Better Hope Your Competitors Are Not Doing This

Thereasa Roy, Product Marketing Manager for G5, has laid out the seven marketing “fundamentals”. How many do you have covered?

By Susan Saldibar

When move-ins fall flat and competitors seem to emerge out of thin air, who do we turn to (after we beat up sales)? Marketing.

More specifically, these days, the focus turns to digital marketing — your social media, digital advertising, email campaigns and so on. The folks at G5 (a Senior Housing Forum partner) are not only experts at digital marketing strategies, but they also understand the underlying “integration” that needs to happen to support a successful digital marketing campaign.

7 Market Fundamentals

Thereasa Roy, Product Marketing Manager for G5, has laid out the seven marketing “fundamentals.” In short, if you aren’t doing these, your digital marketing campaigns are going nowhere.

Own up. Which of these are you not doing?

Not knowing how you stack up against the competition: Your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is your foundation for understanding your community as it relates competitively to others. It is key to your integrated marketing strategy. Without creating a SWOT and reviewing it regularly, your community will lose important opportunities and be exposed to unforeseen competitors that leave you blindsided.
Not understanding your buyer personas: You cannot be all things to all people. It is important to narrowly define your buyer personas. Yes, they are residents and their families, but which are the ones more likely to move into your community? What do they “look like”? So, in addition to raw demographics (age, gender, income, etc.) you also need to understand the day-to-day challenges of these individuals, what keeps them up at night, and what motivates them?
Setting unclear goals or no goals: You might be surprised by how many communities lack any goals other than a couple numbers at the top and bottom of a spreadsheet. You need clear strategic goals that key to those numbers. Without clear goals, you risk developing plans that lack direction and focus.
Lack of identifying proper channels: How do you reach your target personas? You need to identify the channels they use. Not all channels will work for every audience. Where do residents and their families spend time? Are they on Facebook? Instagram? YouTube? Or do they gravitate to magazines and newspapers? Being able to match the channel to your audience is the first step to attracting them to your community.
No strong theme: You may know where your target persona is and how to get to them but, without matching themes, your messaging will be off and your presence in the greater community will lie flat. Plan ahead and design your top three to five themes and topics you want to focus on for any given period. Stick to those themes and your messaging will be more targeted and more effective.
Lack of a timeline: Targets and goals need dates attached to them. From meeting revenue deadlines to creating milestones for rolling out campaigns and programs, timelines matter. They will keep you and your team on track. Without them, there will be no pressure on anyone to perform, let alone meet goals.
No process for review and adjust: How can you know if you’re successful if you don’t have a method to track and report your progress? Metrics are key, especially in today’s digitally-driven world. Don’t “set it and forget it”. Technology has evolved to enable tracking in ways not available before. Use it to your benefit.

Get these right and you will be forming an integrated marketing foundation to support your digital marketing programs. And, no two foundations are the same. So you can’t rely upon someone else’s.

As Thereasa Roy points out, “There is no cookie cutter solution. Find out what works for you and pay close attention to the effects each effort has on your success.”