WHAT'S GROWING ON

While targeting the family and friends of an older adult is a key focus for many senior living marketing strategies, you don't want to overlook marketing directly to the individuals you want to move into your community. You could be missing out on key opportunities to influence senior audiences and expand your brand’s reach by neglecting to do so.

Game rooms, libraries, on-site salons, restaurants and dining, arts and crafts studios - the list of amenities for your senior living community can go on and on. But, there’s one amenity that could set your community apart from the rest, and that’s a senior wellness program.

Storytelling is something that humans have been doing since the beginning of time; it is the best way to evoke emotion and communicate a deeper truth. Of course, as we have developed and advanced, so have our storytelling techniques. We now have the amazing ability to capture stories as they happen and have them permanently frozen in time. Not only this, but we can make these stories accessible to every person from their home, office, or on the road through the power of video.

The concept of senior living tends to elicit various responses from folks. Some, generally unfamiliar with the space, immediately think of “nursing homes.” Also, all types of senior living often get lumped into the mental picture of “nursing homes.” And traditionally, this comes with a host of negative connotations.

The global economy’s labor crisis is something that the senior housing industry knows all too well. Senior living communities have been struggling with high employee turnover rates long before the pandemic and unfortunately, COVID-19 made matters worse. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing homes and residential care facilities lost nearly 13% or 380,000 workers between February and July 2020 (seniorlivingnews.com).”

Over the past 20 years, podcasts have been on an upward trajectory and they show no sign of stopping. In 2004, George W. Bush became the first U.S. President to deliver a weekly address via podcast. Today, 55% of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast with 24% listening to them weekly. With over 48 million episodes of podcasts available, there is certainly no shortage of these virtual shows.

We have all heard that "Content is King (or Queen!)," but what does that mean? It means that your brand's content is what helps users see the value of your services. Without quality content, your audience will have a harder time engaging and building trust with your brand.

The numbers are in, and they are not good. According to data from NIC Map senior living occupancy in Q1 2021 was the lowest it has ever been - 78.8%.

Why do you watch a movie or read a book? You may say for entertainment, and, while that is likely part of it, you consume these stories because they make you feel something.

We tend to divide companies into departments – sales, marketing, administrative, etc. And while each department has its own set of experiences, tasks, and skills, they work together toward the same goal.