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How to Capture Online Prospects in the Senior Living Buying Cycle



This is an article I wrote for Retirementhomes.com

Just like our eyes can capture only a sliver of the full spectrum of light, the keywords our prospects type into search engines are a sliver of a conversation inside their heads.

Understand this conversation and you’ll be able to beat out your competition the majority of the time. The rest of this article is to help you uncover this conversation.

What Do Keywords Have To Do With The Buying Cycle?

When your prospects begin searching for senior living, they may or may not be educated in the market. Very rarely are they going to make one search, call your community and become a member.

They will do many searches! And their searches are going to reflect their level of education into senior living.

Keywords tell a story within someone’s head at that very moment. And what a valuable moment it is for us when they’re searching for senior living.

I want you to stop for a minute and think about the conversation inside someone’s head when they make a search for senior living. Really imagine the emotions they’re going through when they are typing into the search engines.

Maybe their parent just had a fall and they need a rehab community, or maybe a person is so overwhelmed caring for their spouse that they can’t handle it anymore. They’re in pain, tired, fed up, looking to get their relationship back with their loved one, and not be the caregiver any more.

Here’s what your prospect’s search patterns may look like. An adult child in Middletown CT may start searching “different types of senior living communities.” Later, once they’re a little more educated, they may come back and search for “assisted living in Middletown CT”.

Then, they may come back and search “skilled nursing in Middletown ct,” and then even later, when they realize their parent with dementia needs a community with specialized care, “dementia care Middletown CT.” Once they have found a specific community, they may end the process with “The Community name” they want to schedule a tour with.

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Residents Are More Important Than Clicks



This is a guest post I wrote, that was featured on NewLifestyles.com. It's loaded with lots of great info and I would take a good read.

Imagine this scenario. You are on a gameshow competing with 8 other people for a $100,000 cash prize. You and the other people have no experience, but you’re asked to shoot a bullseye 70 meters away with an arrow. You have the choice to use a traditional bow and arrow like Robin Hood, or you can use a new compound bow and arrow that has a super powerful scope, is easy to operate and shoots incredibly fast and accurate.

This is a no brainer… Right?

You would choose the compound bow!

If advertising on Google is just like this gameshow, then why do many senior living communities choose the old Robin Hood type of bow and arrow with their online marketing campaigns?

Seniors and caregivers are on Google’s search engine to research their problems. Maybe an adult child is looking into the different options for their parents, wants to know more about a specific community, or their parent just had a bad fall and they desperately need to find a community.

Whatever the reason, if they click on your ad, you have less than 10 seconds to give this person what they are finding, or they will hit the back button.

Full article at: http://blog.newlifestyles.com/2013/02/13/residents-are-more-important-than-clicks-are-you-a-blind-archer-with-your-senior-living-online-marketing/

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