I recently attended a webinar that featured a well-respected researcher in senior living. I learned that in a recent national survey of 1,500 independent living leads for a variety of IL communities, approximately 25 percent of prospects are now choosing to stay home.

Bad news? Nope! That leaves 75 percent who are still going to move, which means the glass is more than half full. In our own experience, we have found that that remaining 75 percent will tend to be highly motivated to move.

Senior living communities that put their best foot forward now and capture as many leads as possible will win more of that shrinking market share. As of the writing of this blog, the housing market is still solid and demand is high, which means seniors relying on home equity can still move. Plus, the stock market seems to be doing okay. And another stimulus package is in the works. All strong cases for seniors to buy in now rather than later if they’re over 70 and considering a future move.

At the agency, we’ve been having remarkable success with a well-rounded marketing approach we’re calling the Pivot Program. It matches off-line and online channels with quality virtual web seminars and gated content. This approach not only is creating new leads, but it also is refreshing and even closing some older leads that have been in the pipeline. Also, the cost-per-lead is way right in the industry average with some social channels coming in much lower, so the ROI on marketing dollars spent are extremely attractive to CFOs.

When your leads and waitlist members see your community actively engaging and promoting an optimistic lifestyle position, they will naturally act. Why? Because they start thinking that your community is going to fill up, and they don’t want to be left out in the cold when they’re ready to move. FOMO (“fear of missing out”) and scarcity are great motivators.

Key take-aways: If you’re not already, get your marketing program beefed up and fill up your leads funnel, and then focus on nurture marketing.

For the immediate term, focus on creating engaging content, web seminars and virtual tours, which create an urgency to respond. Offer incentives for attendance. 3rdThird has produced a set of intellectual materials and presentations that we can customize to your brand and community. We have a list of professional speakers who host virtual seminars about a variety of topics, including “Dating After Sixty”, “How to Hear Better”, “Designing Your Life”, “Rightsizing Your Life” and “Financial Tips for Moving into a Life Plan Community.” Visit 3rdplus.com/go-virtual/ for more information.

Every single one of these can help drive high-quality leads. We’re helping communities fill up during Covid-19. Ask us how. And what we can do for yours!

Cheers to a brilliant fall of lead generation.