Have you set goals for your senior living content?
It’s always so surprising when providers we talk with answer no to this question. And to be clear, we hear no a whole bunch more than we hear yes.
In an industry that measures everything from the number of phone calls a sales team made during the day to how long it takes an online lead to convert, the notion that senior living content is being created without a goal is a stunner.
You might be scratching your head, thinking that content marketing goals are always the same, aren’t they? Isn’t your goal to generate leads?
To that we say, of course, but… it’s not the only objective of quality senior living content.
Senior Care Content Generates Leads
Obviously, lead generation is hands down the goal most people equate with content marketing.
When you create good quality senior living content, older adults and their families find you. No cold calls or direct mail campaigns needed.
Adult children search for solutions online and end up on your virtual doorstep.
It might be they find a blog article you wrote on red flags for early dementia or an interactive tool that helps people identify the type of care that best meets their needs.
The family needs help and your content allows them to see solutions. They reach out in one form or another and become a lead.
But what other goals can you set and achieve with your content?
There are many more you might not have considered. Let’s take a look at a few of them now.
Beyond Lead Gen: Senior Living Content Goals
- Engagement: Sometimes online leads happen quickly. A family might be aware of your community and jump on Google to do a quick search of your website. It might be an emergency situation where time is a factor. For others, however, great content is what grabs a family’s attention and engages them. Your content keeps them from hitting the back arrow and returning to the search engine results page. And it keeps them coming back as they are self-educating about a very complex industry.
- Lead nurturing: We all know that the sales cycle can be a long one depending upon the senior and the type of care they are seeking. For example, an independent living lead can take a looong time to move forward. Because the need isn’t as urgent as a senior who needs nursing home care, people tend to take their time. Strategic content can provide you with opportunities to nurture leads and not feel like you are being a pest. Its a win-win situation for marketing teams and the potential resident.
- Generate brand awareness: Our industry is one that people tend to ignore until they need us, right? Content gives us plenty of opportunities to generate awareness for our brands. It can work hand-in-hand or in place of the community events many providers have been limiting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Offering an ebook on senior-friendly forms of exercise can create the buzz that makes people aware of you. Whether it’s promoted during a healthy aging segment on local television station or in an ad placed in a small town newspaper that still has strong readership, you’ll have a chance to capture email addresses and start the process of gaining recognition with your target audience.
- Keep a potential resident connected: While a deposit check is exciting, we all know the sale doesn’t end there. Seniors get cold feet. Their adult child might start to wonder if this is a good decision, too. But targeted content can help you address unspoken fears, and keep the potential resident moving forward. A comprehensive guide with names and numbers of local moving resources, for example, can be a big help. We know seniors and adult children often say the very idea of downsizing can hold them back from making a move. Include a checklist with tips for downsizing in your guide, along with a list of local nonprofits that pick-up no longer needed household items and moving companies current residents found useful. Think about the reasons people change their mind, and create content that helps overcome those.
Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for setting and documenting goals for each piece of content you create or invest in. Drop us a line if you have questions. We’ll be happy to help!