyone—operations, dining, activities, and so forth—about topics they think would be important to cover. (Again, use these folks as subject matter experts and/or as guest contributors.)
  • Analytics. Google Analytics and Google Ads reveal keyword phrases that are bringing people to your site. Could any of those keyword phrases become additional blog content?
  • Keyword tools, such as SEMrush and Ahrefs, can provide excellent insights and ideas.

2. Focus on a keyword phrase (but don’t be spammy about it).

Again, always write for humans first, search engines second. You’ll find lots of advice online about where to place keyword phrases and how many times to use each phrase, but the truth is that no one knows what goes into Google’s algorithm.

Yes, it makes sense to use the keyword phrase in the title tag since that cues Google—and readers—what the blog post is about. And it makes sense to use it in your compelling headline. From there, just use the phrase—and various synonyms—naturally in your blog post.

Note: Google does tend to like an organized format, so if you can use the keyword phrase (naturally) in sub-headlines and bulleted/numbered lists, go for it.

3. Understand search intent and create blog posts accordingly.

We’re in the age of AI, which includes AI Overviews. When people conduct informational searches, they often don’t need to leave the search engine results page (SERP) because the answer to their query pops up in the AI Overview or another highly visible element, like the “People Also Ask” boxes.

Before we entered this era, a thorough informational blog post had a better chance of showing up on the SERP and getting clicks.

But times have changed.

That said, we’re not suggesting that you should stop writing informational blog posts. It’s still a smart strategy to include them in the mix. Optimize and format them for maximum visibility on the SERPs.

However, another item to consider adding to the mix is more “bottom of the funnel” blog content. We’re talking about content that focuses on keyword phrases with commercial search intent, meaning someone is much farther down the sales funnel.

Yes, this is a departure from the way businesses have been blogging for the last twenty years.

In the “old” days of business blogging, we were told that blog posts should be strictly informational and geared toward the top of the funnel. But that strategy is tough in the era if AI Overviews and the “zero-click search” world we find ourselves in.

Instead, write a blog post around a lower-volume search phrase with commercial intent that discusses your community as a potential option/solution.

For example, let’s say you have an award-winning community in Lakeland, Florida. Consider these keyword phrases:

  • Average monthly cost for senior living: 590 monthly searches, informational search intent
  • Best senior living communities in Florida: 30 monthly searches, commercial search intent

The first keyword phrase has informational intent. The searcher wants info on average costs. Maybe they’re just starting to consider senior living for themselves or a parent. Or maybe it’s simply a general curiosity. AI Overviews and industry associations dominate the SERP and will give the searcher a quick answer.

This doesn’t mean you should ignore the question. You could address it on an FAQs page or in a guide. But writing a blog post around it? Probably not the best use of your marketing budget.

The intent of the second keyword phrase is commercial. Think about someone who plugs that phrase into Google. They’re curious about “the best” — and not just the best anywhere, but in Florida. Money may or may not be a factor. When someone wants “the best,” they often don’t care how much it costs.

You could create an in-depth blog post highlighting some award-winning communities in Florida, including yours. And you could discuss what makes your community even better than the other “winners.”

Yes, it would be a bit more self-serving and even promotional. But the search intent indicates the searcher WANTS to know what the best community is and would be open to reading all the reasons yours is.

4. Mind your grammar, spelling, and punctuation!

This matters to readers AND Google. (Google is wicked smart.) Nothing can torpedo a great topic like lousy mechanics.

If the person writing the blog post isn’t a writer by trade, that’s OK—just make sure you have someone with writing/editing chops who can review the work before it goes live.

HINT: AI tools, like ChatGPT, are great at providing feedback on blog posts. Here’s an example prompt, playing off the keyword phrase we discussed earlier: “You’re looking for info on the best senior living communities in Florida. You’ve just read this blog post. What info is lacking and where could the blog post be stronger, more compelling, and more convincing?”

5. Watch your tone.

Your blog is a great place to be friendly and conversational. And yes, you can still be those two things while also being professional.

Avoid “stiff” writing. It’s OK to use contractions, end sentences with prepositions, start sentences with “and” or “but,” and write fragments, all of which will help support a friendly, approachable, conversational tone. (Read more about style and tone here.)

HINT: You can ask ChatGPT to provide feedback on your blog post’s tone, style, and readability. Here’s how the prompt might look: “Please review this blog post, which is written for women with adult parents in need of assisted living. The tone should be empathetic and helpful. Please evaluate the post’s readability, including specific suggestions on where we can improve the copy.”

6. Write about those things that no one else wants to talk about.

OK, this tip isn’t for every senior living community, but if you truly want your community to stand out in the sea of sameness, then this could be a good differentiator.

Talk about hard things, but in a friendly, approachable way. Example: Tips to Prevent UTIs for Healthier Bladders.

Or how about this: Sex After 70 – It’s Good For You! You get the idea. These aren’t the sorts of topics you’ll see on many other senior living community blogs, but they ARE the types of topics that—if done right—can help your community stand out in a good way.

7. Consider hiring a professional writer.

So, here’s the thing: lots of people can write, even though they don’t wear the label “professional writer.” As long as the mechanics are sound (see point #4 above), it’s good to have a variety of voices and styles on your blog. So you might not need a professional writer, provided you have a solid marketing person who can lead the efforts and proofread/revise posts as needed.

That said, if you don’t have a person like this available on staff (and not all communities do), then yes—it does make sense to hire a professional writer.

But hiring a pro doesn’t mean you should get lazy about having original content. You should make sure the writer has access to “people on the ground” (in other words, the subject matter experts in your community). Otherwise, you can expect generic content that readers can find anywhere (like “5 chair exercises for seniors”).

8. Tell people what they should do when they get to the end.

When people get to the end of the blog post, tell them what to do. This is called the call to action or CTA. It might be links to related content, an invitation to subscribe to the blog, or a download. Bottom line: Engage them further. They got to the end of your blog post, after all, so you have their attention.

You can also experiment with providing CTAs throughout the content. Just make sure these CTAs don’t distract people. You can determine this through your website and blog analytics by seeing how long people stay on the page or even if they get to the bottom of the page.

Speaking of analytics . . .

9. Measure results.

The goal is to write content that attracts the right prospects to your site. Analytics can tell you if your content is doing exactly that. Study the blog posts that convert. What about them is driving conversions?

That’s another good task for ChatGPT: See if it can tease out themes or reasons for high-converting blog content. Then, based on that analysis, ask it to suggest blog content that might get similar results.

At the same time, pay attention to lower-performing blog posts. What can you do to improve performance? Focus on a different keyword phrase? Go longer? Reformat? (Again, ask ChatGPT to analyze.)

It takes less time and money to fix/tweak existing content than it does to create new stuff, so you might as well spend the time getting ALL content to hum.

Experiment with page titles, try tweaking/revising sections, re-format, add different CTAs, and so forth. If you substantially change a blog post, add a note somewhere that says “Updated on THIS DATE” and consider republishing it to gain some traction.

And don’t forget to resubmit the URL to Google Search Console so that Google can recrawl the page and serve it up in relevant searches.

10. Lather, rinse, repeat (aka: do more of what works).

Blogging is a long-game. Do more of what works, tweak and improve what’s lagging, and keep an open mind when it comes to trying something new and different.

Need help with blogging?

We have writers, editors, and strategists available for short-term or longer-term contracts. Choose what works for your situation. Let’s chat about it.

How to Shorten the Sales Cycle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use lead scoring to segment leads.

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

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

Embrace progressive form fields.

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

What’s the solution? Progressive form fields.

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

Have a smart strategy for managing third-party leads.

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

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

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

Always try to connect on a personal level.

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

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

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

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

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

Need help converting more leads to move-ins?

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

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!

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!)

how to increase sales in senior living, man at whiteboard

How to Increase Sales in Senior Living

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Maybe you’re a senior living sales counselor and you’ve been wondering how to increase sales in your community. Maybe you did a search in Google on that precise term—how to increase sales in senior living — and you landed on this blog post. You’re probably holding your breath, hoping this article will have the answer. Good news, folks! It does. And the answer is surprisingly straightforward.

Here’s what you need to do if you want to increase your senior living sales.

You need to work closely with marketing.

Long gone are the days where senior living marketing and sales worked separately. Any businesses that still maintain this separation and silo mentality are doomed for failure. Or, at the very least, they’re certainly not doing as well as they could be.

The line between sales and marketing has blurred. Why? For the simple reason that sales folks no longer drive sales. Buyers drive sales. Marketing’s job is to help enable today’s buyers to buy from you. Which means marketing often needs to think more like sales, and sales folks need to be ready to lend a hand to marketing.

You need to accept that not all leads are created equal.

Sure, some leads will be ready to have a conversation with you today or tomorrow. Those are sales-qualified leads. But most leads are not ready to buy right now. They’re interested in your community, and in senior living in general. But there’s a long way between “interested” and “ready to buy.”

Your job is to focus on the sales-qualified leads while the marketing-qualified leads continue to learn and explore your brand on their own through marketing automation (More on this in a moment.). This can be a tough pill for sales folks to swallow because if you follow this approach, you’ll be working fewer leads, which we know can feel scary.

But the good news is this: You’ll be working better leads, as a result.

You need to use marketing automation.

There’s no sense in bothering with our first two points if you’re going to skimp on the technology. Now, we get it: You’re a sales counselor in an incredibly personal, “high touch” industry. But no amount of charm is going to get you anywhere if you’re not already leaning heavily on marketing automation.

This goes back to our point about buyers being in charge of the sales process. Not marketing. Not sales. Today’s buyers want to interact with your brand (meaning your website, your social media, your emails) anywhere from 5-10 times before talking to anyone in sales. And the only way you can give them the brand experience that they crave is by having powerful marketing automation in place to help them explore your brand in the way they desire.

Why? Because that’s what marketing automation is—it’s a tool that helps deliver the right content to the right prospect at the right time. And guess what? It makes your job easier.

You need to pay attention to results over time.

Sales folks are famous for living in the moment. We get that. But one great week of sales isn’t necessarily an indicator that you’ve landed on the formula for boosting senior living sales in general. Which is precisely why you (and your marketing cohorts) need to embrace analytics.

You need to monitor what’s working and what isn’t. And before you even get to the monitoring part, your team needs to define what they mean by “what’s working.” Definitions will vary for different buyers based on where they are in their journey.

Sure, the ultimate indicator is move-ins, but for buyers who are just starting to research senior living, they’ll need to hit a bunch of milestones along the way before they buy and sign on the dotted line. The marketing and sales teams need to agree on which data and analytics matter.

And here’s the thing: THESE DEFINITIONS WILL CHANGE. What you used as a measuring stick two years ago might not work today. Being flexible is a trait all senior living sales and marketers must embody.

Bonus advice: Use an objective third party to help align your senior living sales and marketing.

The truth is that even the most well-intentioned sales and marketing teams don’t always align goals initially. So if this is the first time your senior living community is talking about things like marketing automation and buyer enablement, consider reaching out to an agency like ours that knows how to bring everyone together.

Get in touch and let’s chat.

Senior living advertising agencies, cell phone with ads

Senior Living Advertising Agencies: Do You Need One?

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Advertising for senior living has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Newspaper print ads and telephone books (remember those?) might have been an effective strategy circa 2000. 

But when’s the last time you consulted the Yellow Pages? And while print ads might still play a role in your ad strategy today, they’re certainly not the only advertising game in town, not when you have Google AdWords and Facebook advertising to consider.

What’s a senior living community to do? Hire an advertising agency on top of an outsourced marketing agency? Or can a good marketing agency handle everything—marketing and advertising?

The short answer is yes. Yes, you could work with two separate agencies—one for advertising and one for marketing. And yes, you could work with one marketing agency that manages everything in-house.

We’re fans of the latter approach—using one agency to do everything—for three important reasons. 

1. Senior living advertising and senior living marketing should work in harmony, not in silos.

When you work with two separate agencies—one focused on advertising and the other focused on marketing—it’s easy for everyone to slip into a silo mentality where the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing.

Too often we see miscommunication or lack of communication altogether when multiple agencies are involved (even despite good intentions). This can result in mistakes like inconsistent messaging between the ads and the actual website that the ads point to. 

The most successful advertising and marketing work together toward the same ultimate goal—attracting more leads that convert into move-ins. And this is much easier to accomplish when everyone is in the same agency.

2. Things are much less likely to fall through the cracks when you work with one agency that oversees everything.

Today’s advertising can be complex because you have to juggle multiple channels, multiple pubs and platforms within each channel, different creative, and various flights. Think print ads in newspapers and magazines. Digital versions for the online versions of those pubs. Radio spots. Google AdWords. Facebook advertising. Remarketing ads. The Google Display Network. And that’s just the beginning.

If your advertising and marketing teams are in separate agencies, it can be easy—too easy—for something important to fall through the cracks, like deadlines or changes to messaging.

For example, if a digital ad promotes a new ad-specific landing page on your website, the marketing agency will typically be in charge of creating the landing page, not the advertising agency. Think of how easy it could be for the ad to go live and yet the landing page doesn’t exist because someone either forgot to inform the marketing agency or forgot to follow up to make sure the landing page was all set.

Collaboration that happens in-house means mistakes and miscommunications like this can easily be avoided.

3. Consolidating everything under the same roof will likely save you money over the long haul.

If you’re working with one agency to handle everything soup to nuts, you’ll get better pricing overall because everything falls under one vendor instead of being spread across two.

Plus, a senior living marketing agency that also offers ad services will already have established relationships with the right advertising partners, which also saves time and money. And the best agencies will pass these savings onto you. 

If you do decide to work with a separate ad agency, follow these tips at the very least:

  • Research and vet different senior living advertising agencies the same way you would any vendor or partner.
  • Make sure the ad agency has experience with ad buys in the senior living space. Ask about other senior living clients they’ve worked with, quiz them on their industry knowledge, and ask them to share a preliminary plan outlining their ideas for ad placements. 
  • Make sure you connect your marketing agency to the senior living advertising agency you ultimately choose. Members from both agencies should be involved in strategy planning and calls—and have access to the same internal documents and calendars.
  • Keep in mind that not all marketing agencies have expertise in advertising. So sometimes you might not have a choice. If you love your marketing agency, but they don’t do ad buys, you’ll need to work with a separate ad agency.
  • Make sure your marketing agency has real advertising experience if you decide to task them with handling your advertising as well. Again, anyone can claim to have this expertise. 

Let’s Chat!

 

senior living podcast, microphone

Our Senior Living Podcast: The Boss’s Favorite Episodes

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Did you know we have a popular senior living podcast called Senior Living Marketing Perspectives? Hosted by our CEO, Debbie Howard, the podcast covers a variety of senior living marketing topics about strategy, technology, and innovation in senior living.

We recently wrapped up our first season, so we asked Debbie to choose some of her favorite episodes. Here are her picks.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: A Treasure Trove of Inbound Marketing Best Practices

Are you a HubSpot or inbound marketing junkie? Or maybe you’re new to both terms/concepts? Either way, this episode is for you. Debbie speaks with Dan Tyre, a speaker, blogger, mentor, and coach for those who want to harness the power of inbound marketing to improve their bottom line. Dan joined HubSpot as a member of the original team in 2007 and currently serves as the company’s sales director.

Listen in as Dan unleashes a treasure trove of best practices for today’s inbound marketer, including how to define your persona, qualify prospects, and create an effective sales funnel.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Dan.

Senior Living Podcast: Creating an Effective Sales Culture in Senior Living during Covid-19

Yes, we’re finally emerging from the pandemic, but we’re going to feel its effects for some time. In this episode, Debbie talks to Mike Miller, President and CEO of Primo Solutions and the author of Selling at Combat Speed and Stop Selling & Start Caring.

In terms of selling during times of uncertainty, Mike says that we have no choice but to “make a difference on the phone.” Even today, it is still possible to increase your conversion rate via deliberate, creative, and empathetic selling. It starts with reducing your marketing spend and putting more focus on training your staff to work with existing leads.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Mike.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: Evaluating Your Digital Presence

Here’s the dirty secret about digital marketing: You’re never done. You need to constantly monitor it—and make adjustments based on what the analytics tell you.

In this episode, Debbie discusses all things digital with Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Orbit Media, an award-winning 38-person digital agency in Chicago. They chat about how to manage your community’s online reputation, when to update your site, and how to differentiate yourself with intentional copy.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Andy.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: The Science of Conversions and Optimization

All the time and money you spend optimizing your website doesn’t matter if the optimization efforts don’t result in conversions, right? In this episode, Debbie chats with Brian Massey, Managing Partner at Conversion Sciences, a data-driven conversion optimization agency that seeks to “find those impulses to act that are hidden in your site.” 

Brian discusses gems like bounce rate, content strategy, and conversion optimization. This is a great episode to listen to if you want to turn your website into a lead-conversion machine.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Brian.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: Business, Sales, and Marketing Advice

In this episode, Debbie chats with Doug Davidoff, Founder and CEO at Imagine Business Development, a management consulting firm that has worked with over 1500 small and mid-market businesses. Doug is all about offering strategies that help reduce friction between buyers and sellers—something senior living sales reps could definitely use help with. 

Doug says, “Your job is not to sell the community. Your job is to help somebody make a good decision about where they should spend their senior years.” With sales and marketing working in tandem, operating by the principles of empathy, the entire process becomes smoother. As Doug says, “The single best thing a company can do to increase sales is to make it easier for someone to buy.”

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Doug.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: Adopting New Technology to Promote Well-Being

This episode features Hollie Kemp, Chief Operating Officer at Sagely, a Honolulu-based IT company that “marries the power of software, data, and the human element to empower caregivers, elders, and their families to improve elders’ well-being.” 

Using technology to boost engagement with seniors has been an incredibly popular topic this past year, thanks to the pandemic. What we love about Hollie’s perspective is that she doesn’t see technology as a replacement for people within the senior living industry. Hollie says, “I still think we’re a human business. Technology just enables the human to do their job better.” 

We couldn’t agree more! We always remind our clients that whenever we recommend any sort of technology, from marketing automation to Facebook Live, the goal is to enhance the human-to-human interactions, not replace them.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Hollie.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: Welcome Home – A CRM Platform Designed Specifically for Senior Housing and Care

If you’ve been on the hunt for a senior living CRM, Welcome Home is a great option. In this episode, Debbie talks to the founder of Welcome Home, John Lariccia, who designed the platform specifically for senior housing and care.

John developed Welcome Home because traditional CRM technologies did not adequately account for the complexities of the human element of closing sales that is especially important in senior living.

One of the best things about this CRM? No wasted functionality. Teams use all of it. The CRM is also incredibly intuitive (which saves on training costs).

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and John.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: Today’s Prospects Have a Greater Sense of Urgency About Their Senior Living Options

Too many senior living websites are nothing more than online brochures. But an interactive survey tool called Roobrik aims to engage website visitors while gaining data on them that helps Roobrik provide even more valuable info—info that will empower visitors to make the best decisions for their situation.

In this episode, Debbie chats with Nate O’Keefe, Founder and CEO of Roobrik, about the effectiveness of gathering data and building trust via anonymous “conversational assessments” and how the pandemic has affected people’s decision-making when it comes to senior living.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Nate.

Senior Living Podcast Spotlight: A Down-to-Earth Chat with Elder Resource Benefits Consulting

This is SUCH an important topic for senior living sales teams to be aware of—but more than that, it’s a great resource to have prospective residents and families listen to.

In a nutshell, Debbie talks with Patty Servaes, a VA-accredited agent and the founder of Elder Resource Benefits Consulting. ERBC was founded in 2005 to help seniors navigate different benefits that are available to them. Its specialty is the VA’s Basic Pension with Aid and Attendance Benefits. The company focuses on veterans getting the VA’s Pension Benefit as quickly as possible as soon as they are eligible for it. Definitely an episode to bookmark and share with seniors and their families, as needed.

Listen to the complete podcast with Debbie and Patty.

Browse all of our senior living podcasts.

The episodes above are just a sampling from this season. To learn more about all the episodes, download our guide, which includes notes on each podcast and links to episodes, speakers, and more.

Download Guide Subscribe to Podcast

 

Senior Living Marketing During a Pandemic: 5 Things We Learned

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On the night of March 11, 2020, three things happened: The President of the United States addressed the nation about COVID-19. The NBA announced it had suspended its season. And Tom Hanks tweeted that he and his wife (the actor Rita Wilson) had contracted the coronavirus and were being treated in Australia.

That night, a Wednesday, turned out to be a watershed moment. Even though the virus had already reached our shores and begun taking lives, the declarations on the evening of March 11, 2020, made the pandemic real in a way it hadn’t been before.

A recap of what happened next is unnecessary. Anyone reading this has already lived it. Still, we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge this pivotal one-year anniversary.

In marketing, we constantly review our marketing efforts, like campaigns, conversions, and customer lifecycles. So it makes sense for us to stop and reflect on senior living marketing during a pandemic—what we learned, what surprised us, and what we can do better the next time disaster strikes. (Although we’re hoping none of us sees anything like this again in our lifetimes!)

1. Senior living sales teams found ways to engage and continue selling.

This didn’t necessarily surprise us, but it did surprise many of our clients, at least in the beginning. At first, sales teams panicked. “How are we going to sell during lockdowns if we can’t give people tours?”

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Creating virtual sales experiences became second nature to sales reps . . .

  • They gave live virtual tours to prospects via smartphones or tablets, walking prospects through the lobby, the dining room, the gym, the residences, etc.
  • They held one-to-one video conferences. Sales staff realized they could still have “sit-down” meetings with prospects, thanks to platforms like Zoom and Skype.
  • They uploaded paperwork to tablets so that people could virtually sign on the dotted line from the comfort and safety of their cars.

In addition, they focused on doing more of the simple things—thing that are often easy to overlook during “normal” times. For example, they made more house calls (masked, of course) and dropped in to check on prospects and/or to share info about helpful things, like a list of curbside pickups for groceries or pharmacies (this was in the early days). They cleaned up their senior living CRMs. They worked more closely with their marketing counterparts in developing virtual senior living marketing events.

2. Having a quality website that was easy to update became incredibly important.

Too many senior living communities treat their websites as static digital brochures. Often, these sorts of websites are built on platforms that don’t make updating them easy.

That can (and did) create a huge problem for some communities when it came time to update their home page with info about COVID-19. Accurate information—and easy access to it—was incredibly important in those early days when there was so much confusion, chaos, and fear.

Your senior living website is the most important marketing and sales asset that you have. It’s your hub. And yes, it is in an investment to do it right, but one that pays off.

Communities that had good websites were able to make updates quickly, create new pages, and provide critical info to residents’ families and friends as well as prospects. Communities that didn’t have a solid website suffered—and looked woefully unprepared and out-of-date.

3. How, when, and where you communicated your messages mattered.

Yes, your website serves as your communication hub. But keep in mind the many spokes connected to that hub:

  • Emails
  • Social media
  • Pay-per-click ads/remarketing ads
  • On-hold messaging
  • After-hours messaging
  • Text messaging
  • Chat bots
  • Live chat
  • On-site info for residents
  • Snail mail communications with residents/families

Having info on your home page about COVID was essential—but it wasn’t enough. The messaging had to be communicated consistently over a variety of media. Why? Simple. Because you never knew where, when, or how someone was going to access it.

One thing we discovered is that in times of a crisis like COVID-19, people crave immediate, current, and LIVE communications. One of our clients held Facebook LIVE events in the early days with the company CEO along with other folks from the organization who had relevant, helpful info.

These regular briefings reassured families that their loved ones were safe. Plus, one of the many benefits of FB Live is that these videos are then available for people to watch “on demand.”

4. Even when you turn a corner, you still face more unknowns.

We think this feeling/trend is going to continue for a while. Yes, we’re all grateful that several vaccines are now available and older adults and other vulnerable populations have been among the first to receive the vaccines. That’s good news for the senior living industry, but that doesn’t mean things will be returning to normal any time soon.

Sales reps will still need to think creatively and continue embracing “virtual selling” through the end of this year—at least. Marketing teams will need to stay on top of messaging across all media and be willing to adjust messages (often quite quickly) as things change.

The best thing communities can do is show that they’re current about what they communicate, how often they communicate, and what channels they use to communicate critical messages.

5. Our team made us incredibly proud.

At Senior Living SMART, our team was incredibly fortunate. We’re a virtual agency to begin with. Our team members already work from home—and know how to do so, even with kids and animals underfoot.

Of course, once home-schooling began, that did make things more challenging for some of our team members. Not to mention, everyone had concerns about the virus and any family and friends who contracted it. But we can honestly say our team didn’t miss a beat. Our wonderful team members worked hard to help clients and to make sure everything continued running as smoothly for them as possible.

Bottom line: We're here for you!

Even as we serve our existing clients, we look forward to collaborating with new clients who need a reliable, trusted partner during these uncertain times. If you’re among the latter, be sure to check out our free COVID-19 Marketing Resources where you can access many items that will help you better market your communities during the pandemic—and beyond.

Let’s Chat!