Nowadays, individuals searching for senior living are online. 
According to Pew Research Center data about older adults Internet usage: among Americans age 65+ with an annual income greater than $75K — the folks who are more likely to be able to afford in-home care and/or senior living — 87% are online, with the majority using the Internet daily. Additionally: 81% of them own smartphones, 65% use tablets, and more than half are on social networks. Senior care businesses not paying attention to digital marketing are missing a significant and growing sales opportunity.
Within digital marketing:
Online reviews are playing a big role in product/service research and purchase selections in numerous industries — senior care is no exception. On Caring.com, senior care searchers click to the listings with reviews and skip those without them. Our Family Advisors are also reading online reviews to get a general sense of how well the community is serving its customers, bolstering confidence in referring prospective residents and their family members.
We also measure how much influence online reviews are having in senior care, and in multiple studies found that reviews significantly increased leads, tours, and move-ins for our senior living partners. We hear from senior care providers too, that consumers given a senior care business’ name from a doctor or hospital discharge planner are still going online to find information, reading the reviews, and using those insights to follow up on the professional recommendation (or not).
So a senior living operator or community’s online presence and online reputation is now very important to their overall sales and marketing success — and Pacifica Senior Living is demonstrating excellence through their online reputation management and partnership with Caring.com.
What Pacifica Senior Living’s Online Reputation Management Program Includes:
How Pacifica Senior Living is a Leader in Digital Marketing
Caring.com processes thousands of senior care reviews every month, and has thousands of senior living partners nationwide. We have extensive insights about senior care reviews online and how senior living operators are receiving and responding to reviews. Looking at how various senior living organizations are utilizing reviews as a key sales and marketing strategy: Pacifica Senior Living stands out for excellence.
Their digital marketing leadership (Lucie Barry-Punches, director of social media marketing & digital communications) uses the latest best practices and technology to skillfully monitor and respond to the reviews their communities receive. Their executive leadership has encouraged their entire organization to proactively and regularly seek out new reviews from their residents and residents’ family members, and they even host an incentive program among their employees (community vs. community) to engage them in this initiative (such as ‘community with most customer reviews by X date wins a pizza or ice cream party’ or other similar friendly competitions). They also do companywide (positive reinforcement) “shout-outs” or kudos to encourage their staff to seek authentic reviews from residents and residents’ family members.
Additionally, Pacifica Senior Living was among the first senior living operators to seize the opportunity of answering prospects’ common questions on community listings when this new feature became available in Caring.com’s Partner Portal — answering an impressive volume of questions within the first two weeks of the feature’s launch, more than any other operator nationwide.
Pacifica Senior Living is far ahead of any senior living operators who are still trying to figure out their digital marketing strategies, ignoring online reviews, not actively asking for reviews, and/or under the mistaken belief that “online reputation” isn’t necessary or relevant to their communities’ sales and marketing. Some other less savvy senior living organizations might even think they can effectively respond to a negative consumer review by taking the whole listing/page down — with so many review sites on the web today, that’s an ill-advised approach for responding to critical feedback online and a tactic that Pacifica Senior Living would not take. A leader in our industry, like Pacifica Senior Living, would instead take (has consistently taken) the opportunity to contest the review if it has fact-based errors, or publishes a response encouraging the reviewer to dialogue with them directly about the concerns raised. Pacifica Senior Living’s ultimate goal is to have satisfied families and residents, and that’s reflected in their approach to digital marketing as well.
“I don’t wait for reviews to come in. I make an effort to solicit them and share the positive and negative ones, so we are continually becoming a better solution for our families and residents,” says Barry-Punches. “Reviews provide insight into what motivates, impresses or disappoints our families and/or residents. This feeddback allows us to fine-tune their experience for the better.”
The Results from Pacifica Senior Living’s Efforts Are In:
Pacifica Senior Living is tracking and measuring the impact of its reputation management program on:
“Organic traffic can always be improved, and this is an extremely effective way,” says Barry-Punches
Through its reputation management program and listings on Caring.com, Pacifica Senior Living has achieved an increase in the volume of page visits, prospective resident inquiries, community tours, and new resident move-ins:
“If the review is negative, I do something to alleviate the issue — thus demonstrating our commitment to customer service and hopefully preventing dissatisfied individuals from seeking alternative avenues to be heard,” says Barry-Punches.
“My goal is to help make the public aware that Pacifica Senior Living is best in digital marketing class, and I use every tool possible,” says Barry-Punches.
Well done Pacifica Senior Living! You’re a true leader in digital marketing and online reputation management — and reaping the rewards you’ve earned by seizing this opportunity!
Denise Graab
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