4 Better (and Cheaper) Ways to Boost Senior Living Occupancy

Solid occupancy numbers often blind senior living property managers to a glaring problem: the cost of keeping those units full. Add up what you’re spending on third-party lead sources along with internal resources devoted to working leads and you’d probably be shocked at your cost per lease. The good news is that forward-thinking senior property managers are slashing this cost dramatically by simply taking full advantage of marketing tools that have been around for a while now. The senior sector has lagged behind others due to a perception that the senior market is somehow “different” – that generating, working and closing leads isn’t the same ballgame as it is in, say, multifamily housing. But the truth is that while there are differences in senior living marketing – a longer sales curve and sensitivity to issues specific to the elderly among them – the same tools enabling multifamily properties to slash marketing spend are showing great effectiveness at senior properties. They’re impressively boosting both “speed to lead” and “speed to lease.” Websites that work There are websites . . . and there are websites that work. Too many senior living websites are static “online brochures” that merely present photos and information about the properties. And that’s a shame, because for many years now experts have been using ingenious tools to learn exactly what makes a visitor take action as a result of their visit. It always pays to hire professional website design specialists who understand your market. Some of the components of success are obvious (though this doesn’t mean you’ll find them on every senior site). They include super high-quality professional photos and floor plans that make the visitor think “I can see myself (or my parent) living there.” Simple navigation is another basic – these days nobody has patience f...