Senior Living Marketing Strategy That Will Boost Your Occupancy

Senior living communities within the assisted living industry need to maintain good occupancy levels to stay financially viable. However, the senior housing and senior care field is competitive, and communities sometimes struggle to bring in new residents. Fortunately, there are effective, innovative marketing strategies that are tailored to communities like your own. These digital and traditional assisted living marketing ideas are the key help to significantly enhance occupancy and engagement rates for a better community for all. And, as a bonus, they may help you reach healthcare providers who can refer seniors to your community, too.

Understanding the Target Audience

Senior living communities have a straightforward target audience to target with a marketing plan. The audience is made up of residents and their caregivers (or other decision-makers). Seniors, who may be 55 or older, all have different preferences for where they want to live, and they may look for a community where they can live independently on a day-to-day basis or one that has the services they need that they can add on as they need them.

Your brand must show that you understand the psychological factors playing a role in seniors' and caregivers' decision-making processes. Some people will be fearful or sad because they're moving to a new environment. Being able to show that they'll be well-supported, in an emotionally beneficial community, and cared for can make a big difference in boosting your occupancy rates. You'll also want to create content or advertisements that recognize concerns, such as the quality of care provided or the safety of the community, which can help show that you're an effective communicator and transparent community with seniors' best interests in mind. 

Digital Marketing Strategies

Your senior living community can thrive if you have enough residents. Getting residents isn't always simple, though, because there is heavy competition from other communities. 

Digital marketing strategies help you get your community out in front of others, so it's more easily recognized and learned about. Families and seniors want to know the community is popular, offers all the right services they'll need, and is thriving. When a community does well, it is often because the service is good and the seniors are happy where they are. 

Showing that your community is the right place for seniors to call home is possible when you promote yourself and track customer data via digital marketing strategies such as the following.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a top choice for digital marketing professionals. By creating targeted content including videos, blogs, virtual tours, or articles on your community's website, you'll have the content Google needs to rank your website, which means it will come up sooner in search results. 

Content marketing also helps with search engine optimization (SEO) and allows you to use PPC advertising to bring potential residents to your website. 

2. Social Media

Social media platforms are a great place to find new community members. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and others have their own advertising platforms, or you can use organic techniques to gain followers without a marketing budget. Just remember to use a call-to-action at the end of videos or within social media posts. 

3. Community Events and Engagement

You can hold digital community events for engagement. An example of this would be going live on Facebook or TikTok when you have performers come to the community for an event. With this method, people outside the community can see what your community does and feel like they're part of the experience before deciding to move there. You can even set up brand ambassadors for community marketing, allowing them to work as influencers who talk to potential residents and give them valuable information. 

4. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation software can help handle your marketing while saving you time. It can focus on lead prioritization, personalized advertising, email marketing, and behavioral targeting, helping you reach the right people with less effort. 

5. CRM

Customer relationship management software (such as Eldermark) is an integrated software solution that manages, stores, and tracks information about potential or current customers. 

6. Analytics

Analytics allow you to analyze data or statistics gathered about your customer base or company's marketing efforts. With good analytics, you'll have information for follow-up calls, building better marketing materials, and creating high-quality content your target audience wants to interact with.

7. Personalization

Personalizing content to your target audience is a must when you're advertising for a specific service. Consider A/B testing content for caregivers, seniors, adult children, and others who may make decisions about joining your community. Make that content to answer the questions those individuals may have. 

You can also personalize content based on your assisted living marketing plan and the services you provide. Explain what sets your community apart from a senior living community, assisted living community, nursing home, or another retirement community. Retirement communities aren't all the same, and family members of loved ones going into a community may be confused about what your community has to offer. 

Traditional Marketing Strategies

On top of the digital marketing strategies you can use to boost your brand online, you can also use traditional marketing strategies in your marketing campaigns for outreach. These can be an excellent tool for your marketing agency, sales team, and senior living community, as you're often going to promote your services to those who live in the local area. With a traditional strategy, your sales team can directly gather contact information for lead generation, and they don't have to worry about being tech-savvy or offering a user-friendly user experience for seniors online. 

Try these marketing strategies to capture local interest.

1. Referral Programs

Referral programs can work well to bring in prospective residents to your independent living community. Create a referral program that has benefits for current residents or their families, such as discounts on services or special rewards. 

2. Print

You can advertise your community in the newspaper, in magazine, or the monthly AARP newsletter, for example. 

3. Radio

The radio is a good way to reach older populations. In fact, radio reaches 91% of adults who are 50 or older, giving you a great opportunity to reach a target audience of baby boomers. 

4. Television

Television can be a good choice for advertising, especially on local channels. Even with traditional television advertising, you can target specific demographics or geographical areas. 

5. Case Studies

Case studies, which you can keep on your website or send out via email, are a good way to show the nitty-gritty statistics about your community. For those interested in the true statistics reflecting the care you provide, case studies are a great choice. 

6. Testimonials

Nothing is as powerful as a positive testimonial. People like to read real reviews from real people, because they expect they'll have the same kinds of experiences with your company as the reviewer did in the past. 

7. Compliance

Finally, staying in compliance can help you with outreach. Your community may end up on the U.S. News & World Report for positive ratings, for example, which helps with outreach across the nation.

How Eldermark Can Help

At Eldermark, we offer solutions for senior living sales and marketing professionals. With Eldermark, you can increase tours and move-ins, reduce costs, and meet your occupancy goals with tools including:

• Call and email tracking
• Website building and conversions
• Reviews and testimonials on a referral site
• Contact and prospect management
• Campaign performance across marketing channels
• Advertising metrics
• Social media metrics
• Automations that connect your CRM to your care software

It's time to equip your team with a modern CRM that’s built for them, and comprehensive digital marketing services designed with senior living growth in mind. Schedule your demo today to see how Eldermark can help.