Content marketing in senior living helps families make decisions about care and community, ensuring support during their journey. With digital platforms leading the way, senior living marketers must create content that informs and engages families meaningfully
In Season one of The Collective, we sat down with Katharine Ross, President of Seniors Guide, and explored key strategies to elevate your senior living content marketing. From understanding current trends in family engagement to embracing new digital tools, all require smart senior living marketers to maintain the essential human connection that underpins successful marketing.
SeniorsGuide.com is a website that educates and empowers families to make their best decisions around retirement living, senior housing and senior care. They consistently publish resources and articles for families in the decision-making process while also providing families with a full directory of senior living communities across the country.
In this article, we will review the importance of providing content across all stages of the customer journey. Specifically, content trends she is seeing in the senior living industry.
Here are the top takeaways to help guide your approach in this evolving space:
The Evolution and Importance of Content in Senior Living
A Shift from Print to Digital: Seniors Guide, originally a print publication, has evolved into a digital-first platform, reflecting the broader trend in senior living marketing. This shift allows Seniors Guide to cover a broad spectrum, from lighthearted topics to complex caregiving challenges. Ensuring relevant content for all stages of the senior living journey.
However, with this shift Katharine acknowledges there is a place for print in the senior living content strategy. But, in today’s digital-first age, that print content can be informed by the data of digital.
Meeting Families Where They Are: Additionally, marketing to families making senior living decisions requires sensitivity and flexibility. Unlike frequent purchases, senior living decisions are rare and often event-driven.
Katharine emphasizes the importance of allowing families to navigate the process at their own pace, reinforcing trust through empathetic and reassuring messaging.
“These decisions aren’t ones families make regularly, so our messaging needs to be reassuring, approachable, and helpful, while still letting families be in the driver’s seat.” – Katharine Ross
This means a smart senior living content marketing strategy requires content across every stage of the customer journey. Ultimately, with value-add decision making content that builds trust, answers questions, and creates confidence as families move forward.
Trends in Content and Family Engagement
Content Tailored to the Audience: Families engaging with Seniors Guide showed strong interest in lifestyle content such as recipes, technology, and even lighthearted stories, which humanize the brand. By meeting these diverse interests, providers can deepen family engagement and support community trust.
The Power of Visuals: Visual content, like photos and videos, plays a significant role in making senior living communities relatable.
Katharine encourages providers to leverage visuals to help families envision themselves within community settings. Therefore, bridging the gap between virtual exploration and real-life experience.
“Visuals really draw people in. When communities are looking at their content development, they should look at the visuals that help people envision themselves in the space.”
Specifically, engagement around video content is skyrocketing. And we aren’t just talking about top-quality, professionally produced content. Instead, authentic video content from within your communities can create massive engagement across your social channels as well as be an authentic look at life at your community for your website and nurture campaigns.
Embracing Digital and Technological Shifts
Adapt to Platform-Specific Content: Senior living content marketing requires platform-specific content — messaging on social media, email, or print must be tailored for that channel. Smart senior living marketers must know how to create unique content that adapts to the channel of delivery.
Recognizing audience behavior on each platform is critical; for instance, families may interact differently on Facebook versus LinkedIn or TikTok. This tailored approach allows for more meaningful and effective engagement across channels.
“We interact with different platforms in unique ways. I go to TikTok to be informed and entertained, while my mom goes to Facebook for connection.”
Track Trends w/ Data and Analytics: Tools like Google Analytics 4 and Google Trends enable Seniors Guide to monitor content engagement and refine their strategy.
Katharine notes the benefits of tracking trends over time. Particularly to understand shifting search behaviors, such as the ongoing high interest in pricing and technology-related topics.
As part of your organic and paid strategies, are you mining for keywords to inspire your content strategy? If not, now is the time to start.
Balancing Innovation with Human Connection
AI with Human Oversight: Katharine highlights the growing curiosity around AI in senior living. Smart senior living content marketers are encouraged to be cautious with how AI is leveraged for digital content.
AI can streamline content creation but requires human oversight to ensure accuracy and maintain the compassionate tone needed in senior living.
Scam Awareness: There continues to be rising concern over AI-driven scams, such as voice recognition scams targeting seniors. Senior living communities can support families by educating them on these issues, building community trust through proactive content that goes beyond direct marketing.
“We lean into AI to build efficiencies, but we always have a human review. AI can connect the wrong dots… so caution is key, especially when we serve such a vulnerable population.”
We thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to learn from Katharine. Make sure to listen to the full episode for even more insights into the trends and challenges the Senior Living industry is facing.
Conversations from The Collective
The Collective is a conversation series with senior living professionals who are challenging the status quo of the industry. We talk to those who have forged their own path in the industry and learn what drives them and how their passion for senior living started.
Connect w/ Katharine on LinkedIn