Question

Topic: Strategy

Expand Marketing Reach Of Assisted Living Facility

Posted by jennifer on 10/22/2013 at 7:58 PM ET 250 Points
I’m developing the marketing plan for an assisted living facility.

They’ve never done formal marketing before – everybody in the local area knows about them and they’ve never had trouble keeping beds full. For years, they had a waiting list. Because of all the changes in the economy, they are now down in census, and the local market is pretty tapped out. As in, people are not yet ready for assisted living, or they can’t sell their houses so can’t move in. They’re looking to expand their market area to include larger cities nearby (up to 2 hours away by car).

My questions are:
1. Is it possible that we could attract people from outside our immediate area, or would it be better to relocate the facility (I’m not sure if relocating is a real an option)?
2. What would be some of the most effective strategies for doing this expanding our market into other cities?

Thanks for your advice.

Jennifer
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 10/22/2013 at 8:11 PM Member
    Moving an assisted living site any distance would be an out of the box solution. You'd have to look at how many new clients you'd gain, how many you'd lose, and what the costs of the move would be. Not normally done, but perhaps there would be cases where it makes sense.

    Attracting from outside the city is possible, but you have to have something to offer. Among other things, most people looking for assisted living close to friends and family. So this would add a challenge, unless you are in a situation where many older folks live in the country and their kids moved to the city (your city) for jobs.

    How to attract new people - I would still look at promoting to people within your city and its suburbs before going after those from afar. Chances are you haven't reached all potential tenants in your area.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 10/22/2013 at 8:17 PM Member
    Oh, go after other areas, you need to promote the benefits of your location over any that are in the "larger cities up to 2 hours away". Is your town desirable to visit or live in? Less expensive? Quieter? Whatever brings someone to live there, see if that is also a selling point to people looking for assisted living homes.

    Or can you expand your clientele to move form assisted living (so people need assistance) to senior living (people just need to be 55, or some age, or older, including active people)?
  • Posted on 10/23/2013 at 8:01 AM Member
    Social media is one of the best way to promote your business.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 10/23/2013 at 9:27 AM Accepted
    Can you help people sell their houses as part of the "sign up extras"?
    What is the competition seeing in the area you're thinking of expanding to? Are they have similar problems - or is there little or no coverage in this area?
    What relationships do you have with other medical providers in this expanded region - people who are likely to be good sources of referrals?
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 10/23/2013 at 9:49 PM Accepted
    One of the best sources of business for aged care and assisted living is word of mouth referral. Since the population is generally aging (the baby boomer population bulge is now reaching the retirement/care home phase of their lives) and assuming there';s nothing strange about the local demography, you should have more prospects.

    Does your place have a good reputation with residents and their families? Families, i.e. children of seniors requiring assisted living, low care or high care residential aged care, generally make the decision or catalyse the decision to place loved ones into a home. And they all have friends in the same age cohort who have parents in the same or similar circumstances. So, market to the families of existing residents and ask them to tell their firends. Offer a "family get resident" incentive for referrals.

    But before you start, survey family members to ensure they are happy with they way their parents are being cared for. If you have a quality of service or image problem, all the marketing in the world won't help unless you fix that first.

  • Posted by Moriarty on 10/27/2013 at 7:59 AM Member
    Apols if this has been mentioned - but work out who's already bought from you. This is the best key to any marketing plan, and looking at things from their point of view usually makes the marketing plan easy to write and effective. Finding good clients means sensible, long-term profits - whether they are local or otherwise. Most marketers can tell you where their best customers live, down to the postcode. Your business will be no different; the point is that if you extend your reach to other areas, start by looking for areas that are similar in demographics.

    Sorting out a good USP (unique selling proposition) will help too, but this is not as easy as it sounds. There are a few ninjas out there who can help you in this, and given the size of your operation it would be well worth the expense - as long as your business is prepared to back it up. This is crucial - and can be the one thing that makes someone decide to go for you.
  • Posted by jennifer on 10/30/2013 at 12:29 PM Author
    Thank you to all of you who posted answers.They were all very helpful. You guys ROCK!
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