This is part 2 in a series on Content Marketing
TRADITIONAL MARKETING
Traditional marketing or advertising says in subtle or blatant ways “Come purchase my product or service, and here is why you should buy it.” It is an important part of the marketing matrix and in fact, can be critical to closing the sale.
Traditional in the senior housing marketing says things like:
– We are located in the right place
– We provide the services that you need
– We provide better services than the other community
– We have better staffing ratios
– Our rehab department is the best
– Our community doesn’t smell bad.
– Our prices are reasonable
– This is a fun place to live
– We will love your family member almost as much as you do
There are problems with traditional marketing:
– Everyone says more or less the same thing
– It is often hard to tell what is fluff and what is real
– It is inherently impersonal
– It does not fundamentally answer the questions like“Can I trust you?” or “Do you provide real value to me and my family?”
CONTENT MARKETING
The idea behind content marketing is that I have something I want to sell, but I will provide you something that has real value and because I have taken the risk of giving you something of value, you will be willing to at least explore a relationship with me and take a look at my product or services.
Content marketing requires a level of vulnerability on the part of the person or organization creating the content. This blog is a pretty good example of content marketing. Each week when I sit down to write a fresh blog, my goal is to write something that will be interesting to a broad spectrum of senior housing thought leaders. This means I need to be able to, over say the course of three or four weeks, capture the interest of developers, marketing and sales people, line operations people and facility, regional and corporate managers.
There are many risks for me. It takes a few hours each week. You the reader might hate what I write or worst all, you will find what I write to be boring, meaning it has no value to you. It is a daunting task and I confess that I don’t always get it right. I have written some blogs that I thought were outstanding and only got mediocre responses, and others that I thought were just okay but have gotten fantastic responses.
The goal of this blog is pretty simple. I want to raise my visibility and the visibility of Vigil Health Solutions in the marketplace. I know that no one will ever purchase an emergency call system after reading my blog, but my goal is to get people to trust me enough that if they need an emergency call system that will consider Vigil. I also hope that when I call on a new prospect, they will have heard of me and be at least willing to listen to my story because I have provided real value through the blog.
Still to come:
– What to write or present
– How to create content
– Who to broadcast the content to
– How to broadcast the content.
Steve Moran
Don’t miss a single issue of Senior Housing Forum, subscribe today. It is free! We do not sell or share your contact information. The posts are practical and never too long.
Go to the main page of Senior Housing Forum and on the right hand side you will see a place to enter your email to subscribe. You will receive notification when a new article is posted. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Finally: If you know anyone who is looking at emergency call systems I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with them about Vigil Health Solutions.
Excellent advice and information Steve. I think there is so much said by so many that is just repetition of the same old thing, and therefore nobody stands out as different. I know it has been one of our challenges in non-medical home care. It is a challenge, but an important one that each business should carefully examine frequently. Status quo doesn’t promote growth. Thank you!
Steve:
As always a good blog post. I certainly feel like I am getting to know you through your blogging and I hope people feel the same way about my blog. Blogging and all content marketing is more of a marathon than a sprint. You’re not going to get the quick hits like you might with old fashioned “interruption” marketing, but over time you can build loyalty and a following that will result in sales growth.
Again you hit the nail on the head! Every senior living says the same thing and has the same look! Sure it’s a bit risky standing out from the rest! How many times have I heard when clients are looking at our designs that they don’t look like senior living. Exactly that is our goal. Just good design that brings inspiration and happiness to those who live in the environments we create.
We loose contracts because our niche is clearly out of that tightly closed box that exists in the senior living industry. But….those jobs we do get will find that there is a wow factor that their competitors don’t have and we are really making a positive impact on lives with our designs. That is why we do what we do and why we are keeping our vision clear and not mixing up it with pleasing the masses. There are enough companies doing average design for senior living, the world doesn’t need one more. What it does need is some new ideas and we will continue to lead with new ideas.
Niche marketing is not easy, it is easier to follow others success. Yet those who understand the process of innovation and forward motion will eventually pass those who play it safe.
So on any level you can try to compete on the same targets as your competitors and the only thing left to negotiate on is price. Soon everyone is undercutting each other for the same product….then you have to adapt with cheaper product to make a proffit and what a mess it all becomes .
So I will always choose to lead and not follow. The past generation was much more accepting of status quo….but the boomers are coming! So the companies that understand boomers desire for innovation and originality will be the ones who lead the industry in the next few years as the silver tsunami rolls ashore.
It’s not easy being green….but is is more fun than being beige!
Kathy,
Well said! I love what you wrote about “the silver tsunami” and how the past generation accepts the status quo…not here! : ) Keeping it REAL…
Thanks again!
From LinkedIn Groups
Good points. Will definitely share.
Posted by Kearn
Very interesting article which makes you stop and think about what I am doing. It gets deeper the more I think about it and how I might use your insights. I am just starting to get involved in the social media marketing and I can use all of the insights there are. Keep up the good work. I look forward weekly to what you have to say.
I previously did marketing for durable medical equipment, which was pretty hard to do as it was, because as you pointed out, everyone is offering the same thing. I survived for a long time with personal relationships that I had built while as a nurse in the hospital setting. Now I have recently taken over the position of Business accounts and Admission coordinator at a local LTC. I am planning, of course, of using those same contacts in my new position.
The major problem that I find in this new endeavor, is history. The LTC that I am going to work for was recently purchased by a new organization. It has made some very good changes in its venue of resident services. However, it still has to fight the old reputation of it’s previous owners which was not so stellar. So now I find myself not only reinventing the wheel, but putting whitewalls on it as well. Does anyone else have this kind of situation to work with? How did you approach the problem? I would really like some feedback on this. Thank you so much for this blog. I plan on keeping a close eye on the pages you post here.
Yes. Darrin. Been there. One of the best first steps is to walk softly until you know that you have your quality initatives being executed as a matter of everyday life. Then you will start having current outcomes and recent happy residents to help you tell your story.
thanks
From LinkedIn
Jon Spalding • My question regarding content marketing for seniors in general is does it deliver viable lead flow? In a recent project marketing walk in bathtubs, largely to the seniors cohort, we followed parallel programs the first with a dedicated / full time content marketer and and the second with a national cable tv ad campaign. The cable tv ad campaign delivered solid lead flow with a much higher conversion rate than the content marketing efforts.
In another recent content marketing campaign marketing a broker’s services for private medical surgeries to seniors, we found that the conversion rate was virtually non-existent. Compared to the saem company’s print and radio ad campaign, it was acomplete bust, as both the traditional media delivered a lower lead flow but with reasonable conversion rates.
To my question, what are the factors in content marketing of seniors homes that will ensure both a reasonable lead flow and a reasonable conversion rate?
Steve Moran • Jon you ask a great a great question and I actually think it might deserve it’s own blog. But some quick thoughts:
1. I think the value of content marketing varies a lot depending what you are selling and who you are selling to.
2. I do not view Content marketing as a stand alone vehicle to that will generate leads. In fact I would argue that content marketing will rarely if ever generate leads and in fact I would expect content marketing to only very rarely generate fresh leads. In my view, content marketing is primarily about building relationships with leads that have already been generated and are either not yet ready to buy or you are seeking repeat business.
3. Content marketing has to been seen as a long term project rather than a short-term source of leads.
Steve
Great point! As you stated most senior housing communities write and/or articulate the same message as every other community. To gain referrals one must make your community stand out above the rest! Sales professionals need to articulate how thier community is different compared to everyone else. To make a lasting impression the message and content needs to set apart from everyone else.
Dealing with potential families it is the same thing- how are you different than the competitor down the street. Leave a lasting impression and one that matters!
Good post! We will be linking to this particularly great article on our
site. Keep up the great writing.