Katie Massing joined Caring to positively impact the lives of seniors and their caregivers, contributing her marketing analytics skills and cross-channel experience from prior roles in the animal care industry. At Caring, she supports multiple areas of the business, including sharing the stories of successful partnerships, helping more consumers find Caring's resources, developing recruiting and email content, and more!
Articles and Webinars
by Expert Contributor
by Expert Contributor
Articles and Webinars
The number of online searches for senior living and senior care has increased significantly within the past decade, up to 15,500 online searches per hour as of late 2021.
Caring.com helps senior living communities get in front of online searchers through a portfolio of high-ranking senior living websites.Our expertise in digital partnerships has shown us the best practices that leading communities follow when it comes to converting online leads.
To support your community in better competing online, here are our top four tips for converting online leads into new senior living residents:
Historically, a first step for the decision-making process was to drive by the physical community. The landscaping, lobby decor, and a smiling receptionist were all factors in whether the community made a positive first impression.
With more and more seniors and their loved ones beginning their search online, they may rule out or add a community to the top of their list before ever stepping on the property — based simply on what they found online. Are you putting the right amount of care and attention into the online experience to ensure your prospective residents and their family members have a positive first impression?
By maximizing and maintaining a positive online presence for your community, you are opening the door – physically and digitally – for potential residents. Maximize your online presence by ensuring your community appears wherever care seekers are searching.
Caring’s portfolio of websites rank for generic searches, such as “retirement homes,” where consumers go early in their process to learn about different care options and compare providers. And, the best practices for optimizing your profile on a site like Caring.com can also be applied to optimizing your website.
These best practices include adding professional-looking community photos and providing a detailed list of your amenities and services. While several factors go into your pricing for residents, providing estimated ranges online can help a prospective resident determine if your community is within their budget. Your website or online listing acts as a digital salesman and should entice and help qualify potential residents.
Finally, consistency is key. Make sure the branding and information on your directory listing matches what is shown on your website, Google Business Profile, or anywhere else you are digitally advertising.
If you’re struggling to convert online leads, take a broader view of your sales process.
First, remember they are a lead, not a guaranteed move-in. They may be early into their research journey and are likely considering multiple communities. The best way to help potential residents come to a decision is through compassion. By listening to their situation and learning about them as a person, you are able to determine how best to follow through and serve their needs.
The biggest key is follow through. Unable to reach a new lead on the first call? Try again, and again. Approximately 80% of sales are finalized after more than five touch points!
Reviews are pivotal in today’s world, and it’s not just with younger generations. 71% of U.S. adults 55 and over read online reviews of businesses. On average they read 7 reviews before they can trust a business.
Not only are reviews important in attracting more inquiries, they’re also very influential in driving higher lead conversion. Among many partner reviews case studies Caring has conducted: the data showed that community listings with more than 15 reviews average close to 8 times more move-ins compared to communities with little to no reviews.
The pandemic has increased online usage and the popularity of consumer reviews. At Caring, for instance, we published 60% more reviews in 2021 compared to 2020.
In addition to hosting consumer reviews, Caring also supports communities in responding to reviews — whether negative, positive, or in-between.
When your future residents go online, don’t lose their interest to competitors in your area. Follow these best practices and others to ensure you’re found and best represented online.
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Looking for ways to boost your community's digital curb appeal? We can help. Contact sales@caring.com or call (888) 808-0453 to learn how to enhance your listing as a new partner today.
Most senior living small business owners wear multiple hats in running their business. They’re often time caregivers, accountants, cooks, transporters, and even marketers. Wearing all of these hats can lead to burnout in the long run. This is exactly the case for Riza, the owner of In R Great Hands in Placentia, CA.
Before she began working with Caring.com, Riza ran all of her own marketing strategy by herself through different social media platforms. Between taking care of the seniors, running her business, and taking care of her family, Riza was left with little time for herself. Oftentimes, her seniors would chastise her to enjoy life and work less. “Our seniors constantly remind me that life is too short and that I shouldn’t stress over the small things”, said Riza.
With Riza primarily relying on the “old school” word of mouth and her own efforts to attract new residents, she began to look for new ways to continue to grow her business. Soon, she stumbled across Caring.com and began reading reviews and success stories from other care home partners. From there, she sought out her own partnership with Caring.
Her primary goals going into a partnership with a company like Caring were to spread the word, garnish great reviews, and to create a great partner relationship. Caring.com provided guidance on how to best present her business in an impactful way to potential residents and their family members by creating a strong listing that highlights all of the benefits of her care home.
A partnership with Caring.com is a tool to help set a business up for success by connecting them to the largest senior care and senior living seeking audience, digital marketing tools, potential resident referrals, and move-ins. Caring.com hosts consumer reviews for senior living communities and care homes on business listings, as well as gives these businesses access to a Partner Portal where they can easily send out requests for reviews to their happy customers and run review solicitation campaigns. Beyond that, Caring.com provides their partners with “Best Practices” guidelines to help guide them along the way. Fast forward a few months after joining Caring’s partner network: Riza has this to say to other care facilities, “Do it as soon as you can! I regret not doing it sooner”. In the last year, she has had over one hundred visitors to her care home’s profile in Caring’s directory, which she says is a large increase from her previous strategies.
And since she began her partnership with Caring.com, she’s noticed great quality referrals and achieved new resident move-ins — converting 7.5% of the leads Caring sent her care home in 2021 and achieving an average review rating of five stars! Riza loves how easy it is to talk to the Account Managers at Caring.com and says that she has learned so much about how best to make a name for her business.
“I learned so much from Caring including how to earn reviews and how to build my listing to attract new clients. It’s so important to spend the time and effort on the business page to put important information. You have to think about what makes you interesting, that’s what your future clients would care about!” -Riza, In R Great Hands
Overall, working with Caring.com has helped to ensure that Riza is able to focus on the things that matter, which are spending time with her residents, her family and making a positive impact on the lives of the seniors around her. She’s very thankful to Caring.com and that shows! Every time she receives a referral, Riza makes a point to reach back out to the Family Advisors and personally thank them for all that they’ve done for her business.
“I have no regrets placing my mother In R Great Hands-Montevideo. The staff is compassionate, warm and polite.” -davykady, 7/9/21
With a partnership like the one at Caring.com, Riza and other small businesses owners are able to thrive and work to grow their business. We all know that the work is never over when it comes to running a business. By utilizing the digital marketing tools and guidance available through a Caring partnership, care home owners have the support they need to more easily grow their business.
“I was confident from the moment I visited this facility that it would be the right place for her. This community is truly a blessing.” -maze9101, 10/14/21
*** Results can vary by account and location. Please contact an account executive to learn more about the opportunities for your area: sales@caring.com or (855) 897-2433.
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