3 Marketing Solutions for Senior Living Communities
Connecting with consumers is becoming more of a challenge every day. The digital revolution brought us the ability to form communities with like-minded people, but it’s also meant a never-ending tsunami of content. Getting your message in front of the right audience has never been more difficult. We get that. And we have three suggestions on how to make your voice and your message heard.
Educate Your Audience
If the term Shady Pines Retirement Home send chills down your spine, you’re probably an avid fan of the 1985-1992 sitcom, The Golden Girls. If the fictional Walden Villas Retirement Community conjures images of a prison, you’ve seen the season four finale of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.
Why did I bring them up? These fictional places suggest life in a senior living community is one without joy or freedom. Retirement communities in our popular culture are depicted as scary places to be avoided at all costs. It’s a well-worn trope, carrying the stigma of forgotten older citizens living in anonymity in cheerless institutional settings. Your audience knows it, and your task is to overcome those stereotypes.
Educating your audience is the first step in any successful campaign. A constant flow of fresh stories outlining the advantages of the living solutions you offer will go a long way to helping your audience understand and appreciate the differences between the Shady Pines of yesterday and today’s smart assisted and independent living options. Showcase authentic stories about current residents in order to avoid sounding like a marketing pitch or an infomercial.
Speak to Your Audience
Effective content marketing for senior living communities must speak to two different audiences: current & potential residents making choices for themselves as well as adult children & family members making decisions for their older family members. Each audience needs different content to address their search for trustworthy information. Effective content recognizes those differences and provides answers, solutions and information tailored for the specific audience.
The content created for current and potential community members needs to address their fundamental question: will I be happy living here? Folded into that question is a series of related concerns: will I fit in, can I afford this, and will I be able to live the life I envision? Highlighting community members and their stories gives you the ability to help potential residents connect with you and, through others, see themselves as a happy resident.
Content created for your second audience, family members and adult children, is an opportunity to paint a detailed picture demonstrating the care and concern you provide all residents. Authentic stories of compassion and support, including the integration of residents’ family into their daily lives, provides reassurance at a difficult time of transition. By acknowledging this challenge, you can provide helpful information the adult children and family members can use to inform their decisions.
Don’t be afraid to share honest content about difficult topics for each audience group. Older adults may become members of a community by living independently, but they’ll also want to know about how they can transition to assisted living or skilled nursing care. Confront the challenges of Memory Care or long-term care with compassion and honesty no matter which audience is reading it.
Reflect Your Audience
“This above all: to thine own self be true…” and as advice goes, it continues to be as great today as it was in the 17th century. For senior living marketing, this means your content needs to speak directly to your audience in a way that reflects their location. Seniors living in Malibu expect a retirement lifestyle unique to the culture of Southern California. It’s going to be a lifestyle that’s different from one in Maine or Minnesota. Ask anyone where they’re from, and chances are they’ll respond with the name of their hometown or state. So tailor your content with a consistent approach that reflects who you are.
Delivering a consistent message is a challenge for any brand, and the most effective solution is using a branded content style guide for all content. By defining key elements, such as tone, voice & style, image guidelines, workflow process and more, you create a critical piece of governance that will ensure your content delivers your brand message.
Convert Your Audience
EnVeritas Group has been providing large-scale, localized content for the international hospitality industry and other major clients for the past decade. Which is why EVG understand how to speak to specific audiences with effective content. We speak their language. Our content drives results, including getting readers to click through to a client’s website as a customer. Our work in the senior living space is no different.
Are you looking for a partner capable of producing compelling content for your senior living community? We’re here to help you connect with the right audience. Contact Elizabeth Bush, Director of Business Development, at 563-370-1414 to learn what EVG can do for you.
