The digital landscape is loud. With so many different voices trying to outduel each other for your target market’s attention, it’s difficult for your senior community to stand out from the pack. That’s why it’s so important to be precise, personal, and engaging with your messaging, all traits that describe video marketing to a tee.
In case you need some convincing, however, or don’t feel your senior community needs video marketing right now, I’m going to discuss a few reasons why it matters more than you might think. With these insights and best practices, you’ll see how video marketing will let your assisted living community’s voice rise above the rest.
The Marketing Times Are a-Changin’
Think about how much your marketing has changed just in the last few years. A decade ago, were social media campaigns even on your radar? Probably not. But that velocity of change continues full steam ahead, where sales and marketing in senior living communities – not to mention buyer expectation and behavior – are quickly evolving through new and improved channels.
It’s your ability to leverage those channels that ultimately makes the difference in your lead generation and sales. With 53% of consumers now researching products and services online before purchasing, how you deliver vital information over digital channels plays an immense role in engagement.
Since video is, by far, the most engaging, personal, and empathetic content format, it naturally lends itself to your marketing efforts because of the emotional connections it forms with prospects and their loved ones. But if you’re not using online video in your campaigns, then you’re missing out on those critical connections and the leads they represent. And I assure you that if your competition isn’t already using video to drive those digital leads, they will be soon.
Your Budget Loves Digital
The senior living industry isn’t exactly synonymous with the cutting edge. Fortunately, that’s something I see changing for the better every day. For marketing teams already embracing technology and everything it has to offer, the difference it makes to the P&L alone is enough to make any executive director sit up and take notice.
Now, I’m not saying that there’s no place for traditional marketing methods like direct mail campaigns. However, given the superior cost efficiencies and impact of digital formats, retirement communities still relying on direct mailers are playing a dangerous game with their occupancy rates and marketing ROI.
Instead, something as simple as integrating a personalized video into an email to a prospective resident or family member can be a far more powerful lead driver, helping to build trust and brand awareness, all at a fraction of the cost. In fact, one of our community partners used this technique in a recent email marketing campaign and saw a 95% response rate in return. For context, direct mailers have a 4.9% average response rate.
See What Works, Rinse & Repeat
Just like many components of a digital marketing strategy, video content is also highly quantifiable. Granted, you can also measure how many likes a social media post might receive, or how well your SEO strategy works by the organic traffic stemming from a search engine, but those metrics are still fairly high-level.
In comparison, video marketing tools allow you to see who opens a video message, if they respond, and oftentimes how long they watched the video. Even better, you can try different techniques with your video marketing across every stage of the funnel to see what helps you reach your goals best, whether that’s lead generation, booking virtual tours, driving move-ins, or virtually anything else.
The thought of a video marketing plan might still seem a bit intimidating. But the marketing tides are changing quickly, and as the industry adapts to ever-changing market dynamics and consumer expectations, it’s the early adopters that stand the most to gain. Here at OneDay, we want to help you rise to the top.