by Kim Jimenez
That line may apply to a baseball diamond in the corn fields of Iowa where the spirits of baseball greats come to play, but more than likely not to your senior living community. If you are the only state-of-the-art facility around with no other community for miles, in the middle of an area with an aging population with income qualified prospective residents that are 10 fold what you need for optimal occupancy then you can probably stop reading this, sit back and relax; good job! But even IF that were the case, guess what, another community will be built before you can say “Grand Opening”!
In this financially complicated, highly competitive, and in some cases heavily regulated industry you must stay ahead of your neighbor if you are going to survive. This includes modern facilities, outstanding service, engaging activities, delicious food, reasonable fees and an overall inviting atmosphere. So, now that you have the entire package how do you let the world know your community is THE place to live?
That is where your marketing strategy must be as stringent as your community standards. Even the best communities need an effective, long-term marketing plan. And that plan needs to be multi-faceted if you are going to have the widest reach and success.
Start With Branding
What is the message, the image you want your facility to convey? This branding needs to be agreed on by all involved in this process and stay consistent. Some different branding ideas:
- For the active senior community – Fun place to live with lots of interactive, social opportunities.
- For assisting living – providing assistance while maintaining an active lifestyle.
- For nursing – A caring staff with attention to the needs of the residents 24 hours.
- For the high-end community – Sophistication with fine dining and attention to detail in living units.
These are just a few of the many ways to set your community apart from the others if you can associate these things with your community. Obviously, your community will have a variety of benefits and positive qualities, but you need a more narrow focus as a foundation and add those extras around it because a lot of facilities will have a lot of the same attributes you do. The key will be what sets you apart from them?
Create a Marketing Strategy
When putting together a viable marketing plan, two things to remember: variety and uniqueness. Continuing to place the same add in the same newspaper each week will only get you so far. If you continue mailing out the same brochure over and over, they will eventually go directly in the trash. Not that you should stop doing these things all together, but make sure you are incorporating a number of marketing channels, some you may not be familiar or comfortable with, but the newer ideas can be so unique they get somebody’s attention.
Marketing Gravity
Chad Barr and Alan Weiss created what they term “marketing gravity.” This “wheel” representation has a number of “spokes” that all feed into this gravitational pull which, in this instance, is focused on your community. According to Barr and Weiss “The secret to building a strong community of quality supporters…is to engage in as much of the market gravity as you can. Our advice is to begin with those “spokes” most within your comfort zone and drill down… Move on as you implement each tactic to those outside your comfort zone by gaining expertise and resources. You needn’t use all the spokes (although many do)…”
Various Marketing Channels
In future posts, we will discuss a variety of marketing channels but now we will just present a small sampling.
- Internet- Website a must, no discussion
- Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)-Highly recommended to stay up with industry leaders
- Traditional Direct Mail- Don’t make this your sole strategy but still works, modify it with a unique strategy
- Newspaper-Just like traditional mail, you may depend on it or you may think this is an outdated marketing channel but done right can be effective
- Industry Associations: On the state level, again, a must
- On-site Events – So very important and we are talking more than just tours and open houses
Join us as we explore effective marketing practices and tips that can benefit your own marketing strategies.
For a review of your current marketing plan or help in developing a strategy, contact Moore Diversified Services today and talk with one of our industry experts.