The Challenges of Marketing for Retirement Homes
One of the hardest decisions that we have to make as we grow old is the decision to leave home and move into a retirement facility. It can be a heart wrenching and emotionally draining experience. It’s a decision that is often times put on the back burner and avoided for as long as possible. At the same time there is a world full of marketers that are in charge highlighting the positive aspects of retirement home living. So how do we as marketers go about connecting with people that are making these life changing decisions? How do we turn a sometimes grim reality into a positive idea? It’s safe to say that marketing for retirement facilities definitely comes with its own set of unique challenges. From initially connecting with our target market, to getting past society’s preconceived notions about the senior population and retirement communities to deciding on the best way to execute a marketing strategy we definitely have our work cut out for us.
The first challenge is making a connection. While traditional advertising is still very much alive digital advertising has without a doubt made its mark in the marketing world. Using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have opened up so many opportunities to connect with different groups of people. With everyone jumping on the digital media bandwagon it makes sense that that’s where you’re going to want to be to get in touch with your target audience. The challenge is that most retirement facility owners are extremely hesitant to give away part of their marketing budget to use on these mediums. The reason? They believe that digital mediums, such as social networking sites, are for younger people. This proves to be quite a misconception as the Pew Internet Research Studies prove that 56% of the 65 and older crowd are internet users. Furthermore the Pew study proves that out of that percentage 43% of those seniors have a Facebook or Twitter page. That’s a fair amount of people that you would be missing out on if you neglected digital marketing all together.
So we’ve proved a point that there are seniors that use the internet and social networking websites. But there is still the reality that 44% of the senior population doesn’t use the internet at all. So how do we once again validate that using digital media is a valuable way to spend part of the marketing budget? The Pew studies also point out that 92% of people 64 and under use the internet. All of the children and grandchildren of the senior population fall into this category. Chances are that when one of your loved ones is looking into a retirement facility you are going to want to do some research yourself to make sure your parent or grandparent ends up in a good place.
The next challenge is creating content for a digital medium. You’ve got to keep in mind there are several different types of retirement homes. Some homes are designed for seniors who are lively and independent and are just looking for a place to retire in a community of people their own age. Some facilities are designed around caring for people struggling with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and some are focused on people who have health problems or just can no longer care for themselves. Each kind of retirement home is going to use different tactics and tones in their marketing strategies. The one thing that they have in common is that they have to convince the viewer that their retirement facility is going to be a safe and happy home for whoever is going to live there. The tough part is deciding on what is appropriate to say for each retirement home category.
It’s obvious that a marketing campaign for an Alzheimer’s care facility might not be as fun and care free as for a community for independent retirees. You’ve got to keep the content appropriate for the situation but at the same time you don’t want to make moving to a facility sound depressing. How do you solve this problem? For facilities that cater to people with more delicate needs an informational approach might be the best way to go. Providing informational and reassuring material to the viewers is educational and can be helpful when deciding on a facility for a loved one that needs special care. The content for a retirement community that caters to a more lively and independent group can usually be a lot more playful and fun. Posts for this group might consist of fun photos of outings and information about the fun activities happening around the campus. So is hash tagging a post with #LMTO (Laughing My Teeth Out) going too far? It all depends on the atmosphere of the community you are trying to promote. At the end of the day you have to reassure your audience that your retirement home provides the kind of care that you or your loved one needs and that it will be a safe and happy homey environment.
One of the last major challenges that marketers face while promoting retirement facilities are negative reviews. You might read one negative review about a restaurant because someone had a bad experience. But chances are that it’s not going to stop you from trying out the restaurant if you are interested trying it out. It’s a completely different story with retirement facilities. No one is going to risk the happiness or safety of themselves or a loved one if someone else had a bad experience. One incident can completely destroy a retirement community’s reputation. The hard part is that when a bad review comes out it’s not always the fault of the retirement home. The internet gives people the power to write whatever they want in reviews whether it’s true or not. So how do you combat this? Listen to your residents. Constantly monitor what’s being said about your facility online. Collect testimonials from current residents that are happy with their experience at the retirement facility. Fifteen people giving a retirement home a good review might just be enough to overturn that one bad review someone gave you for a silly reason. Online reviews have a lot of power to influence decisions both positively and negatively.
It’s time to get over the preconceived notions about the senior population and retirement communities. There are so many opportunities to reach out to seniors and their family members and invite them into your community. Connect with people online, engage and communicate with interested audiences, and build a positive name for your facility. Marketing for retirement communities can definitely be challenging. Luckily for marketers there are strategies to deal with all of the challenges that cross our paths.
If you or a loved one are in need of a retirement home community check out some of the awesome facilities that my company works for! A CCRC is a community that transitions with you as your assistance needs may change. Check out PPh Family a Philadelphia CCRC that offers care from independent living through memory care. If your primary focus needs to be memory care check out Azura, a Wisconsin Alzheimer's Community that specialized in Alzheimer's and Dementia care. If you needs are more geared towards living independently you should look into The Cypress of Charlotte, a beautiful Charlotte Independent Living Community.
