Personas are an essential component of your content marketing tool box. They serve as a representation of the audience your writing team is trying to target.
Yet many providers fail to develop senior living personas or do so without giving them much real thought.
With the new year upon us, it seems like a great time to revisit the topic and offer tips for creating meaningful personas.
Do Your Senior Living Personas Represent?
Take an objective look at your senior living personas. Do they truly represent?
Or are they geared toward the stereotype of who you think your decision makers and influencers are?
If you’ve been in the industry for a while, it’s easy to think that you know who reads your content.
But, how long has it been since you actually sat down and talk with a prospect and their family?
As regional and corporate marketing people, it’s easy to get caught up in the “big picture” and lose sight of the details.
For content creators, however, the details that matter. They are what connect seniors, adult children, and other influencers with your brand.
Here are a few questions to ask potential or new residents, and their family members so you can create personas that are genuine and useful.
Know Your Audience Improve Senior Living Content
Adult Child Influencer Questions
- What concerns led you to begin your search?
- How long have you been thinking about starting the search?
- Do you work outside the home? How has the senior’s needs impacted your job?
- How has your family been managing caregiving?
- Were there online resources you found helpful?
- Are there questions you couldn’t find answers to online?
- How many websites did you review in total?
- Did any health care professional encourage you to start the search? If yes, what did they recommend?
- What do you or did you perceive to be barriers to making a change?
- What is important to you in a community?
- What is most important to the senior?
- How much of the search has the senior been involved in?
Older Adult or Senior Couple
- What caused you to begin searching for a community?
- Is there anyone else involved in making this decision?
- How long have you lived in your current home?
- When do you anticipate making a change?
- Is your family supportive of this search?
- Are there household chores or personal tasks that are a struggle?
- What do you hope to gain by making a move?
- What is most important to you in making this decision?
- Did you search senior living community websites before calling? If yes, how many?
- What did you find most helpful in your online search?
- What was missing on the websites you visited?
While your team no doubt asks many of these questions as they get to know families, it’s important that the information makes it to those responsible for developing the strategy for your content. And those who create it.
This is especially true given how dramatically the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how people search for senior living.
Have a question about content strategy or audience? Drop us a note and we’ll be happy to help!