Effective marketing is essential for growing any type of company. Despite this, some businesses deal with marketing like an inconvenience. Some even view it as a somewhat unnecessary fixed expense. It should surprise no one that companies feeling this way don’t do well. When marketing fails for senior living communities, it’s bad news for the community and for the seniors it serves.

Why Marketing Fails for Senior Living Communities – In a Nutshell

Can we explain why marketing fails for senior living communities? Fortunately, the answer is yes. Some reasons you may easily anticipate. Others may come as something of a surprise:

Not Truly Understanding the Audience

The number one reason marketing fails for a senior living community is… get ready for this… not understanding the audience. Go back and read that sentence again if you have to. Yes, not understanding the audience. 

That seems just about impossible to do, doesn’t it? Your audience is seniors… seniors who need a retirement option they can’t get at home. Seems pretty straightforward. Turns out it isn’t quite that simple.

The real mistake is often not using marketing to target an audience effectively. If your marketing adopts the more traditional “shotgun” approach, your marketing isn’t up to date in its approach. Blasting your marketing message to the entire world gets expensive. 

Remember that there are plenty of people who will have no interest in your message. It’s better to gain a thorough understanding of who moves into your community. Chances are you’ll see some very specific patterns with residents, such as they come from certain neighborhoods, they are people who had certain types of jobs, etc. If you aren’t concentrating your marketing message on these specific types of people, your marketing will always underperform.

Are Marketing Goals In Place?

Marketing fails for senior living communities happen if you don’t have documented objectives to achieve. Without objectives, you’re flying by the seat of your pants with no plan for success. Sure, you could create a few broad, undefined goals and call it a day. However, that will get you precisely nowhere. A fuzzy goal like “We want to be the dominant senior living community in our area” is ridiculous. Why? Because it’s a laughably broad goal that means little.

In marketing, details make the difference between success and failure. For example, goals like “We want to increase occupancy by 10% by the end of the year” actually make sense. A goal like this is easy to understand and allows you to create a plan to make it happen.

Making the Wrong Medium Choices

It’s certainly important to craft the right marketing message. That goes without saying. The problem comes if you don’t put out that message effectively. The greatest marketing message can die if not distributed through the right medium. When that happens, a lot of time and money is wasted. Furthermore, your move-ins rates are bound to suffer as a consequence.

Relying on more traditional marketing approaches could be part of the problem. As each day passes, digital marketing becomes king. Therefore, traditional approaches like print ads can be inappropriate for a world gone digital. That print ad may be beautiful. However, if hardly anyone picks up a newspaper anymore, it may be a wasted effort. The same message conveyed in a blog or on social media may be far more successful.

Your Website Doesn’t Give Your Audience What It Wants

When seniors are thinking about moving out of their houses, they need lots and lots of reassurance that it’s the right thing to do. Every retirement community salesperson in the world knows that. The thing is, does your website give them a sense of reassurance? If it doesn’t, that’s a big reason why marketing fails for senior living communities.

Your web content, for example, should be able to get into the heads of seniors. Everything you write has to scream, “Yes, we know your concerns.” If your content can’t do that, seniors won’t connect with you. When that happens, it’s much harder to turn your web audience into future residents.

Your Marketing May Not Be Consistent

Marketing fails for senior living communities when there’s no consistency. Here are two key ways that happens:

An Inconsistent Brand

Does your brand mean something? When someone mentions the name of your senior living community, what are people’s first thoughts? Are they similar or wildly different? This is all tied to your branding. If your branding is working, there should be consistently similar impressions of your senior living community.

An Inconsistent Campaign

Writing a blog only when the inspiration hits you isn’t a good idea. This is especially true if the inspiration only hits you a couple of times a year. Content across your website needs to be periodically refreshed and expanded upon. A static website will never do your community any good.

Great Senior Living Community Marketing Isn’t Impossible

Marketing is an important driver for the success of your senior living community. If it’s not working correctly, your move-in rates are bound to suffer. When marketing fails for senior living communities, you lose out on prospective residents.

Kick your senior living community marketing into high gear. Dreamscape Marketing, recognized as a top SEO agency in the US, can take your marketing to the next level. Contact us today at 888-307-7304 or through our “Contact Us” webpage.