As a senior living marketing professional, you know that scheduling regular events is vital for getting prospective residents into your community and converting interest into reservations and move-ins. But are your events drawing the turnout required to keep your sales pipeline humming along?
Many communities limit marketing events to standard luncheons with topics like “Community Advantages” or “The Benefits of Life Care.” Assuming the goal is to get prospective residents to visit your community as often as possible, how reasonable is it to expect these much-covered topics to do the trick?
If your marketing events aren’t having the desired impact on your community’s bottom line, it may be time for an upgrade. Here are five of the most compelling categories of events from senior living communities around the country.
1. Resident Speakers
Talk to a prospective resident for more than a few minutes and you’ll learn that he takes what “marketing people” say with a hefty grain of salt. Your prospective residents likely are visiting other communities in addition to yours, and they’re hearing roughly the same sales pitch.
What many prospective residents really want to know is the truth about living in your community. And they want to hear it from the horses’ mouths, so to speak — your residents.
Events that feature current residents tend to boost turnout. Configure your resident-starring events in a variety of ways:
- A panel discussion with several residents.
- An “Ask-A-Resident” Q&A session.
- Residents who have had a stay in your health center, for example, can speak about their personal experiences and the pros and cons.
2. Parade of Homes
Individuals considering a move to your community typically are interested in seeing beyond your model residences. If you can arrange an event that allows your prospects to visit “real” homes, you’ll likely draw a crowd.
You can organize your event as an open house or as a Parade of Homes featuring several different residence styles. If you expect significant turnout, consider inviting attendees to show up at designated times, or plan several events for several different days.
Make refreshments available in your lobby or auditorium, and provide a tour-style setup for viewing homes. If residences are within walking distance of your gathering point, recruit resident marketing volunteers or “ambassadors” to act as guides. For homes that are too far to reach on foot, schedule vans or buses to take groups of prospects in shifts.
3. Art Exhibit
Plan an event that is open to the public yet still has marketing value. For example, host an invitational art exhibit featuring senior artists throughout the region. Your community gets the goodwill associated with celebrating the talent of senior artists while garnering the attention of residents, prospective residents and the media.
There are numerous details involved in hosting an art exhibit, so if possible, partner with your local arts council to assist with the planning. For example, you will need to determine if your exhibit will be juried as well as the guidelines for eligibility. Which categories of artwork will you accept and feature? How will the artwork be displayed throughout your community? Which days will the exhibit be open to the public? Will you charge a display fee? Your local galleries and arts council members will be able to answer all of these questions for you and more.
For the most marketing value, throw a VIP reception to introduce the exhibit to the media, community and business leaders. To make prospects feel special, invite your active leads to attend and meet the artists personally. Everyone benefits from a public event.
4. Downsizing Sessions
A percentage of your prospective residents are emotionally ready to move into your community. They love your campus, your food and your residents, and they’re fine with leaving their current residence behind.
Physically, however, that may be easier said than done. Especially for seniors who have lived in one home for many years, the details of downsizing can be overwhelming and physically demanding. Why not provide some help to ease the transition?
Downsizing events, which have been popular for many years, can take multiple forms:
- Individual lectures featuring local “experts” such as professional home stagers and real estate agents.
- Q&A-style panel discussions featuring several experts.
- Downsizing seminars that last several hours, feature several speakers and include breaks and ample refreshments.
- Moving fairs featuring vendor exhibits along with concurrent talks in different areas of your community. Vendors and speakers can include Realtors, organizing professionals, movers, storage facilities, jewelry appraisers, cleaners, home improvement contractors and others.
Opening your fair to the general public provides extra exposure for your community among adult children and other members of the greater community.
5. Farm-to-Table Celebrations
Farm-to-table events are hot right now in general, and many senior living communities are enjoying significant demand from prospects eager to sample local culinary offerings. Your imagination and geography are the only limits when it comes to planning a farm-to-table event.
Consider a dinner with courses inspired by local, in-season produce and prepared by your community’s dining staff or a local “celebrity” chef. Farm-to-table seminars or fairs can feature samples from local artisan bakers, wine and cheese makers, farmers, and chefs. Or you can schedule a special wine-pairing event with local wines, handmade chocolates and cheeses, along with brief talks from the artisans who created them.
Ready-Made Events
If these ideas won’t work for you, remember that your community already has a slew of ready-made marketing events: your regular resident activities. Prospective residents want to know what life will be like in your community; give them a taste by inviting them to some of the enticing activities that go on every day.
To ensure adequate seating, work with your activities director to find out which events will have space available, and create a plan for the prospects you’ll invite. Maybe your activities director can provide you with a set number of “tickets” per month to be used for any activity, for instance.
If your resident activities tend to be completely booked, consider scheduling mirror activities with the same speakers or performers. If a local theater troupe will be presenting a mini-performance, for instance, see if they’d be willing to schedule an extra session later in the day for your marketing prospects.
With so many competitors vying for your prospects’ time and attention, routine informational luncheons may no longer suffice for standing out. To boost your clout with prospective residents, plan events that entertain, delight, stimulate and entice. Soon, you’ll be creating waiting lists for your next event.