Wendy O'Donovan Phillips
Social media is your organization’s open house, online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We surveyed 100 marketing professionals in the senior housing industry to find out how the industry is using social media marketing to attract seniors to their communities, why it's important, and common processes and best practices.
We've overlaid our peer research data with some of the tools and approaches Big Buzz uses to streamline social media marketing and get better results. Here's an excerpt from the e-book:
- Set goals. 49% of survey respondents said they set goals for social media. Over time, all posts should follow a path that aligns with different points in the conversion funnel or high-level business goals your organization is trying to achieve. This path should clarify the types of posts that appear on a daily basis, as well as the calls to action and measurement for each type of post.
- Complete your research. Review your brand standards, gather research data, and review past social media efforts and analytics to determine what actions increase followers and engagement and which don't. In our survey, 75% of respondents said they've taken this step.
- Check your brand standards. When asked, “How often does your organization refer to its brand standards guide when creating social media posts?” 54% of respondents said monthly and 41% said quarterly. Both are good frequencies to revisit your organization's brand pillars when planning social posts. Integrating brand messaging into posts in the awareness area of the content path conversion process is entirely appropriate to truly differentiate your organization.
- Create a calendar. The majority of survey respondents said they create a new calendar quarterly or monthly, with quarterly being recommended for organizations that post about four times per week and monthly for those that post up to seven times per week. In fact, 66% of their peers said their entire social media marketing strategy is designed and coordinated by their team.
- Create your post. Ensure that each post includes an image or video from our production team with alt text that describes the image for those with vision impairments Ensure that every post includes attention-grabbing or educational text Always include relevant hashtags Our research found that only 51% of our peers include a call to action (CTA) in every social post. Given that people only take action when we give them a call to action, it's essential to include CTAs and links in every post.
- Distribute the post. Are you posting appropriately on the right social media outlets? This question can only be answered with a strategic marketing plan that is specific to your organization's corporate and business goals. To avoid too many posting channels, wasted resources, and lost revenue, make sure to research which social media outlets your target audience uses most frequently and focus your time and budget there.
- Analyze the results. Only 49% of survey respondents included data analytics in their social media process, a key indicator of success or areas needing improvement. Although social media marketers measure more than a dozen data points, teams may be able to get a clear overview by measuring and reporting on just four metrics: reach, engagement rate, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rate.
- Optimize and evolve. Analyzing and reporting results over time allows your team to further replicate successful social media efforts and improve or discontinue those that aren’t.
Get the complete e-book here, which contains more information on the points raised in this column.
Big topic is a marketing agency with over 15 years of experience helping senior housing marketing and sales teams nurture leads to improve occupancy, grow, and scale. Big Buzz's leadership team regularly speaks in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 3,000, including at Argentum conferences and various LeadingAge chapter meetings. Agency awards and recognition include recognition from the American Marketing Association, Business Marketing Association, HubSpot Academy Inbound Marketing Certification, and Clutch.
Big Buzz CEO Wendy O'Donovan Phillips is the book's author. “Flourish!: How Senior Services Organizations Use It to Get Ultimate Marketing Results.” He has been featured in McKnight's Senior Living, is a regular contributor to Forbes, and has been quoted in The Washington Post, ABC News, and the Chicago Tribune.
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