By Leigh Ann Hubbard

The communities with the most effective marketing aren’t just the ones with the best ideas. They’re the ones with the best tech.

The right tech tools amplify your marketing, maximize your budget, increase your productivity, and even reveal which techniques will work best in your next campaign.

But with all the options out there, what are the right tech tools? The array can be overwhelming.

Not to worry. Dan Gemp is here to help. As president and CEO of Dreamscape Marketing (a Foresight partner), he’s an expert in digital marketing — specifically for senior living. He knows which tech will maximize your efforts so you get leads and move-ins.

One company with census issues hired Dreamscape Marketing in May, at the peak of COVID. “Their call volume from then until now using our digital strategies increased 207% as a monthly average,” Dan says.

Here are some of the tools he considers must-haves.

Google Tools

The first tools Dan recommends are free: Google Analytics and Google My Business.

Google My Business in particular “has been pivotal during COVID,” Dan says. “Places that have really strong reviews entered COVID from a position of power.” People who didn’t check reviews previously are doing so now, he says, and “49% of consumers need to see a four-star rating before they’ll choose to use a business.”

Plus, beefing up your Google My Business profile by adding lots of details can boost your local search rankings. You can even create posts on the platform as you do on other social media sites. “The more information you give Google the better, and there’s no better place to interact with Google than in its own sphere,” Dan says.

Interactive Tech for Your Website

Incorporating interactive chat-based tools into your website can increase conversions, save you time in the qualification process, and inform your eventual person-to-person conversations.

Options include lead assessment software, live chat, and interactive FAQs (automated chatbots).

For example, Dan likes the lead-assessment tool Roobrik (another Foresight partner). “We have specifically seen it increase conversions 30% to 40%.” Roobrik is an interactive Q&A — an assessment tool that helps prospects determine what level of care, amenities, and so on are right for them.

When a prospect interacts with Roobrik, you receive the information, including where the prospect is in the decision-making process, so you can speak to them relevantly about their concerns. You’ll also get invaluable overarching data, like what your prospects are most concerned about when it comes to senior living.

Engaging prospects, while they’re on your website, keeps them from quickly moving to a competitor. And tech like this bridges the gap when tours aren’t on the roster. “That’s the part people are no longer willing to do — take a tour — but they’re still willing to answer your questions,” Dan says.

Call Tracking Software

Here’s a best-case lead scenario: A prospect motivated to move calls your sales office. You answer their questions and determine next steps.

So how do you prompt that scenario to happen? You figure out what marketing material is leading to those calls. Tech can tell you that.

Call tracking software reveals, for example, what website a caller was on previously — or whether a print ad prompted the call.

Maybe they went from Facebook to your main website. Or maybe they’re calling using a tracking number you designated on a postcard, business card, or billboard.

Having this information tells you what’s working, so you can replicate it. Call tracking software is so useful that Dreamscape Marketing includes it in their service offerings for free.

Dan has seen the use of call tracking, alongside a hyper-local SEO strategy, lead to a 50% increase in digital move-ins.

Sales CRMs

Once you’re getting all those leads, customer relationship management software, called CRM for short, can help you organize and nurture them.

Now that many people are researching and making decisions solely online, “you need to be in more frequent communication so you don’t lose that lead to a competitor,” Dan says. One way to do that is to set up automated emails to check in, share COVID-related information, or follow up in another way that’s specific to the concerns they shared with you.

In addition, integrating your CRM with other tech you’re using can save you a remarkable amount of time. For example, call tracking software can integrate with a CRM so every time the phone rings, a new lead is created in the CRM. Integrations like this can reduce your sales and admission labor by the equivalent of almost a full employee, Dan says. “Or, let’s say you only have one salesperson, and they’re not really doing tours anymore. They would be able to almost double their productivity” because as they went through sales calls, they wouldn’t have to enter so much into a system manually. 

Data to Inform Decisions

With continued use, these tech tools save you time, improve follow-up — and start informing your future strategies. “The point of all this technology is not to complicate your life,” Dan says. “It’s to give you extremely specific data, to tell you what to do next.”

Within all of these tech options, there are many brand choices. If you’d like guidance on what will work best for your team, Dreamscape Marketing can help. They even set up all the tech — including integrations and automations — for their clients.

Right now, Dreamscape Marketing is offering complimentary strategy sessions. Claim your spot by filling out the form below.

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