Picture this: You head down to your mailbox one afternoon to receive your daily stack of mail. Dread comes over you as you realize most of your mail is bills and various promotional advertisements. All the junk you wish to throw away. But, as you sift through your pile of mail, you notice an eye-catching piece that draws your attention. A lavish event at a local senior living community you’ve been wanting to visit. In big bold letters reads:
We’re calling it Friendsgiving, you’ll be the friend & we’ll do the giving. Join us for a warm embrace of the holiday season as we share a wonderful meal with you.
This is no junk. It’s a sign. Direct mail is a great way to get invited into someone’s home. There is no other marketing channel that’s as tangible and direct as direct mail. It brings traffic to your website, generates leads, and is cost-effective. Why wouldn’t you choose it as your next lead-generating marketing tactic?
many may say direct mail is dead, but that’s far from the truth.
Lifeless brochures and dull postcards are the only things that need to be put to rest. Using personalized direct mail strategically combined with digital marketing approaches can be effective in getting prospects to your senior living community. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little sparkle to catch the eye in the midst of the festive season, and to bring those brochures or postcards to life!
So, look lively! Cue up your creative team or work with talented designers at a senior living agency like Angell Marketing, and let’s maximize your mailings.
What are the benefits of direct mail for senior living communities?
Personalization
Direct mail doesn’t have to be a bland piece of paper — there are plenty of ways to add a little pizzazz to a piece. Incorporating personal elements or playful text is a good place to start. Maybe your community has a signature phrase that is used in marketing pieces. The Variel, a senior living community in Woodland Hills, has a tagline that reads Inspired Senior Living. This is an excellent way to paint a picture of today’s active seniors and adds a personal flair to their brand.
Special events and holidays
The holidays are here, and there’s no better way to announce special events and get RSVPs than by utilizing direct mail. Have a Christmas soiree on the calendar? Create a holiday-themed mailer to send to your active leads and prospects. Ventana By Buckner, a senior living community in Dallas, Texas, embraced the holiday season by presenting a Parade of Homes event to showcase resident homes to prospects. Their nutcracker-themed mailer resulted in 94 calls and 64 inquiries!
Whether you’re targeting tech-savvy millennials or sophisticated baby boomers, direct mail can create a memorable impression. In our market, you’re presumably targeting boomers or their adult children who are active leads for your community. Direct mail allows you to target individuals who meet a specific age group, income, location, or other specific targeting criteria such as zip code or radius around the community.
Heritage Community, a senior living community in Kalamazoo, Michigan, saw outstanding success in their direct mail initiatives with an antique-themed event mailer. This direct mail piece targeted leads and prospects interested in antiques, fine art and a vibrant lifestyle. The community received an 87% response from this mailer and garnered 59 event attendees. Let’s just say we reached our targeted demographic!
Emotional Impact
Direct mail can help you connect on a deeper level with your target audience. With its physical presence and emotionally interesting messages, a good direct mail piece is akin to receiving a sentimental letter. There’s nothing more personal than that.
Speaking of making an impression, it doesn’t hurt when you can incorporate cute animals. Christwood, a senior living community in Covington, Louisiana, embraced its pet-friendly community with a Howl-o-Ween Pup Party event mailer. This sure is a memorable mailer that will pull at the heartstrings, and get prospects excited to attend. We saw an uproar in attendance and created a memorable experience for pet-loving prospects.
let’s start a conversation.
If you aren’t already convinced that direct mail is an effective return on investment for your senior living community, reach out to the experts at Angell Marketing. We’ve got plenty of data and more amazing results we’re happy to share.
We can help you deliver results with direct mail. Not junk mail. Ask us how we can help your senior living community combine these offline, old-school techniques with the latest digital marketing efforts to increase your results.