Advertising for Senior Care Facilities: 3 Tips for Connecting with Future Residents (Right Now)

Demand for senior care facilities increases every year—and with baby boomers approaching retirement and their golden years, senior care facilities are expected to see a surge in population that continues to rise for decades.

For older citizens and their families, this rising demand can make it difficult to find a suitable facility to house aging individuals—and the glut of options can make this process disorienting and overwhelming. On top of these challenges, the new health-related concerns created by the pandemic are an important factor for seniors and their families. Residential facilities must account for these concerns not only when it comes to managing their properties, but also when advertising their facilities to potential new residents.

To attract these new residents to your facilities, your advertising strategy needs to help your business stand out in a crowded marketplace. Here are some tips to improve your audience engagement.

1. TARGET SENIORS ACROSS MULTIPLE TYPES OF MEDIA

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that digital ad channels aren’t a good option for connecting with seniors. The average senior spends more than four hours a day on screens, including TV, tablets, smartphones and other devices. In fact, screen time for seniors is higher today than it was a decade ago—daily screen time is actually increasing with age.

Cable TV is an obvious channel for connecting with seniors, but this isn’t an exclusive option for engaging older audiences. Research shows that at least 73 percent of seniors now have Internet access in their homes. Forty-six percent of seniors ages 65 and over are on Facebook, and that number continues to rise. Even though seniors are less likely to open accounts on Twitter and other social platforms, the targeting tools on these networks can help you reach an older audience and foster familiarity with your facility. And online search engines are the top digital solution seniors use to seek out solutions to problems, which can include housing and residential care facilities.

A multi-channel advertising strategy can engage senior audiences through many different ad channels, resulting in multiple points of contact, greater familiarity and trust with your brand, and increased referrals that could become your next resident.

2. ADDRESS SAFETY CONCERNS RIGHT AWAY

In light of the pandemic, both seniors and their families bring understandable worries to any search for residential care facilities. Seniors in these facilities are at a much higher risk of serious health complications resulting from the current public health crisis, which means that prospective residents are often first and foremost concerned about safety and sanitation when researching their facility options.

Care facilities are best-served by addressing these concerns head-on. By using prominent messaging in your ad content to call out these concerns and highlight your facility safety measures, you can provide a greater sense of comfort among potential residents considering your facility as their next home.

Highlight tangible steps you have taken to keep your residents safe, and emphasize safety as a top priority. You can also encourage prospective residents to learn more about these safety measures on your website, or by speaking directly with a representative of the company.

3. DON’T FORGET ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS

Seniors should be a top priority for your facility ad strategy. But seniors themselves aren’t the only people involved in making decisions about where they will live. Family members are often involved in this process, and may even be the primary decision-makers for an elderly loved one. Your ad strategy needs to account for daughters, sons, brothers and sisters, and even nieces, nephews and grandchildren who may be responsible for choosing a care facility.

The recommended approach to targeting these two audiences is to separate your campaigns across two separate target audiences: seniors, and their families. The messaging for each of these campaigns can be adjusted to speak directly to a senior seeking care, and to speak to a loved one whose concerns and desires may differ slightly from the senior they’re helping through these decisions.

Similarly, ad placements can consider the demographics and interests of those family members, which are likely different than their senior family members.

Sound complicated? It doesn’t have to be. When you work with a trusted advertising partner, you can easily develop, launch and manage campaigns that serve the multi-faceted needs of your senior care facility, and your target audience. Ready to get started? We’re here to help.