As fall planning season approaches and senior living communities are working to develop a marketing plan for next year, it’s crucial to ensure your community is well prepared to maintain a competitive edge in the senior living market. Market research is a key step in your preparation, providing the knowledge and strategies necessary to excel in the market.
From understanding where your community stands relative to others to utilizing the data gold mine that is your CRM to help plan your strategies and hone in on your targeting, conducting thorough market research for senior living is a key part of the annual planning process. This guide will walk you through the essential steps for effective market comparison, including methods such as mystery shopping, competitive analysis for senior living, and pricing assessments, as well as discuss a variety of ways you should be looking at your CRM data to further define your true target market, including direct mail list analysis, data appends, and consumer profiling.
By integrating market research into your planning, you’ll uncover valuable insights that can guide your strategic decisions and help you enhance your offerings for the year ahead.
What To Consider When Developing a Senior Living Marketing Plan
Each year during late summer and into early fall, it’s time to consider your marketing plan and strategy for the next year. But before you think about how you’re spending next year’s marketing dollars, it’s important to do your research to ensure you are being as efficient and effective as possible with these valuable funds. SageAge recommends you take these important steps prior to developing your marketing plan:
Define Your Target Market
It is very easy to fall into the habit of assuming your market area consists of a 10-mile radius (or any mile radius, for that matter) from your community. However, taking the time to assess your lead and move-in ZIP code origins for the past several years – especially when it can be examined in relation to the ZIP codes that were targeted for the previous year – can be an invaluable step in the planning process. This market analysis not only ensures that new areas of opportunity can be identified but also that areas with lackluster response can be removed for the upcoming year.
Don’t believe that this can change year over year? You’re mistaken. Each year, SageAge conducts a deep dive into our clients’ available data to help define and refine our target market for the coming year. And every year, we are making tweaks and adjustments to our target markets to improve our overall effectiveness.
Identify Your Target Audience
Similar to ensuring your market area is on point year after year, another important factor to consider is using the correct criteria to identify your target audience. Beyond determining simple age, income and asset qualifications, the best marketing plans target an audience that has been developed through data appending and consumer profiling beyond all older adults in your immediate area.
A data append takes the data available in your CRM and builds upon it – matching demographic and psychographic statistics to each record. This appended financial and lifestyle data is then analyzed to help you paint a picture of what your true consumer “looks” like. This consumer profile information can be invaluable in helping you define your target audience and ensure your marketing efforts are reaching the people who are MOST likely to make the move to your community.
Pro Tip: Are you planning a rate increase for next year? Make sure that is reflected in the income and/or asset qualifications that you are utilizing for next year’s mail lists!
Determine Rate Increases & Market Sensitivity
Rate increases are a necessary part of community operation. However, determining exactly how much to increase rates each year can be a daunting task. While you obviously need to consider the senior living costs necessary to support the financial needs of the community, it is also essential to consider the competitive landscape and market sensitivity to price increases. This is when a pricing analysis of market competition is one of the most valuable things you can do.
When you’re conducting a pricing analysis for senior living, gathering comprehensive rate information from your competitors is important to ensure accurate comparisons. Through a competitive analysis, detailed data on entrance fees, monthly fees, and additional costs of assisted living and memory care is collected.
Given the variety of pricing structures and approaches to care costs that are seen across the senior living industry, one of the most important factors of a good pricing analysis is to ensure you are comparing apples to apples. You simply can’t compare a base rate with nine care levels to an all-inclusive rate. Go beyond basic rate comparisons by analyzing both cost per square foot and included services. Additionally, calculate the market average rates for entrance fees, monthly fees, and all other care services. Use this data to price and position your community competitively, ensuring your rates reflect the value you provide when compared to your competition and align with market expectations.
Assess Your Sales Team
As you prepare for next year’s planning, incorporating a comprehensive sales evaluation is crucial. High-functioning sales teams dedicate time to assessing evolving conditions to optimize census growth.
One of the best ways to accomplish an unbiased review of your sales team is through mystery shopping. Mystery shopping, or senior living secret shopping, involves hiring individuals to pose as potential residents/adult children to visit your retirement community and your competitors’ communities. Mystery shopping offers firsthand insights into your customer experience, revealing how the sales team operates and how potential leads navigate the sales process. It also shows how competitors position their communities against yours.
Feedback from mystery shoppers can highlight areas of excellence and areas needing improvement. Use this information to enhance staff training and improve the overall prospect experience.
Analyzing secret shop reports helps you understand how your team and/or competitors respond to prospective residents, identify successful sales tactics, and pinpoint where salespeople fall short. By evaluating your sales team and strategy, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your community’s position, allowing you to refine your approach and enhance your sales effectiveness.
Market Research for Senior Living Services With SageAge
Effective planning for the upcoming year starts with understanding your market landscape. Market research is critical for developing a strategy that positions your community ahead of the competition. By unlocking valuable insights, you can make informed decisions that drive success and enhance your competitive edge.
Elevate your community’s position with our expert market research services, as well as our sales consulting and training services. Discover how your community stacks up against the competition and make data-driven decisions that drive success.
Ready to gain the upper hand in the senior living market? Contact us today at 877-439-7243 to get started and set your community on the path to a successful future.