Like most businesses these days, your senior living community likely has established a presence on social media. But are your efforts rewarding you with the desired result — engaging residents and their loved ones to tell a positive story about your community?
Social media is not a direct selling channel, and it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to attribute move-ins specifically to Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. But social media can act as a powerful advocate for your community; with the right strategy, you can leverage your social media presence to help build preference among the connections of those already connected to you. What are some steps you can take right now to get there?
Choose the Right Platform
Everyone and their brother (literally) is on Facebook. If you haven’t established a presence on this godfather of social platforms — with its 1.3 billion users — you should beat a path there pronto. But other social media sites not only exist, they’re drawing in followers by the hundreds of millions.
You probably don’t need a presence on every social platform, but which ones should you use? It depends on your goals, your target audience and other factors. If you have beautiful photography of your community available on a consistent basis, Instagram — with more than 302 million users — may be a good fit. Shoot video on a regular basis? A YouTube channel may get your viewers talking about you.
If you have a team member — for example, your chef — with special expertise like creating recipes, Pinterest may work well. Twitter and its 289 million members may fit into your social media strategy if, for instance, you have lots of news and want to target a younger audience.
Choosing the correct platforms is a matter of analyzing your prospect database along with your specific needs. It’s a big job, and it’s advisable to have an experienced marketing agency assist you.
Get the Word Out
While it is possible to create a basic social media presence for no cost, doing it correctly will require funding. Increasingly, it’s necessary to pay to promote your posts to get seen. In addition, maintaining a robust presence is a time-consuming job that requires specialized expertise; you’ll either need to work with an agency or designate a qualified staff member to manage your postings and responses on various platforms.
Whether or not you decide to use paid channels to promote your social media posts, you’ll need to get the word out via all your marketing materials. Your business cards, website, collateral and print ads should all feature your Twitter handle, Facebook URL and other relevant social media identifiers.
Create Shareable Content
One of the most-effective ways to persuade your loyal audience — your residents and their family members — to tell a positive story about your brand is by posting engaging, shareable content on social media. What is “shareable” content?
Shareable content includes images, videos and stories that have heart — that make people laugh hysterically or tear up with emotion. It might be funny, nostalgic, heart-warming, informative or wacky. In a broad sense, it taps into the human feelings that make us want to share something with other people.
By sharing human stories — about your residents, about your staff, about your impact on the community — you encourage your fans to share as well. You give your followers something of value, and they pay it forward.
Build Individual Relationships
Posting content is, in a way, akin to broadcasting. It’s a way to talk to the many, but it’s not the same as having a real one-on-one conversation.
Fortunately, social media also allows you to interact on a much more personal level. Someone representing your organization — whether a full-time team member or your marketing agency — should regularly monitor the comments on your social media feeds and respond often.
Pay attention to what your followers post, and interact with each individual. You can “like” comments, share what your followers share and begin discussions within comment threads.
It’s also important to reward your loyal followers with “inside” information about special events, community news and promotions. Armed with special tidbits of information, your followers are more likely to view themselves as an authority source on your community and share with others.
Too often, senior living communities focus exclusively on the “media” part of social media. They generate news, post often and promote their content throughout their marketing universe. But the “social” component is just as important, if not more so, for building preference among your audience. By creating engaging content and interacting on an individual level, you encourage your fans to share a positive story about you.