To state the obvious, a lot has changed in the senior living industry over the last few years. And as you might already know, all that change has made things far more challenging for marketers still trying to identify, engage, and convert prospects with outdated tools and techniques.
But that’s what makes video so essential to today’s senior living sales and marketing teams – the format allows you to personalize your marketing strategy across the entire sales funnel. In fact, I’m going to discuss eight different places where video content can quickly help you build momentum in your sales pipeline and deepen the connections you form with prospects and their family members.
1. Website Inquiries
Whether they find your website through SEO and organic search, a recommendation from a friend, or an advertising campaign, when a prospect requests additional information or contacts you through your site or a landing page, it’s the very definition of a hot lead.
Therefore, it only makes sense to reach out to that prospective resident before the lead cools off. Ideally, you want to have an initial video already waiting in the wings, where a solid CRM with automation capabilities can send that video to the prospect within an hour of the initial inquiry.
However, with the second touch point, you’ll want to take a more personalized approach in your marketing efforts and tailor your message to the individual prospect or their adult children.
2. First Call Follow-Ups
Following up on your first direct communication with a prospect is an ideal time to showcase your empathy and listening skills. By using a video for this crucial stage of the sales process, you can reiterate what you discussed during the call while also highlighting parts of your community that will be important to a potential resident’s decision-making process.
For example, if a prospect says they’re worried about boredom and a monotonous daily routine in your community, a personalized video is a great way to emphasize the many activities and events always happening.
Just as importantly, you can feature some of your current residents in these follow-up videos, giving them the opportunity to address the prospect by name. This is the sort of messaging that forms powerful bonds with senior living prospects and helps them feel a sense of familiarity with your community.
3. Pre-Tour Touch Points
Of course, touring your facilities – either in person or virtually – is a critical stage in the sales cycle. That’s why a quick video either the day before or morning of a tour is a convenient way to provide important information like where to park, who’ll they meet, and what they will be seeing during the tour. In other words, this type of video helps level set pre-tour expectations.
Using a personalized video at this touch point also lets you include a quick hello from your executive director, nurses, and activity director. This way, you’re attaching a face to important people across your community for the prospect and, once again, generating familiarity and comfort.
4. Post-Tour Follow-Ups
Just like the second point I discussed, a post-tour follow-up video allows you to call out anything that was particularly important to a prospect during the tour. If they happened to meet and click with a current resident, try to include a quick “hello” from them. This is yet another time where you can really build momentum in your sales cycle.
And just like nearly every other stage of your cycle, you want to include a clear and concise CTA (call to action) that confirms your next meeting and emphasizes what a prospect can expect going forward.
5. Community News and Updates
Are you in the middle of building a new fitness center in your community? Or maybe hosting a line dancing event for current and prospective residents? As you might’ve guessed, video is the perfect way to communicate about these types of events to prospects.
Using a OneDay video as an example, it only takes a few minutes to create, edit, and distribute a personalized video speaking about community news and updates. However, those few minutes can help create a real appreciation from prospects, where you took the time out of your day to keep them up to speed about what’s going on.
Also, there’s something to be said for video’s ability to convey genuine excitement and enthusiasm from you and your sales team. There’s simply no substitute for a prospect being able to see your gestures, hear the tone of your voice, and feel your commitment toward your residents, both current and future.
6. Construction Updates
Similarly, if your community is still under construction, there are obviously quite a few things on your ever-expanding plate, including an updated resident waitlist. That said, be sure to schedule times in your day where you can update future residents on the construction progress, even take them for a virtual tour of their specific unit once it’s nearing completion.
7. Post-Signing Videos
It goes without saying that a prospect choosing your community and signing on the dotted line is a momentous occasion for everyone involved. That’s where a welcoming committee of a few current residents can really drive home the point that your prospect made a great decision.
By making videos with the committee during the weeks leading to move-in day, you’re building anticipation and helping forge new friendships before the prospect even becomes an official resident. It’s hard to think of a better way for your newest community members to really hit the ground running.
8. Roll Out the Red Carpet
The anticipation is building. The big day is getting close and your prospect has a nervous excitement about them. Sounds like the perfect time to really roll out the red carpet, doesn’t it?
By creating videos that show your new resident what you and your team members are doing to prepare for their arrival, you’re making them feel special and already a part of your vibrant community.
This is the type of video marketing that makes us love our jobs so much year at OneDay. When your prospects and residents thrive, you thrive. And when you thrive and increase occupancy, we take great pride in knowing our video sales and marketing platform helped you get there.