Do you speak to seniors and their families in the same way and about the same things? If so, you’re not maximizing your marketing potential. With each communication, senior living communities need to know the intended audience and goal of the message. In addition, you need the data to understand how to reach the right audience with a message tailored to their behaviors, needs, and perspectives.
Omnichannel marketing for the senior living industry effectively connects a tailored message to a target audience across channels. This approach builds a consistent and clear brand image. This approach also enables the marketer to communicate the desired call-to-action to lead the prospect through the most effective consumer journey.
Understand the Decision-Maker
When crafting a message for family members versus the senior living client, it’s important to consider who makes the final decision. The level of care influences the decision-making role. For lower levels of care, like independent or even assisted living, the senior usually drives the decision. However, for higher levels of care, including dementia care and skilled nursing, the family members have more decision-making responsibility.
When communicating with family members, it’s vital to understand whether their role is one who can influence the senior or if they are making the decision. Crafting your marketing messaging with this dynamic in mind will lead to a more persuasive message. When speaking to the family, you can build trust by directing them to authoritative information to answer their questions. If they are influencing the decision, guide them to information they can share with their senior family member. If the family member is taking a first step by serving as the information gatherer, offering unbiased data that covers a wide range of options to be shared with the family and senior gives you the opportunity to start a conversation. It also helps everyone feel valued and a part of the decision.
Know which Channels Work
As a starting point, understand which channels are most effective in reach each audience. We know older Americans now spend more time online than they did a decade ago. However, not all age groups use the internet the same way. For example, most senior adults use social media daily, but they use Facebook more than other social media platforms, which are preferred and used by younger age groups. But it’s important to differentiate your audience in more granular ways. Seniors searching for senior living are likely to be on the younger end of the spectrum. For those who rely on a family member to make the decision, the family member is apt to be a younger senior or at the upper end of middle age. Both groups use the internet and its various platforms in different ways. One platform won’t work for everyone.
Traditional marketing in combination with online marketing works to reach and influence both seniors and their families. But it’s important that these two channels work together to deliver congruent messaging across all platforms. This is the most effective way to develop trust and brand loyalty.
Omnichannel Marketing Gets it Right
Multichannel marketing was the first evolution of the integration of internet marketing with traditional marketing. With this approach, marketers worked in silos to deliver messages through the different media channels, including email, social media, print, video and others.
But multichannel marketing is no longer enough. An omnichannel approach connects all your channels with consistent messages and calls-to-action in order to target specific audiences with tailored messaging for a seamless brand experience.
This advanced marketing method uses detailed data analytics to build the best lists so that marketers know exactly who they are reaching. By using in-depth analytics, each new list more closely reflects your ideal audience member who is most likely to convert. In other words, with the right list, you can deliver the best messages to the right people on the most effective channels at the right time.
With omnichannel marketing, seniors and their family members receive your messaging throughout each step of their consumer journey. When done well, you can move the needle to not only gain attention but to guide your audience from prospects to clients.
A Trusted Marketing Partner
Senior living communities today face unparalleled challenges to preserve brand image and build trust with senior living clients and family members. Thankfully, you don’t have to figure this out on your own.
Sabal Group is a trusted marketing partner in the senior living industry. We use data analytics to build lists and craft tailored messaging through an omnichannel marketing strategy. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you achieve your marketing goals.
