This is an article I wrote for RetirementHomes.com. Full article here http://www.retirementhomes.com/library/3-ways-optimize-your-senior-living-communitys-social-media/
This 4th of July weekend, me and my girlfriend saw some fireworks. The town nearby was having an event Saturday night at the high school.
The school was surrounded by giant overhanging oak trees. They must have been 175 years old. Once we went under these massive oaks, a hill opened up to a beautiful valley and at the bottom was a stage an instrumental band. They were playing Frank Sinatra and classical music from American composers. It really felt like the 4th of July, and it was an exciting time.
Just before dusk something happened that I haven’t seen done on the 4th. While we were waiting for the fireworks, people were lighting lanterns that would float up into the sky. They were fascinating to me because some had neat patriotic designs, and they went up, and up, and up really fast!
These people were lighting 4,5, 6 at a time, and they would fly till you couldn’t see them anymore. We were really fascinated by this, and so were a lot of people around us. The little kids were shouting, “Mommy, mommy, look at the lan-tuns”!
Just as some of these lanterns were attention-grabbing and caught people’s attention, the content you post to your social media needs to have a similar effect.
Here’s your three ways that you can increase the attention grabbing effects of your social media efforts.
1. Use Attention Grabbing Images In Your Post
Just like the patriotic designs on the lanterns were fascinating, images on social media connect with people. Try posting images of smiling or laughing residents, people enjoying the activities going on, or even the new flowers blooming outside your community. They’re all ways to help increase interaction from people. Social media posts that contain images are a 120-180% more attention getting than ordinary text posts according to Social Media Examiner.
2. Use Social Media Call To Actions
This is a very common sense approach to increase response and interaction. Give people some social instructions. Tell them to like or share your post, to like your page, etc. If you post a picture of a smiling resident say, “like if you think she’s happy,” or something along those lines. The reason this works is because it increases interactions, and is more likely to go viral. The more likes and shares it gets, the more the message gets shown to people’s social spheres by being displayed in their news feeds.
3. Always Give Something Away For Free
Give away something for free as a lead generation piece, or as an incentive to get someone to follow you on social media. Give away a free report titled, “10 things you must know before moving into a senior living community.” Make sure it’s valuable information that people can use. This is a great way to get people more engaged and to collect their email address. Once you have their email, you can follow up with them afterwards.
Just like the lanterns I mentioned in the beginning of the article, some social media posts are going to fly sky high and get a lot of interaction while others are going to be duds like a homemade Lanterns. The ultimate goal is to capture their information so you can follow up with them afterwards by email or phone.
About Kevin Williams
