Connecting with Families to Empower Prospective Residents 

With choosing a senior living provider being one of the most important decisions a senior and their family will make, understanding how seniors, their loved ones and other advocates approach senior care research is imperative to your residence’s success.  

Internet-savvy future residents are educating themselves about senior living with thorough online research. This means that by the time they’re ready to reach out to your sales team, they’re likely much better informed about your residence than they would have been just a few years ago.  

Embracing digital marketing for your senior living residence can help you better connect with the loved ones of prospective residents who are curious about your community. With a little effort, you’ll be able to gain a deep understanding of what family members or senior advocates are looking for, how to communicate, and provide them with educational resources they need to help them choose you as a care provider.  

Research by Fan & Fuel (2016) indicated that consumers who are seeking online reviews are interested in learning about the unique experiences or problems other clients have faced, seeing how issues have been resolved by your business, and the consensus on whether your service lived up to its claims. 

Aligned with this finding, the latest online review statistics reveal that nearly four in five (79%) consumers say they trust the reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal, 2020). 

Gathering and nurturing social proof for your brand’s image can be done by inviting your supporters to post about you on social media, and by encouraging satisfied residents or their loved ones to leave you positive reviews on a variety of platforms.  

Leveraging the positive experiences others have had in your care builds important online touchpoints for individuals looking for a senior living care provider. Each of these reviews helps lay the foundation for a positive relationship with your residence long before your sales team reaches out to prospective clients.  

Ensuring that you prioritize both the amount and the accessibility of high-quality reviews of your residence across your digital landscape benefits care providers like you in three ways:  

1. Gives seniors and their loved ones an opportunity to gain a sense of your residence through the first-hand experiences of satisfied residents, their family members, or other senior care professionals.  
2. Supports a strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, making your residence easier to find online. To learn more about SEO for Senior Living, click here.  
3. Supports your reputation as a trustworthy, credible care provider.  

With nearly a quarter (23%) of senior living sales coming directly from online sources (Creating Results, 2018), having a strong, consistent reputation across your digital presence can positively influence the decisions made by prospective clients and their loved ones.  

When choosing a care provider, a few common concerns typically arise for seniors and their loved ones. Being intentional about the content your residence makes and shares online can help ease these worries much earlier in prospective clients’ decision-making process.  

In addition to offering peace of mind to future residents and their families, your residence’s intentional approach to educational content like “how-to” blog posts, or lifestyle content like photos of events shared on social media, helps clients feel more trusting and connected to your brand.  

89% of consumers say they would be ‘fairly’ or ‘highly’ likely to engage with a business that responds to all reviews, positive and negative (BrightLocal, 2022). In addition to reviews on Google or your social media channels, a specialized platform like Cared Upon provides a unique opportunity for residences to build their brand image and connect directly with clients from one powerful platform.  

Prospective residents and their loved ones use what they find online to help them choose a senior care provider. Many residents or their family members will visit your site, Facebook page or Google listing, and never reach out. What they come across online can have a significant impact on whether they choose to stay with your residence.  

86% of people hesitate to do business with a company if it has negative online reviews (Invesp, 2022). Despite this worrying statistic, the reality is that many prospective residents and their loved ones will give you the benefit of the doubt if they see that your residence’s management team is responsive, open to feedback, and committed to resolving the issue raised in the review.  

Learn more about responding to reviews our 7-Step Negative Review Toolkit. 

How CaredUpon.ca Helps You Nurture Trust in Future Residents:    

• Customizable residence profiles showcase your best photos and videos   
• Reviews are individually vetted for honesty and accuracy before they’re posted    
• Care providers can respond directly to reviews before they’re posted    
• The platform caters specifically to seniors, their families, and care professionals  

The majority of your residence’s digital marketing will be targeted toward seniors and their loved ones, however, special attention should be paid to Senior Living Advisors, social workers, hospital discharge coordinators, and other healthcare practitioners.  

These senior care professionals occupy an important space between seniors seeking support and residences like yours.  

Social workers, hospital discharge coordinators, Senior Living Advisors and other healthcare professionals in your area are often the first people that seniors and their families interact with when seeking care.  

Ensuring that these professionals have access to rich, detailed information about your residence encourages them to recommend your home ahead of your competitors, as well as act as a trustworthy learning resource for prospective clients.  

To further support the confidence of prospective residents and their loved ones, consider reaching out to your professional network to receive trustworthy testimonials from other industry experts. Your shared clientele likely already sees them as knowledgeable, trustworthy, and credible senior care experts. An endorsement from another senior living authority in the form of an online review or social media shout out, can inspire an even more trust in the care your residence provides.