In the past, you may have thought you could cross content marketing off your online marketing to-do list as soon as your website was live. But in order to help promote your assisted living facility’s brand and grab the attention of today’s seniors and their families, it’s essential to continually step up your business’s marketing strategy game.

In the past few years alone, content marketing has evolved and proven to be one of the most relevant marketing tools. This hasn’t changed for 2019, so here’s how your business can stand out with this year’s most influential marketing trends.

1. Be Authentic, Yet Transparent

You want prospective residents and their families to know you, your story, and your mission. Don’t be afraid to show off these elements through your content! This builds trust between you and your target audience from the very beginning. In fact, 86 percent of consumers say authenticity can sway their decision to support one brand over another.

So how can you create and emphasize authenticity and transparency? Adding an About Us page to your website can be a great starting point. This gives you a place to inform consumers of your facility’s history and establish your key message. Here is where you can promote your values and the compassionate care you can provide. Your content should highlight characteristics such as cost, activities, location, staff friendliness, grounds, safety measures, transportation, meal services, and room size and amenities.

Additionally, your content should include rich imagery of the grounds, rooms, and current residents. It’s important to show how well taken care of your facilities are and residents enjoying themselves in the environment.

Of course, you need to follow through with your statements to prove to prospective residents and their families that you’ll do what you say you’ll do. The rest is up to you!

 2. Create Personalized & Interactive Content

Figuring out what your prospective residents want and expect from you is a huge step toward improving your business strategy. After all, there is no “one size fits all” approach to customer engagement. By focusing on the demographic data of your customers, you can tweak your marketing strategy to their needs. Remember, you’re not just marketing to seniors; you’re also marketing to their adult children. Often the residents’ adult children either choose the housing option for their elderly parents or greatly influence the decision. That said, it is crucial to target both the middle-aged and the elderly consumer when marketing your assisted living community.

You also can’t read your customers’ minds; however, you can easily find out what they think of your facility by asking them to review your business. Reaching out to residents and their families for their opinions is as easy as creating relevant social media platforms and a Google business listing. This gives them the opportunity to directly interact with your business, which provides you with the feedback you need to create personalized content that relates to their wants and needs.

 3. Develop Multimedia Content & Utilize Omnichannel Strategies

Long gone are the days of simply creating a website with basic copy and stock photos sprinkled throughout. While this is a starting point, if you want your prospective residents to continually interact with your business, you need to keep them engaged.

Video content that’s an average of two minutes in length has proven to produce the highest levels of engagement. With assisted living, there can be endless opportunities to create videos that are relevant to your target audience. For example, a video tour of your grounds, interviews with the nurses and staff, or resident testimonials can provide viewers with an in-depth look at your facility. Additionally, over half of baby boomers and seniors watch online videos. YouTube tends to be their preferred site, with 82% of video watchers using it.

Finally, it’s essential to confirm that your multimedia content is accessible across multiple channels to ensure you’re providing an integrated customer experience. From desktops to tablets to smartphones, your prospective residents should be able to find your business from any device.

 4. Focus on Micro-Moments

Have you heard of Google’s self-categorized “micro-moments”? These four types of consumer-generated questions promote the need for quick answers – ideally, from your business.

I-want-to-know moments: When a consumer is researching something specific, but not necessarily ready to purchase anything.

I-want-to-go moments: When a search involves looking for a local business or uses the terms “near me.”

I-want-to-do moments: When someone wants to complete a task. This can involve searching for “how to” content.

I-want-to-buy moments: When a shopper is looking for a specific product and is ready to make a purchase. 

A good marketing plan for assisted living facilities encompasses all of these “micro-moments” within the potential resident buying journey. The average sales cycle for your audience is around 137 days and can begin around the holiday season, due to many family members deciding around that time that a loved one may need assisted living services.

Giving your consumers direct ways to satisfy these needs can influence them to choose your facility over a competitor. You can easily develop content around these needs on an FAQ page or Facebook and Instagram stories. To take advantage of these micro-moments, create micro-sized content that doesn’t drag on and cause consumers to look elsewhere. Keep it short and sweet!

 5. Prioritize Content Clusters

While it’s best to keep your solutions to micro-moments on the shorter side, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an appropriate time and place for longer-form content. Logistically, Google’s recent algorithms tend to prioritize longer-form content, causing it to rank higher in search results. On a personal level, your followers want to know more about your facility, and you should tell them about it.

Topic clusters involve providing numerous pieces of long-form content under one larger “umbrella” topic. These can be placed on pillar pages that cover all aspects of the topic at hand. From there, you can create subpages with keyword-specific content. This setup not only performs well with Google’s algorithms, but also directs consumers to the information they need to know.

Let’s Talk About Your Content Marketing Strategy

These marketing trends extend beyond just assisted living and can be applied to any industry. They can help you continue to develop a content marketing plan that encourages consumer engagement and improves your online presence. It’s essential to stay ahead of your competitors and provide your followers with accessible solutions. If you’re ready to find out how these content marketing tactics can boost your business, we’re ready to help! Get in touch with us today to get started.