It is always a challenge to get prospects to embrace the idea of change and the benefits of moving into an assisted living environment.
In the era of COVID-19 it is even more difficult for families and residents amid the daunting headlines. It’s no longer enough to show off your amazing dining options, apartments and true community environment. You need to go beyond and show the clinical aspects of how you will keep residents safe and provide a sense of community
Yes, it’s tough out there. According to studies by Glynn Devins, National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and Enquire, inquiries are down 35%, tours are down 26% and move-ins are down 30%, nationally. There is a ray of light. Consumer sentiment related to senior living bottomed out in April and has bounced back and even plateaued. There are communities that have learned to weather the storm. The communities seeing the most success have embraced new engagement strategies. They found that when it comes to marketing it is still important to show your community environment and your dining options, but if you are not coupling that with demonstrations on how you are keeping residents safe in the face of COVID-19, you’re missing out. It’s important to let prospects know what you have learned and how residents are safer in your care.
Video is an obvious medium to get the point across. Break videos up into easily consumable pieces. Each piece can be related to a specific amenity or feature of your community. Segments on safety and COVID-19 specific protocols should feature the tools and software used to ensure follow through while making things easier on your heroic staff. At ECP we offer marketing materials on how our software improves safety and care and we can supply other content as warranted.
Creating a video that demonstrates amenities and safety can have an even bigger impact on your community than you might imagine. Use the video as a team building project and make sure the video recognizes the team and the hard work they do. Many studies show that employees value recognition as much as, and sometimes more than, bonuses. Even more intriguing is that there is evidence that prospects value a caring staff over cost when it comes to perceptions related to assisted living. The more you use your video to demonstrate the benefits of why your community is the right place for prospects and loved ones, the greater the return will be.
Once complete all the pieces can be used on your website and repurposed throughout all of your advertising channels. This can create a lot of content that turns up in search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo and without any extra effort it will provide rich content on your social media platforms, such as Facebook.
Request a demo to learn more about ECP and to receive and personalized demonstration.
