One of the challenges we face creating senior living content is writing for an audience that encompasses several generations.
Failing to target the right audience in the right way is always a giveaway that a writer lacks hands-on senior care industry experience.
They just don’t understand who they are writing to and often get it wrong.
In fairness to writers who lack senior care experience, it is a tight rope to walk.
You need to have spent time with families who are searching for solutions to really understand their struggle.
Sometimes it is an adult daughter and her daughter that are providing care for a family elder.
Other times it is a worn-out husband who has fallen ill himself after caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s for many years.
With every piece of content you write, you need to either talk to the senior and address their concerns or to the adult child about what keeps them up at night.
Sometimes you are targeting both audiences at once. That’s even trickier.
And you must keep in mind that each of these two groups has different sets of fears and worries.
Everything from the voice you adopt to the pronouns you use makes a difference in how authentic your content is.
We know that is the key ingredient in senior care content that connects.
Content Marketing: Writing for an Older Adult
When we are writing directly to an older adult, we try to be mindful of what is important to them and their hopes for the future. We understand the need for joy doesn’t stop with aging.
We also know that independence, finances, and quality of life typically top an older adult’s list of considerations.
A few factors we are thoughtful of include:
- Using language that is kind, respectful, and free from hurtful stereotypes
- Avoiding terminology and jargon that is frightening (i.e. life-limiting illness versus “terminal”)
- Honoring the senior’s story and what may be leading them to search for senior care
- Remembering how important maintaining independence is to most older adults
- Creating helpful, useful resources that aren’t a sales pitch in disguise
Content That Targets the Adult Child Influencer
While many of the issues we talked about above are the same for adult children, there are important differences. As most of you know from working with families, an adult child’s leading concern is often a parent’s physical well-being.
What keeps them up at night is the fear that a parent will have a fall and be unable to get to the phone for help. Or that they will experience some other kind of emergency when they are alone.
There are tech solutions that can help to some degree, but loved ones often see them as a temporary stop-gap, not a long-term solution.
When we are writing to the adult child, we try to be mindful of:
- Their need to use online resources to self-educate and better understand the senior care industry
- How busy their days likely are and how important it is to provide concise, useful information
- The challenges they face on the road to senior living (talking with a parent, downsizing struggles, financing options)
- How difficult this process can be emotionally for adult children and their senior loved one
Have questions about writing content for multiple generations? Drop me a note. I’ll be happy to help you find answers.
Until next time,
Shelley