First impressions matter, and your senior living branding strategy determines how prospective residents and their families feel about your community. Increasingly, this first impression is happening online.
Nearly half of adults aged 50- to 70-plus use the internet to manage their responsibilities.1 A strong senior living branding strategy is essential to making the right impression with seniors who are looking for a new place to call home. Delivering a consistent, engaging brand experience can make the difference between connecting with and converting a new resident or missing the opportunity.
So what goes into a strong digital branding strategy for senior living? Why is branding important for the long-term health of your community?
How Can Branding Help Senior Living Communities?
Creating a branding strategy means putting forward a cohesive identity for your senior living community. The goal is to anticipate questions your audience may have about who you are. What makes your community unique? What does your logo look like? How do you use language to communicate who you are? The answers to these questions paint an important picture in the minds of prospective residents.
But an effective branding strategy doesn’t answer each of those questions in a vacuum. Senior living branding is about defining and communicating the core of what makes your community special. Simply put, your brand needs to convey the values and practices behind the amenities you provide, the lifestyle your residents enjoy, and the care you give your residents. If done properly, your branding will go a long way toward bringing in new residents and satisfying your existing ones.
Key Senior Living Branding Strategies You Can’t Ignore
What are the central aspects of a successful branding strategy for your senior living community? Remember, the goal is to make a strong first impression. But you can’t neglect the importance of maintaining a good reputation, either. These branding elements are key to your community’s success.
1. Visual Identity
The visual identity branding of your community starts with your logo. Research shows that logo designs have a direct influence on how people perceive a company.2 A logo design promoting feelings of calmness, care, and trust can create fresh interest in your senior living community.
Visual identity doesn’t end with your logo, however. Everything from the color palette to the images and videos you create should be consistent and tell the same story.
Typography is also an important part of visual branding. The way your words look across your online platforms is an important part of your overall brand. Is your font serious or relaxed? Are the words easy to read? These are especially important questions to ask when developing your senior living branding strategy.
2. Taglines
Taglines are powerful and concise phrases that communicate the essence of your senior living community. They may be used across many dimensions of your branding strategy, including:
- Within your logo
- On your website
- In your social media profiles
- In online advertisements
- At the bottom of your emails
Creating a memorable tagline is an important senior living branding strategy. It helps keep your community top-of-mind with prospective residents.
The best taglines for senior living communities unite all of your company’s branding under one compelling phrase. They create feelings of trust and stability for all your other marketing and communications to point back to. This often comes in the form of a promise. Ask yourself, what does your senior living community pledge to provide for your residents? Then create a single phrase to encompass this promise and make it the core of your brand.
3. Reputation Management
Online reviews are an important source of information most seniors consider when looking for a new residence. One study concluded that 93% of consumers say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions.3 For senior living communities, positive reviews function as free marketing material. A strong branding strategy should aim to (appropriately!) solicit reviews from satisfied residents, which helps strengthen trust in your organization.
Responding to feedback online—both positive and negative—is also important from a senior living branding perspective. Thanking residents for positive feedback shows you are invested in their happiness. Responding to negative feedback gives you the opportunity to show prospective residents that you’re willing to listen, to improve, or to clarify the record.
A carefully considered, well-defined brand is essential to developing and executing a senior living digital marketing strategy that connects with your target audience and delivers a strong ROI. If you’re looking to improve your senior living brand but aren’t sure where to start, Dreamscape Marketing can help. Contact us at 888.307.7304 to schedule a discovery call with our expert senior living strategy team to learn more.
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