Every day we are hearing from senior living communities that gaining new move-ins is getting tougher and occupancy is creeping lower. They need to do something, and sales from traditionally strong sources, such as referrals and word-of-mouth, just aren’t there. Last week, we identified six action steps every community should consider when contemplating how best to leverage its marketing activities for 2009. We’ll talk about each one in more detail over the next few weeks.
This week we’ll discuss the value of a consistent marketing program.
Your marketing program is reflective of your community’s unique needs, your budget, the characteristics of your marketplace and other factors. Because of this, not everyone is going to use the same strategies or message delivery vehicles. Some communities may rely on print, others might opt for direct mail and others may have budget restrictions that limit them to low-cost/no-cost tactics such as community outreach.
Some communities may have the luxury of a fully integrated multi-media program, while others must focus on only one tactic. The first step is to determine what will be most effective for your community at your budget level. However, regardless of the scope of your activity, an important planning criteria should be the goal of consistent activity.
We know one thing for certain: Independent living at a retirement community is a choice not a need. No one wakes up in the morning, sees an ad and says, “That sounds like a good thing to do today, move to a retirement community.” Because of this, it has always been important to be visible to your prospect base when their life events push them to consider a retirement community. Year after year, a consistent marketing program that has carefully timed new lead and re-inquiry tactics produces better than stop-and-start plans that have irregular tactical frequency, even if by size these tactics represent a major investment. For senior living communities, slow and steady wins the race.
This may be hard to adhere to in 2009, especially for communities that may be aggressively marketing for the first time in years. There is a need for leads now, sales now. The question they have is, what can we do now? There are any number of tactics that can work, and being proactive will create better results than just hoping. But, even in these times, I would encourage you to take the long-term approach. Think of your plan in monthly increments and make sure the plan is building on past tactics, always with one eye toward the future. The inquiry may not come from the first contact, but it may set the stage for an inquiry down the road. Yes, evaluate the effectiveness of each tactic, but judge true ROI on the longer time frame of six months or a year, especially if you have not been proactively marketing for some time. The cumulative effect of multiple tactics, delivered consistently over time to your prospect base, is always going to be more powerful than any individual tactic.
And one final thought on consistency. The pressure to drive leads is very high right now, and there may be the desire to judge the results of tactics too harshly. The worst thing you can do is have a knee-jerk reaction to a less-than-expected result and create a lapse in the momentum you’ve established. Consider the marketing you undertake in 2009 as an investment that will pay dividends down the road. Even contacts that don’t generate immediate inquiries can position you positively with those prospects waiting to act. When the economy turns, and it will, be ready to reap the benefits of the numerous “touches” you’ve had with these prospects. This is a business of relationships. Give your marketing activity time to develop that on your behalf, and put your community in the prospect’s “consider” set once their life events move them to action.
