How to Market Your Assisted Living Program to Seniors

It’s been a long time since senior living communities and community centers have hosted in-person presentations. As a senior living marketer, your presentation skills may have gotten a little rusty over the last couple of years. Time for a skills refresh on making effective presentations to seniors. 

Hopefully, live events will soon be part of all our lives again. When that happens, you’ll be able to meet face-to-face with seniors to share what your facility has to offer.

Live Presentations Should Be Part of Your Marketing Plan

Ideally, your marketing plan includes multiple avenues towards reaching your audience. It can, and should, include strategies such as:

• networking with senior care providers
• an up-to-date, user-friendly website
• local print media ads
• informative blog content that demonstrates your authority
• an active social media presence 

One of the golden rules of marketing is to understand the needs of your audience. Live presentations are an ideal way to address those needs. 

Seniors who need assisted living have lots of questions. It’s a difficult, confusing time. Having a face-to-face conversation goes a long way in helping people understand their options. 

Seniors Need Your Services 

As a senior living professional, you’ve heard the same lament many times. You’re welcoming a new resident to your facility. Both the resident and their loved ones look worn out—like they’ve been through the ringer. 

They look at you and ask, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

You understand because you know the road they have traveled to get to you. Worry, fear, isolation, health issues have led them to you. 

You know a lot about the needs of an elderly population. You: 

• recognize when someone needs to live in a place where they can access more services
• understand the process that spans moving from independent living to some type of assisted living facility
• recognize that making a change is especially hard for seniors 

Nearly 7 in 10 people aged sixty-five and older will need assisted living at some point. That’s a lot of people who need a program like yours. They need to know how much easier their lives would be if they had the kinds of support you provide.

Challenges to Reaching Your Audience

Many seniors are unfamiliar with how to address their needs. Unless they remember going through a similar experience with a loved one, this is all new territory. 

They don’t know the signs that indicate they need help. They don’t necessarily consider:

• how seriously they should take a recent fall 
• the connection between loneliness and cognitive function
• the health risks of missing medication dosages
• their ability to perform activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living

They don’t realize that they don’t have to struggle so much.

You know all of this. That’s why it’s so important that people hear what you have to say.

Options for Presentations

You have two options for sharing your in-person presentations. 

One is to host a presentation at your facility. The other is to go out into the community and meet your audience in their own familiar surroundings.

Each method gives you a chance to engage one-on-one with your potential clients. That opportunity is invaluable, not only in terms of making sales, but in building relationships with the population you serve. 

On- and off-site presentations each have unique benefits for you and your potential clients.

Presentations at Your Facility

While it’s easier to reach more people with off-site events, there are a lot of pluses to offering presentations inside your facility. 

When potential clients walk through your doors, they are able to:

• more easily envision themselves living there in your facility
• witness some of your programming in action
• see personal interactions between staff and residents
• observe some of the small touches that make an impact—wall art, flowers, signs, games, media collection, etc.
• get a sensory experience—temperature, air quality, sounds, smells, lighting, etc. 

Presentations at an Off-Site Community Location

Almost all community centers, including senior centers, libraries, and recreation centers, have common areas for social gatherings and other programming. When these spaces are open again, presenting at a facility’s gathering place is a great way to reach a larger audience.

Benefits to doing outreach in this manner include convenience for your audience, increased attendance, and social factors. Let’s look at those a little more deeply.

Convenience: By making it convenient for people to attend, you generate a certain amount of goodwill. That goes a long way in making a good impression.

Increased attendance: Doing your presentation at one of these locations will give you much higher attendance. For one thing, you’ll eliminate weather as a deterrent. You won’t have to worry that rain or icy sidewalks will keep people away. Add in the convenience factor and your audience has more reasons to attend your presentation.

Social factors: Community centers have common gathering areas for a reason. People like to gather. A lot of people go to on-site presentations as a way of socializing with other residents. The other thing people like to do is chat. After you leave, people will sit and talk about your presentation. That’s a good thing. That keeps you fresh in people’s minds. They’ll be more likely to remember you if they need you down the road.

In-person presentations allow you to meet with a larger audience. You’ll reach people who would never have come to see your facility otherwise.

Common Questions Seniors Have About Assisted Living

Whether you present on- or off-site, your presentation needs to address your audience’s common questions and concerns.

Any presentation should include information on lodging, food, activities and programming, services, and pricing.

Rooms/Lodgings: What size are the rooms? How are they arranged around common spaces? How far away are common and dining areas? Can residents control the heat or air-conditioning in their rooms? Are phones and cable included?

Food: Everyone has the experience of eating sub-par cafeteria food. You need to assure potential residents that you serve high-quality food. Provide a weekly menu for people to review. Invite your audience to try samples of the daily menu. Let people know what kinds of accommodations are made for special diets.

Activities and Programming: What are daily and monthly schedules? What kinds of activities are offered? How much choice do people have in deciding whether to attend activities? Share copies of daily and monthly schedules. Include examples of off-site excursions. 

Services: Many potential residents receive at-home health services such as physical and occupational therapists. How will people receive those services in your facility? Do you have other on-site services such as haircutting or foot care?    

Pricing: Make sure pricing information is transparent and easy to read. If you have a peace of mind that locks in current rates, be sure to let people know.

Use Visuals for a Top-Notch Presentation 

Effective visuals support your message and make your presentation memorable.

Keep these tips in mind when creating visuals for your presentation.

• Make sure visual materials are neat and visually appealing.
• Don’t cram a lot of text into your materials–people will scan right over that.
• Include white space around text. 
• Make sure the text is large enough to read.
• Have some physical materials people can take home—brochures, schedules, folders, etc.
• Use a projector or smart board as part of your presentation.

Don’t underestimate the power of high-quality visuals. 

Highlight Partnerships with Other Senior Service Providers

Embarking on any type of move is tough for seniors. Show your potential clients that you understand their needs are complex. Highlight resources that can make their transition to your facility easier.

Have a handout that lists contacts of different service providers. Talk about different resources during your presentation or have a representative attend your presentation.

Common resources seniors might need during this transition are:

• Local medical facilities, including PCPs, eye doctors, and other specialists 
• Real estate agents
• Movers
• Senior move managers
• Elder lawyers
• Veterans Administration reps
• Medicare or insurance reps

Interested in hearing how Smooth Transitions can be a resource for your next outreach efforts? Contact us and let’s work together!