At SCCS, we’re often asked what a call-to-action/CTA is and what senior living companies should use for them. It’s an excellent question. Writing great CTAs is important for keeping visitors on your site longer or encouraging them to contact you.
What you first need to decide is what action you want them to take. Because we are not proponents of making blog posts one long sales pitch about your senior living community, we encourage clients to be thoughtful about their CTA. Here are a few tips on what we’ve found works.
Tips for Creating Engaging Senior Living CTAs
Tip #1: Use only one call to action
Other than not having a CTA at all, this is the biggest mistake we see senior living organizations making.
You have a great community with lots of excellent services and amenities. We understand you want to brag them up. And then there’s that fantastic community event you have next weekend. It might seem like a great idea to throw all of those goodies into one big call to action at the end of your blog post. It’s not a great idea at all though. You’ll just overwhelm the senior or their adult child. In most cases, the only action they will take is to leave without further engagement.
Tip #2: Test out different CTAs
Our second tip is to test different CTAs to see what connects with your audience. The reality is there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Play around with a few versions and see what works on different platforms. Check your stats and start looking for trends. If you are able, use A/B testing.
Tip #3: Start with a strong verb
There are folks out there who’ve spent a lot of time and money digging into what order words should be placed in a CTA. What they’ve found most effective is to start your CTA with a verb. For our industry, it can be words like call, schedule, share, read, join, subscribe, contact, read, review, download, and more.
Tip #4: Think about the topic in relation to the sales cycle
Is the article or topic something that indicates the senior or their family are just beginning to search? Make sure your CTA reflects that. Maybe invite them to download an ungated checklist or guide. You likely haven’t built trust with them yet, so they may not be ready to let you have their real email address. If this is a topic that relates to later in the sales cycle, give them an incentive. Like “Join us for lunch!” Provide a phone number to call and schedule it.
Examples of Senior Living CTAs
Wondering what a few good CTAs might be? Here are a few of the ones we’ve found to work well with older adults and their families.
- Bookmark this blog and stop back each week for the latest news on…
- Subscribe to our community newsletter
- Call the community nearest you to schedule a private tour
- Read (title of an article on your blog) to learn more about (topic X)
- Download this free guide
- Download this complimentary checklist
- Email us to request a copy of our community calendar
- Click to share this information with your family
- Schedule a visit to see firsthand (something your community is known for)
- Drop us an email with any questions you have
- Call us to schedule an in-home visit
- Watch these testimonial videos to see what residents have to say about life at…
- Check-out these reviews for feedback from residents and families
Have a question? Drop us a note and we’ll try to help answer it!