Senior Living Marketing Perspectives: What the Most Successful Senior Living Companies During the Pandemic are Doing Differently

Topics Discussed and Key Points: The new channels Leading Response is leveraging to continue introducing people to their clients Is direct mail still a useful marketing tool today? What types of content are prospects looking for in the new normal? How to nurture and advance leads who are already in the pipeline Measuring ROI An easy way to double your click-through rate What the most successful senior living companies during the pandemic are doing differently Episode Summary: In today’s episode, Debbie speaks with Val Whitman, VP of Senior Living at LeadingResponse, on marketing, thought leadership, and innovation. LeadingResponse is a client acquisition firm with a focus on connecting qualified leads—adults, children, seniors—with the senior living client to nurture their relationship. This is best done is face-to-face, preferably onsite; but in the new normal, the company was forced to adjust its primary strategy. Fortunately, along with organizing in-person events, LeadingResponse has solutions for connecting people to their clients using online campaigns. Today, these campaigns have taken center-stage. LeadingResponse has a webinar platform that has proven to be their most popular tool for educating and building relationships with existing consumers. Using white-labeling capabilities available on the platform, clients can customize this visual experience to navigate the new normal with their prospects with ease. Prospects today are still looking for the basic information they have always wanted and needed; i.e. the differences between care levels, how costs are covered, how to have tough conversations with loved ones, etc. But now they also want to know how a company, as a brand and as a representative of their industry, can keep their loved one safe. The client needs to take this opportunity to showcase the benefits of staying at a senior living community during the pandemic. During these uncertain times, labor costs have generally gone up, as well as budgets for supplies, which could include test kits. Organizations need to learn how to do more with fewer dollars. It is important for a business to look at the tools and platforms that they currently employ, including webinars, direct mail, and virtual tours, and measure the ROI on each. If there is a problem in the execution of these tools, consider small solutions first. Sometimes, it is just a matter of changing the content or call to action. In some cases, improving ROI is also about sales execution. Are people following up with prospects? Are they even reaching out to new leads on time in the first place?