G5 State of Digital Marketing Report Highlights Current Market Conditions Affecting Senior Living
October 16, 2019
BEND, OR–G5, a leader in real estate marketing optimization, released its Senior Living State of Digital Marketing Report for H2 2019. The comprehensive report highlights market conditions and trends impacting the state of digital marketing in senior living—occupancy rates, affordability, reputation management, and employee recruitment and retention—and provides insights into data trends and digital marketing strategies.
“With occupancy rates at near record lows and many middle-income seniors unable to afford senior housing, senior living brand marketers must be able to do more than just tell their brand story,” said Jamison Gosselin, vice president of senior living strategy, G5. “In order to combat the increasing challenge of generating qualified leads, they must engage a digital marketing strategy that drives new prospects in their communities at the best price.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Senior living occupancy is at a near record low of 88%, according to National Investment Center for Senior Housing (NIC) data.
- By 2029, the number of middle-income seniors will grow to more than 14 million, and only 46% may have the financial means to meet the estimated $60,000 annual costs of senior housing and out-of-pocket medical expenses.
- 72% of consumers don’t take action until they have read online reviews and 49% choose businesses with no less than a four-star rating.
- There is a growing shortage of skilled health care workers with senior living experience, but health care positions will account for approximately 2.3 million new jobs through 2026 and about 1.6 million of those jobs will include personal care aides, home health aides and nurses.
How digital marketing can impact the above findings:
- Digital advertising can be used to fill gaps in lead generation strategies and can be tailored per need for specific communities, new leases, seasonality, and budget constraints.
- Senior living providers must develop digital marketing efficiencies of scale, be more transparent with pricing on their website and differentiate their current brand by price point and product to manage marketing costs.
- Proactive reputation and social media management is critical to converting new residents, as seniors and their adult children are increasingly turning to online reviews to evaluate senior living communities.
- Digital marketing can have a two-fold effect on recruiting, as social media ads offer a new avenue to engage employment prospects and can be targeted by proximity to a local community. It can also improve operational efficiency by increasing qualified leads and eliminating costly spend on prospects that won’t convert.
“With the industry under increasing occupancy pressure, it becomes even more clear that having a digital marketing strategy is a necessity,” said Gosselin. “G5 makes marketing an operational advantage for senior living operators. We serve as an extension of their marketing team by customizing scalable, performance-based solutions that include everything from websites to digital advertising to reputation and social media management.”
G5 publishes Senior Living State of Digital Marketing reports twice a year, providing senior living marketers with industry trends and digital marketing insights.
Founded in 2005, G5 has more than 8,000 properties and two million units under management throughout the U.S. and Canada. G5 was named one of the fastest-growing private U.S. companies by Inc. magazine and one of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies by Deloitte. Google selected G5 as a Premier Partner in 2016, the first in the real estate industry, and recently awarded G5 a next-level Premier Google Partnership.
The Bend, Oregon-based company is backed by private equity investor PeakEquity Partners.
