What Are The Best Channels For Your Senior Living Community?

You have been tasked with the marketing for your Senior Living Community. So, where do you begin? Chances are great that you want to build a connection that reflects a caring aspect to your brand. You want to bridge the gap with the human touch that your desired audience is looking for online. Does your marketing plan have reliable indicators in place? Are you tracking your effectiveness towards your desired ROI?

According to the Pew Research Center, 34% of Americans ages 65 and up use social media sites. This is up seven-points from 2013. That stats are even more telling for adult children who are decision makers and help navigate senior living for their parents. As social media steadily increases, so is the need to be relevant and provide useful information that they are seeking out online.

For independent living communities, it’s vital to have an online presence. It’s also extremely beneficial to provide resources that can help lead them through the process of looking for a place to call home. Taking into consideration that 32 percent of people ages 55+ perform research online, we know that they are looking – the question is, who will they find?

What resources do you have available online? Here are a few recommendations, just to name a few: e-newsletter that includes your happenings and activities, facility brochure, Q&A, blog posts, email subscription opt-in, materials that families can download, and even maybe a step-by-step guide that walks them through the process. By doing so, you also gather information about your prospective residents – and nurture them through the funnel.

So, what are the best channels to reach your prospective residents and caregivers?

Here are our recommendations on the best channels, paid advertising and targeting for social media for your senior living community. It all starts with a goal. You can read more on our SMART goal approach to Senior Living Communities here. 

Best Channels

Not all social media is created equally. That is, when you are trying to reach seniors and their respective caregivers and family decision makers, it’s essential to place your content and paid ads in front of the sites they are browsing. If you are aiming to reach the daughters of your prospective resident, you may look at Instagram, but you would need to make your decision based on a solid foundation of your target demographic. Which leads us to an important question.

Who are those making decisions among your residents in your facility?

This is something imperative to ask each person that walks through your doors. Did they find your location seamlessly? Was the address easy to find online and on Google Maps? Did the website answer the questions that they were asking? Did they schedule the walk-through online or in-person? Data is key. 

With 65% of people aged 50-64 using Facebook, I would say this one is a slam-dunk. Knowing this is an effective platform, it’s also important to differentiate yourself from the rest. What sets you apart? What is unique to your facility? Does your brand build trust and create a brand experience with those that interact and engage with you?

On a typical day, a majority of seniors could spend their time using the internet, watching television, streaming music, and shopping online. Finding the right mix to meet your target audience requires a cultivated experience that uses real-time data to make decisions.

Our advice: Talk to your team. Pull together your data, and then start forming your online strategy. 

Paid Advertising

Given the fact that there are 2 billion users on Facebook, we think this one is a clear leader. With the ability to look at audience insights and even create lookalike audiences,  you can create an ad that will deliver your brand in front of your audience. Is it compelling? Do you have an offer available this month? These are all messages that you can use in your paid social strategy. Did you capture someone the first time, but they didn’t stay on your site very long? Not to worry, you can even set-up remarketing campaigns to target visitors that didn’t convert to a lead. 

Social Media Targeting  

Once you have determined the best channels to use, and have determined a budget for your paid strategy, now it’s time to investigate the targeting specifics that you will use.

Mind that Facebook has recently announced some major updates that affect the way real estate can be advertised on their platforms (including limitations on age, gender and zip codes. Check out our blog here)

Let Blue Sky Marketing Help

If you need help with your marketing strategy or want to talk about what our team can do for your Senior Living community, , founder and chief marketing strategist at Blue Sky Marketing.