Rock-solid Senior Living & Housing Lead Generation Methods
Senior living and housing is not just a luxury but a necessity in most cities and towns. These spaces provide a safe, supportive, and social environment where seniors can live out their golden years. That said, senior housing is generally privately-run — and units can be difficult to fill, especially if you have competitors.
The recent pandemic has also had a knock-on effect, both negatively impacting interest and limiting in-person lead generation options. As such, it’s more important than ever to implement effective senior living lead generation strategies in order to ensure your establishment stays afloat. Luckily, there are more ways than ever to safely and affordably advertise your accommodation in this digital day and age.
Starting a website blog and promoting your informative content via online ads is one way to get noticed. Let’s discuss the most effective senior housing lead generation methods you can put into play starting today in detail.
What Are the Benefits of Senior Housing Lead Generation?
Whether you are a new establishment or well-established, senior housing lead generation is a must. Besides attracting new tenants, taking action can also build your brand and up walk-ins and inquiries. Here are the key ways seeking senior living leads can improve your business.
Boosting Tenancy & Your Lead Pipeline
The main goal of senior living lead generation is, of course, to attract tenants. Lead generation is a must and comes in many forms, including blogging about topics that matter to senior citizens. Lead generation may not always result in a new tenant instantly, but it can build a reliable lead generation pipeline. Lead generation lines up future prospects and inquiries that you contacted, advertised to, or who read your blog.
Getting Your Name Out There
Brand recognition is key when it comes to attracting seniors to stay at your housing or living establishment. Equally, if no one knows about your establishment, then you are less likely to get the tenants you need. A solid lead generation strategy can help you get your name out there, increasing interest organically in the future.
Increasing Walk-Ins & Inquiries
The dream of any business is to be so busy with walk-ins and inquiries that they never have to worry about generating leads. However, the reality — especially in the competitive senior housing space — is that senior housing lead generation is a necessity. In fact, those much-desired walk-ins and inquiries are generally the by-product of a combination of effective lead generation methods.
Forming A Community
Senior housing and living establishments are not only stand-alone locations. Your establishment is probably located in a town with a strong community;one that operates on trust, relationships, and goodwill. Even if this is not the case, lead generation can be that first step to building that community, both inside and outside of your establishment.
How Much Does It Cost to Generate Senior Living Leads?
Senior living lead generation can be free but often isn’t — even if low-cost, it takes time and effort. However, how much you pay to drum up senior living leads varies largely depending on the methods you choose.
What Does Online Marketing Cost?
Advertising online can be free or paid, depending on the platforms or tools you use. Generally, placing online ads can cost you a few dollars upwards of hundreds. Alternatively, you can market your establishment online by starting your own website blog. If your blog content ranks well for SEO, it can draw senior living leads to your website for free. However, you will need to either write the content yourself or pay a skilled writer to do so.
How Much Does In-Person Senior Living Lead Generation Cost?
In-person marketing can be a little more costly, if not financially, then at least energetically. Planning and hosting a viewing, get-together, or event takes time and effort. You may also need to chip in for extras like decorations, food, drinks, and advertising for your event. If you plan to host, you may be looking at paying a couple hundred dollars or more, depending on the gathering size.
What Does It Cost to Advertise Senior Housing In-Print?
In-print marketing generally does cost, but how much varies per publication. Expect to pay the asking price for an ad spot in a magazine or newspaper. Typical senior living lead advertising fees can range from a few dollars upwards of hundreds of dollars. This figure depends on the publication, ad spot, size, and whether or not it includes text and color.
How Much Can I Expect to Pay for Referral-Based Senior Living Leads?
Referral senior living lead generation can be both organic or paid. Offering excellent accommodation and service can naturally ramp up your organic referrals from tenants and any visiting family and friends. However, you can also set up a referral program that rewards anyone else who successfully refers and wins you a new tenant.
10 Unique Senior Living Lead Generation Methods to Try Today
Now that we’ve covered the basics of senior housing lead generation, let’s look at some ways to go about it. Both tried-and-true lead generation strategies and unique ideas can help you drum up senior living leads. Feel free to adapt the below suggestions to your establishment and preferences.
1. Start Blogging
The options for senior living lead generation and marketing online are plentiful. Aside from paid advertising, senior living property owners can invest in starting a blog on their website.
There are many reasons to start blogging:
- Increase website authority – a blog is an excellent way to passively generate senior living leads while also improving your website’s authority. Websites with a higher authority tend to rank better in browser results for relevant keywords. So, blogging is a win-win for website owners.
- Boost website visits – studies show that a blog can increase your website traffic by up to 55%. More visitors to your website means a higher potential of getting qualified leads through it. The best part is that this type of senior living lead generation is passive.
- Reduce your marketing costs – blogging can be much less costly than other traditional advertising methods like print ads and events. Not only that, blogging is a long-term strategy, not once-off. Your blog is online 24/7, therefore always working for you.
- Generate more leads and revenue – websites with blogs tend to see higher lead growth and increased revenue compared to those that don’t. As such, a blog is definitely one of the top ways to generate senior living leads.
2. Lock Down Your Branding
Senior care facilities go beyond regular property rental — they are recognizable establishments in the community. As such, attractive branding is a necessity for yours. If you wish to stand out and effectively generate senior living leads, finalize its branding. Distinctive branding, such as a logo, brand colors, and specific fonts, make your establishment memorable. You can also roll out branding across your entire business, from ad collateral to your blog and even in your décor.
3. Host a Senior Housing Lead Generation Event
Though online tools are certainly useful, these can’t compare to face-to-face interactions. In-person events are the best way to build solid relationships with a focus on senior living lead generation. Hosting exciting, unique events is a sure way to get leads. However, ensuring maximum attendance and bringing your A-game to the event is also a necessity. Events also make excellent topics for future posts on your website blog — just remember to take notes and pictures!
4. Create A Referral Rewards Program for Senior Living Leads
Referrals are one of the top ways that senior living facilities attract new occupants. However, there are many ways to go about getting referrals. Setting up a referral program that rewards those who organically refer senior living leads to your facility is one of these methods. You can offer the program to current tenants and anyone in the community who comes into contact with seniors regularly.
5. Invest in Affiliate & Influencer Marketing
Affiliate and influencer marketing are some modern senior living lead generation methods to try out:
- Influencer marketing – ask social media influencers to mention or promote your senior living accommodation in their posts and compensate them for it. Ideal influencer candidates can include older citizens or social media pages and accounts with a strong senior following.
- Affiliate marketing – set up traceable links which other influencers, including writers and website owners, can use. They can add affiliate links to their online content, including their website blogs, promoting your brand, facilities, or units. In this way, garnering qualified senior living leads for you in exchange for an affiliate commission.
6. Optimize Your Website to Generate Passive Leads
A website acts as a central hub through which potential tenants can find, view, and research your senior living facilities. Seniors and interested family members can also find your contact details and inquire directly via a form on your website. If your website isn’t up or up-to-scratch, make sure you add this to your senior housing lead generation checklist.
An attractive website that’s easy to navigate is a must. Equally, make sure that your website blog looks sleek and features categories so readers can easily navigate it. Beside look, prioritize website speed, UI and UX design, and making it easy for users to contact you via it.
7. Launch an Ad Campaign
Online advertising is one of the top ways businesses and property managers acquire leads. Tools like Google Ads or social media advertising programs can help you launch and fine-tune your campaigns to boost inquiries.
Using online advertising tools, you can promote both your facilities and your website, including your website blog. If you’re not clued-up, it may be worth your while to contact an advertising or digital marketing agency. Their teams can help you get the best results for your ad budget.
8. Get to Know Your Referral Sources
In most cases, senior housing providers rely on an extensive network of referral sources to get leads. Senior living leads often come from doctors, hospitals, and healthcare practitioners. As such, referral lead generation is really a people person’s game. Getting to know each and every referral source, including their preferences for gifts, can do you well.
9. Set Up An Effective Senior Housing Lead Generation Process
Failure to contact and process senior living leads promptly may not only result in losing them but also their respect. Your lost lead may also talk unfavorably of your business due to their personal experience of never being contacted back.
The last thing you want to happen is to build a reputation as a property manager who’s unprofessional and uncaring. Be sure to streamline your senior living lead generation process to maintain trust and ensure maximum lead conversions.
10. Work With A Senior Living Lead Generation Vendor or Aggregator
As a senior living property manager, it’s not necessary to do all of the heavy lifting yourself. Getting leads can be challenging and time-consuming. If you don’t have the money or time, talk to or sign up with a lead vendor or aggregator.
Lead vendors provide you with qualified leads from online and offline channels, including blogs and websites they already have set up. Lead aggregators work with multiple lead vendors to provide you with a steadier stream of senior living leads.
Wrapping-Up:
Lead generation may strike fear and avoidance in even the most confident go-getters amongst us. Putting yourself out there to generate qualified senior living leads can be difficult, requiring plenty of persistence and optimism. However, lead generation is a key cornerstone of growing and maintaining any business and generating revenue.
Luckily, effective senior housing lead generation methods are plentiful, especially in our modernized society. From passive online lead generation via a blog to in-person events, ad campaigns, and referrals, diversifying your strategy is the way to go. Try out the rock-solid suggestions above to see what works best for your senior living facility.