By Steve Moran

Two questions for you:

  1. Have you ever been a senior living consumer? (Yes doesn’t count if you moved your loved one into a community you run.)
  2. If you were giving advice, what would you tell someone you loved about selecting a senior living community?

Several weeks ago I came across a blog post from Think With Google titled “Three unexpected ways shoppers turn to video in the shop aisle”. What really hit home for me is that maybe mostly we don’t really appreciate how difficult and confusing the search for senior living is.

Some Quotes from the Article

Three quotes got my juices flowing:

  1. “Video gives people confidence.”  I found that when I went hunting for senior living for my frail, dying mom, I realized I was impossibly poorly equipped to make that decision. And in fact, thinking we were doing what was best for her, we made her first stop a 5-star nursing home so she could get some days of rehab, paid by Medicare. It was a massive mistake. It was a hell hole.

    I think there is an opportunity for someone to create a video that says: ”Here is what to think about, what to ask?” I did a Google search for that video or even articles about it. None gave me great confidence.

  2. “When people need more knowledge on a product or if they aren’t sure where to find something, they’ll reference content like a Lowe’s video on picking paint colors.”

    “Every time I’m at an art supplies store, I rewatch videos to look at different kinds of paints. I show employees the YouTube videos and say, ‘This is what I’m looking for.’ I’ll ask if they carry it,” someone we spoke to said.”

    I see a video series where a family member comes in and says  “Steve Moran says I should look for these things when looking at senior living, see . . .” Then plays this little video clip.

  3. We also saw that being able to reference a creator’s experience or even get a quick tutorial, such as on how to talk to a mechanic, gives people confidence and helps demystify complex products or topics. “YouTube has taught me that I’m capable of doing what I didn’t know I could do,” said one person we spoke with. “I know a little bit more about what the mechanic knows, for example, and it makes me feel more comfortable.”

    So again imagine some expert creates this video series where people talked about their successes or failures when shopping for senior living. How much confidence would it give your prospects?

What’s Out There?

I went to Google and typed in “How to I pick an assisted living community?” There were a bunch of results of course and I looked at a couple of dozen and none were really all that good. I believe the first senior living company that makes something like this or the first senior living association that makes something like it will be in a game-changing position.