There are 71.6 million baby boomers in the U.S.1 ranging between the ages of 58 and 76 years old. If this demographic isn’t considering a senior living community for themselves, they’ve been thinking about it for their parents.
But regardless of a baby boomer’s primary motivation for researching a senior living community, the type of marketing they respond to remains the same. Because for baby boomers, everything is personal.
Shaped by the optimism of the post-WWII era, increased access to visual storytelling on TV, and the free love of the counterculture movement, baby boomers want personalized and individualized service. As a demographic, they prefer a human touch with everything they do. And this is especially true in regards to their advertising preferences.
Senior Living Marketing in the Digital Age
Most of this generation has adapted to the digital age. Now, 96% of boomers use search engines2 and another 92% shop online. But they still prefer to use social media and online news outlets to make personal connections and hear stories about events relevant to them.
Here are three tips to create marketing that is personal and appeals to this valuable demographic.
1. Tell Stories Through Resident Experiences
Every community is full of stories—stories of the lives people lead, how they got to where they are, and the dreams they have for their future. Share these stories in your digital marketing campaigns to show your community is personal and authentic.
Make sure that you’re sharing these stories the right way, in the right context and from the right point of view. If you’re part of a large senior living network, your community should be the driver for your sharing. Tell the story of your program. You want your new resident leads to connect with the place they hope to live.
Making genuine connections isn’t negotiable. Choosing a senior living community is a major life decision touching on everything from real estate to lifestyle to healthcare and beyond. Before converting, most prospective residents will need about 20 touches—which gives you ample opportunity to weave storytelling into your communications plan to help spur action in their resident journey.
Share stories on your social media pages, too. Boomers are 19% more likely to share content on social media3 than any other age group, especially on Facebook and YouTube. And speaking of Facebook . . .
2. Connect On Social Media
You probably know seniors are the fastest-growing demographic group on Facebook,4 and baby boomers are a huge part of that. From 2012 to 2019, the number of baby boomers using the platform nearly doubled.5 This number now stands at about 50 million, or 68% of their total population.6
Studies also show that baby boomers are very active users. According to Forbes, they now spend nearly two hours a day on social media.7 And looking at their total daily amount of internet use, they spend more time online than watching TV8—an incredible feat for a generation that pioneered cable television and round-the-clock news.
While Facebook will likely be the most important part of your social media strategy, the platform can’t stand alone. Here’s a breakdown of the other social media channels baby boomers use:9
- 70% watch videos on YouTube
- 27% can’t get enough of Pinterest
- 24% connect on LinkedIn
- 23% post to Instagram
- 17% are all about Twitter
For communities with multiple locations, make sure that each individual location has its own social media accounts with customized content. When leveraged correctly, social media is a great platform for building community and developing relationships with current and prospective residents and their families.
3. Personalize Your Marketing
The ability to personalize your marketing has grown exponentially in the last few years and every major marketing platform is focusing on supporting technological advancements in this area. This choice makes sense because 99% of marketers claim personalization10 has a substantial impact on advancing resident relationships. Given the length of the senior living resident journey, this is an important fact to consider.
Again, baby boomers expect personalized marketing, and your digital marketing strategy needs to be built to support personalization. Your prospective residents and their families are making a huge, expensive, life-altering decision—and your marketing needs to demonstrate you understand the stakes involved in their decision making journey.
Segment Your Senior Living Audience
Segment your target audience to create buyer personas that clearly identify the motivations, questions, and focus of each type of lead. Using these personas, create content (blog articles, email campaigns, social media campaigns, and so forth) that address the needs and fears of each of your target personas.
Ready to get personal? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Contact us at 888.307.7304 to learn more about how you can develop personalized digital marketing campaigns to start connecting with your prospective residents today.
For a list of references, please contact us.