This is a guest article I wrote for RetirementHomes.com.
First off, let me clear the air by saying I am not dismissing the idea of marketing. In fact, quite the opposite, I love marketing! But it is important to know the truth about marketing and how to create an effective message.
The other day I was visiting my parents, and sitting on the kitchen table, was a direct mailer from a nearby senior living community. As soon as I saw the mailer, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew this community was throwing away good money.
I need to be blunt about something. A successful senior living community is dependent on cash flow, which comes from residents in your market…not from your community.
Can you guess the terminal mistake this community made?
They talked about THEIR community and what THEY do. Success does not come from your community. Marketing is about your prospect’s NEEDS, WANTS and DESIRES and never about your specific community.
Full article at: http://www.retirementhomes.com/library/marketing-your-community-and-senior-living-can-lead-to-terminal-failure/
About Kevin Williams
Hi Kevin, I could not agree with you more! I believe that silence is sometimes golden in that it is not always necessary nor the norm to rave about what you can offer. Some companies may assume that pounding the pavement is the way to get referrals – nice thought back in the days pre-Internet and the like, We live in a time of great local and global competition. Trends and trend setting can be intertwined in order to evaluate where your prospects and leads are being generated. Old school thinking, in that we need to have face time; reputations that preceed us, still exist; the difference today – we are able to work behind a screen and market our products on various plateaus simultaneously thus, giving us the ability and advantage of various marketing strategies. Overall, the understanding of trends and your backyard competitors becomes more expansive.
Great Point Dawn. Yes, blending technology with old school face to face contact produces powerful results!