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Senior housing providers are looking to take advantage of the industry’s so-called digital transition by overhauling their websites, changing their web strategies and generally doing things differently than they did just a few years ago. is.
One of the big reasons they do it is because the baby boomer generation is on the horizon, bringing with them a new preference for finding community online. As a result, carriers are becoming more sophisticated about when, where, and how they advertise to older adults, with a focus on the web.
This powered a new source of inbound traffic, but also required a change in sales and marketing techniques. For example, from 2022 to 2023, Legend’s Senior Living’s Google ads increased the number of calls to its community by about 600%, according to Christie VanderWesthuizen, senior vice president of sales. As a result, the Wichita, Kansas-based carrier has changed the way its sales reps answer the phone.
“For me, it was fascinating. And it’s actually kind of scary when you think about it,” Vann said during a panel discussion at the recent Senior Housing News Sales and Marketing Conference in Tampa, Florida. Dar Westhuizen said.
“600x more people are calling our community from digital ads.”
The pandemic and all its anomalies have changed the way potential customers reach out to their communities. For example, video calls are much more common than they were just four years ago. As a result, carriers, including Newark, Delaware-based Kendall Corporation, have integrated digital and traditional media into one larger strategy. The mailer includes a QR code that potential residents can scan to learn more about the community.
This way, Braxton said, about 80 percent of Kendall Corporation’s leads last year came through its website.
Paul McNally, director of corporate marketing for Dillsburg, Pa.-based Presbyterian Senior Living, said his company’s strategy is to aggregate resources such as blogs, webinars and videos into a portal as a means of providing information. He said he has shifted to being an “honest broker of good information.” For residents who are doing their own research before visiting a community.
“They just want to be in that learning phase,” McNally said.
Fine-tune traditional marketing for a new era
Kendal takes a balanced marketing approach across 11 communities. The company has had more success by focusing on physical advertising, such as direct mail, rather than moving entirely to digital activities.
“Traditional marketing still works very well for us, and we haven’t really abandoned it,” he said.
Van der Westhuizen said Legend Senior Living has a “good mix” of traditional and digital marketing, experimenting with different mediums, such as radio and newspaper ads, depending on the market to see what works. He said he is considering it.
“We look at each market individually,” she said. “And what we’ve noticed is that in some smaller markets, we’re definitely putting more money into traditional print marketing, because in rural markets, radio works as well. Because there is.”
When it comes to digital marketing, Kendall Corporation focuses primarily on social media, corporate websites, and community websites, which account for approximately 60% of the team’s marketing efforts.
McNally said Presbyterian Senior Living has shifted its focus primarily to its digital marketing platform. He noted that while print is “slightly down”, streaming radio advertising has been successful, generating tens of thousands of impressions at “a fairly low cost.”
While Kendall, Legend and Presbyterian have spent about the same amount or slightly increased their spending on marketing since the pandemic began, McNally noted that thinking has shifted to return on investment.
“Doing business in the digital space is inherently expensive, but costs per lead and marketing automation platforms, none of which seem to be coming down, offer really good and decent ROI. Are we getting what we’re getting?” he said. “That cost is going up. And our commitment to it is going up even more.”
Marketing moves towards personalization
Starting in 2020, many senior housing providers have shifted to personalizing the sales process for prospective customers, recognizing that the upcoming baby boomer generation will want a unique experience tailored to them. There is.
McNally said senior-serving businesses can leverage digital tools to better understand what prospects are going through when they contact them, and to customize the sales process for them. He also said that there is a need to utilize these tools.
“We need to follow that approach and make the personalized experience even better,” he added.
Among the digital tools becoming available to the senior housing industry are artificial intelligence (AI) tools, which Braxton said will see even more involvement in the coming years.
Kendall hasn’t “jumped on that train” yet, but the operator is considering where it can be used effectively, he added. For example, the company uses Fathom AI’s Notetaker tool to keep records of Zoom calls and meetings.
“We want to track what’s being said. And certainly, Zoom calls are pretty ingrained and aren’t going away,” Braxton said. “But when something new happens, [we are]Test and see what works best and don’t be afraid to test. ”
One tried-and-true strategy in the real estate industry is to rely on restrained appeal to sell prospective buyers on the idea of living in a senior housing community. Braxton said this rule still applies in 2024, but carriers are increasingly moving their efforts online rather than through flyers and brochures.
He also advises other companies to inspect and update their websites at least multiple times a year, if not once a month, to make the process as smooth as possible for both staff and prospects. encouraged them to do so.
“If you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a building facade and you look at the website once a year, you’re doing yourself a disservice,” he said. “because [if] If people don’t like what they see on your website, they may never come to your community, no matter how good your words or content are. ”
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