A Guide to Growing Senior Living Census

Does your website generate enough inquiries for your senior living community? Boost your census by following this playbook.

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The senior living industry is experiencing a period of rapid growth as the population of seniors, or those aged 65 and older, continues to increase. This phenomenon, often referred to as the "silver tsunami," has led to a greater demand for senior living communities and the services they provide. With the aging of the baby boomer generation and increased longevity, it's estimated that the number of seniors in the United States will reach over 95 million by 2060.

This presents a significant opportunity for senior living communities to meet the needs of this growing population and establish themselves as a trusted provider of care and support. However, with so many options available, it's important for senior living communities to stand out and effectively reach and attract potential residents.

One way to do this is through digital marketing, which allows senior living communities to effectively target and connect with seniors and their families online. By implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, senior living communities can increase their visibility and reach, showcase their unique offerings and benefits, and effectively communicate with and engage potential residents.

How can senior living communities effectively reach and attract potential residents in an increasingly competitive market? Read on to find out.

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7 Steps to Getting More Leads for Your Senior Living Community

1. Target Your Specific Audience

Effective targeting is crucial for the success of any digital marketing campaign, particularly for senior living communities looking to reach and attract their ideal audience of seniors and their families. Here are a couple tips for better targeting:

  • Clearly define your ideal audience. Who are the seniors and families you are trying to reach? What are their characteristics, interests, and needs? By understanding your target audience, you can tailor your marketing efforts to appeal to them.

  • Survey current residents. Asking current residents about their decision to move to your senior living community and the situations that led to having to make that decision can provide valuable insights into the needs and preferences of your target audience. Use this information to inform your marketing efforts and better target your campaigns.

2. Optimize Your Website

Are you providing enough information on your senior living community's website for seniors and their families to do independent research?

It's important to deliver an experience that will provide them with the information they need while also gently guiding them to provide some information for follow-up.

Here are two things you can use to provide an exceptional research experience while also getting some information from the visitor.

  • If you publish a downloadable decision making guide on your website with answers to commonly asked questions, visitors may leave their contact information in exchange for a downloadable guide. This allows you to start a conversation and convert more website visitors into leads.
  • Lead website visitors to the next step and keep them engaged. Add prominent calls to action and ask visitors to move from anonymous to a personally-identifiable lead.
  • Your Contact Us page should not be the only form on the website, as less than 1% of visitors will fill it out. Try live chat to collect leads real-time.

3. Offer Great Content

It's important for senior living communities to be visible online and easily found through a variety of internet searches, as 70% of a decision making process happens before a potential decision maker or influencer calls you.

Having great content on your website improves that chances that you'll be found.

Today's website visitors are looking for answers to their care challenges, which creates an opportunity to form a relationship with these prospects before they are ready to take action.

By meeting a potential patient's need for information, senior living communities can build credibility, create a relationship, remain top of mind, and improve visibility on search engines.

Here are some examples of great content:

  • Educational, helpful blog articles that answer common questions
  • Video interviews with residents
  • Downloadable "senior living guides" to help seniors make the right decision
  • Video tour of the community to show amenities and room sizes/layouts

4. Advertise where people are searching for senior living options

You want potential residents to find your community early in the research process, and paying for advertising will give you a good opportunity to get found.

If your senior care organization needs leads immediately, it is a good idea to run some advertising on search engines and Facebook. These platforms are where many people will start their research, searching for locations near them, researching care options, cost options, and more.

Facebook is also a good platform for advertising, as people often ask for recommendations on the site.

Learn more about senior living marketing at our Senior Care Growth resource section.

More senior living marketing resources

 

5. Manage Leads With A CRM

Lead management is important for senior living communities that want to turn website visitors into sales conversations.

Connecting your website to a CRM (customer relationship management) system can help you track and prioritize leads, automate follow-up activities, and streamline your sales process.

Seniors and their families are busy and have high expectations, so it's essential to follow up with potential patients quickly.

Automating this process with a CRM can increase your chances of gaining a new resident. Defining your follow-up process and mapping it out on paper can help you automate the process and quickly reply to web inquiries.

6. Nurture Leads

Lead nurturing is the process of following up with potential patients or residents who have expressed interest in your organization through your website, usually through email or text.

The goal is to better understand their needs and see if your organization can help.

Some ways to nurture leads include continuing to offer relevant content, getting prospects more involved by inviting them to your location or offering to meet at theirs, understanding their level of interest, and picking up the phone to call or meet in person.

It's important to remember that your job is to help prospects answer questions and make the right decision for their needs, rather than being pushy.

7. Measure results

It's important for senior living communities to measure the results of their digital marketing campaigns so they can understand the return on investment (ROI) and make informed business decisions.

With analytics tools, senior living communities can easily track key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify buying signals and other intelligence from their website and marketing activities.

This data can provide valuable insights into how well your marketing campaigns are performing and what adjustments you might need to make in order to achieve the desired results.

Additionally, by analyzing this data, senior living communities can make more informed decisions about how to allocate their marketing budget and resources in order to maximize their ROI. 

Whittington Consulting - A Senior Living Marketing Consultant

Does your website generate enough inquiries for your senior living community? 

Are you tired of throwing money at ineffective marketing campaigns that yield poor results?

It's time to shake things up and work with our senior living marketing firm. Our team of experts will craft a personalized strategy that will drive qualified leads and ultimately increase occupancy.

Don't settle for mediocre results any longer - join forces with us and watch your community thrive.

Contact us using the form to schedule a call and see if digital marketing is right for your community. No pressure, no gimmicks.