As the U.S. population ages rapidly, there has been an increase in the need for high-quality senior care options. It has become increasingly common for consumers to conduct their own research when it comes to the senior living industry.
Earlier the majority of senior care providers used to rely on referrals from hospitals (especially nursing homes, hospices, and assisted living).
There is a growing awareness that elders in need of care, as well as their decision-making unit (DMU), can go online to conduct senior living market research.
Digital experiences are becoming increasingly easy and frictionless due to this so-called consumerization of healthcare.
Now that people have more choices, the senior living industry has become much more competitive. People want their families to live in a good environment! This makes direct-to-consumer marketing and senior living branding even more crucial.
The provision of senior services to the broader community and within the own community requires an understanding of trends in senior living, including demographics, facilities, and services.
The trends below can help senior living service providers meet the demands of the senior living industry by aligning a digital strategy with a holistic approach while keeping in mind future trends in senior living.
1. A Senior Expects More Than Just Clinical Care
As mentioned in the introduction, the elderly population is relatively high today. In order to address these needs, many people worldwide have come up with the brilliant idea of creating a community. In the United States, there are approximately 30,200 senior care communities.
Governments in European countries such as Germany, England, and the Netherlands do not cover long-term care for their elderly citizens and are looking at senior living options.
The demand for senior living houses is so high, so you need to offer more than just a place to sleep and eat, and it must be a complete package for both guests and family members to choose your care. According to an article about the United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030), governments, international agencies, and professionals created a campaign to improve older communities’ quality of life. In accordance with the recommendations of this organization, your community should include the following:
- A house should provide a comfortable, entertaining, and peaceful environment for your seniors, even if their physical abilities are limited.
- You must provide high-quality and extensive health services without making them too expensive for your users.
- The long-term care of your guests should include therapies designed to keep their brains active. However, some of them will lose their ability to care for themselves, and this is where you should provide long-term care services that can address their specific needs.
- A pleasant environment, parks to walk or a fulfilling life are critical to a pleasant community. Completing these increases the experience of your senior house.
Also Read: 6 Effective Marketing Strategies for Senior Living Communities
2. An Omnichannel Approach to Customer Service
Despite not being very tech-savvy, seniors don’t need to confine themselves to traditional media. The most effective way to reach your customers today is through digital marketing, regardless of their age.
Furthermore, older adults rarely search for retirement homes. Their younger family members do, so they want to have an adequate customer journey to determine whether your care house is right for them. A comprehensive awareness campaign should be developed by senior care houses:
- Across the funnel
- In this case, your client’s spouse, kids, or anyone else in the decision-making unit.
There are many different platforms clients can access your services on, and every one of them will take a different path from the first contact to the end result. In any case, you should adopt an omnichannel approach.
It is important that during your sales funnel you educate each family member on how to choose their ideal home and, most importantly, answer their most frequently asked questions.
Ads, social media content, or even testimonials in a YouTube video will help you gain new users’ trust. An omnichannel strategy should:
- Build a mapped journey that allows you to understand intent at every stage.
- You could write a blog post or an article that answers critical questions from users using SEO strategies.
- Develop lots of content so people can perceive you as an authority and also take a closer look at your services
- Learn what platforms work best for you and where to invest more by using machine learning and data.
3. Purpose-Driven Living
Senior care communities should also be aware of the power that a sense of purpose has in seniors’ lives. Having a purpose and being willing to volunteer is important to seniors.
Seniors with a purpose experience less pain, sleep better, have fewer chronic diseases, and are more likely to be physically active. By providing influence, emotional connection, and a sense of belonging, senior care communities can help residents find a purpose.
Senior care communities can play a crucial role in facilitating opportunities for seniors to contribute to their communities and society through their talents and knowledge.
Read Also: 5 Simple Tricks to Boost Online Reputation Management for Senior Living Communities
4. Luxury Houses Are On The Rise.
Today, retirement homes are a big business, and investors are playing their cards to take these homes to the next level. Previously, terms such as “resort-style” and “5 stars” were only associated with hotels or family vacations, but now seniors are also enjoying luxury and comfort.
Luxury homes for seniors will continue to be the future trend in senior living. This seems like the next step in the evolution of these businesses. The last thing your guests would like is to be confined to the same place for the rest of their lives.
They would rather spend their time in the best way possible. Due to this, luxury, the good life, and senior living have become the new significantly new trends in senior living.
5. Personalized Experiences Tailored to Guests
The main focus of a senior living marketing agency is to enhance your relationship with senior and potential clients. This can be done with a full-funnel strategy, and then by adding the final hook with personalization for each case.
In addition to a quality experience, your customers expect hyper-personalization from your services. Personalizing senior care involves considering the patient, their children, and their spouse.
The needs of each of these seniors are different, and their information is protected by more stringent laws. In order to provide a more personalized senior care experience, you can:
- Use educational campaigns exclusively for sons and daughters of dementia patients
- A retargeting strategy can help people follow up after a facility tour.
- Create landing pages for senior living ads based on location
- Guide each new member through all the steps with a virtual tour.
Final Thoughts
The older generation was accustomed to commercials or advertisements on the radio. Nonetheless, we conclude that digital surpasses traditional media based on the senior living trends of 2022.
Increasingly, people understand that technology is meant to simplify their lives, not complicate them; this is why your ideal users will trust you more if you have a digital presence.
At Scrum Digital we help you with your end goal to increase occupancy levels, by using effective marketing strategies that embrace both traditional practices and new digital tactics. Feel free to contact us if you would like more advice on your business!
