Sales and Marketing Best Practices for Senior Living Operators Looking to Scale

As a small or mid-sized senior living operator, you’re at a pivotal moment in your journey. The senior housing sector is ripe with opportunity, and with the strong demand ahead, operators who can scale effectively will position themselves as leaders in the market.

But what are capital partners looking for in operators? How can you gain an edge on the competition and begin to seize this moment to scale your portfolio? While many small and mid-sized operators provide exceptional care, many struggle to generate consistent financial performance. This blog will provide you with actionable best practices to pivot your focus and make senior living sales, revenue, and net operating income a top priority alongside operational excellence.

The Sales and Marketing Priorities That Fuel Growth

First and foremost, your senior living marketing strategies must be scalable. A small operator trying to grow without the right foundation is like building a house without a blueprint. Lead generation is a significant challenge, but with the right practices, you’ll not only attract quality prospective buyers but also convert them into new residents. Here’s how:

1. Balanced Marketing Spend: Digital vs. Traditional

Finding the perfect balance between digital and traditional marketing is crucial. For smaller operators, getting this balance right can make all the difference in how effectively you reach your target audience.

Senior Living Digital Marketing Best Practices: Like it or not, your website is your new storefront and most prospective buyers are starting their search online. Investing in a quality website and lead generation is vital to your senior living sales and financial performance. Consider these best practices:

• PPC Campaigns: Invest in targeted pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. Allocate around $2,000-$3,000 per month to drive qualified traffic to your website.
• Display Ads: Use display ads to create brand awareness and retarget potential residents who have visited your website but didn’t convert.
• SEO Strategy: Build a strong SEO foundation with a focus on key search terms like “senior living near me” or “assisted living community.” Consider a budget of around $1,000-$2,500 per month for ongoing SEO efforts to optimize your senior living marketing.
• Social Media Engagement: Ensure your online presence is consistently strong. Respond to reviews and engage on social platforms to maintain trust and credibility.

Traditional Marketing Best Practices:

• Community Events: Sponsor local events or host open houses to generate awareness. Partner with local vendors for co-branded opportunities.
• Direct Mail Campaigns: Allocate $2,000-$4,000 every six to eight weeks for targeted direct mail campaigns with strong calls to action. These campaigns can reach prospects within your local community and be incredibly effective if done right. As you begin to fill, you can scale direct mail back and focus more on digital marketing.
• Partnerships with Healthcare Providers: Build strategic referral networks with local hospitals, rehab centers, and healthcare providers to generate ongoing referrals. Position yourself as the senior living sales operator of choice now, so you’re ready to benefit as care networks and payer reimbursement models expand nationwide.

2. Lead Nurturing and Conversion: The Path to Success

Attracting leads is only the first step; the real challenge is converting them into residents. Capital partners prioritize operators who can consistently drive revenue and NOI, ensuring strong returns for their investors. They expect a robust, professional senior living sales and marketing system capable of meeting the demands of today’s savvy, informed consumer.

To do this, you need a system that thrives. If you’re experiencing high sales turnover every six to eight months, it’s time to step off the hamster wheel. Consider outsourcing your lead capture, conversion, and nurturing to BILDX. We handle the entire sales funnel, allowing your on-site teams to focus on high-impact activities like touring and community outreach.

Key Takeaways:

• Focus your on-site sales teams on strategic tours and proactive outreach to generate high-quality referrals.
• Outsource lead follow-up and nurturing to experts who can track and engage digital and phone leads. This reduces the burden on your sales directors and allows them to focus on closing new leads to happy residents.

3. Creating a Standout Buyer Experience

The buyer experience, both digitally and in-person, is critical to scaling your business. Unfortunately, most operators are missing the mark here. Studies show that 75% of senior living sales leads go without follow-up, resulting in significant lost revenue opportunities.

Here’s how to perfect your buyer experience:

• Digital Interaction: The first touchpoint often happens online. Ensure your website is easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and provides a seamless inquiry process. Purposeful follow-up to engage leads and schedule a tour should be in place for any web inquiries, ideally within 30 minutes.
• On-Site Tours: Your senior living sales team must be trained to deliver personalized, empathetic tours. This should not be a one-size-fits-all experience. Every prospective resident and family is unique, and your team needs to listen and adjust accordingly.
• Consistent Follow-Up: Most leads fall through the cracks due to poor follow-up. Implement a follow-up cadence that includes a mix of phone, text, and in-person engagement. Track every interaction through a centralized CRM to ensure no lead goes cold.

The Infrastructure Needed to Scale Your Senior Living Operation

Scaling your operation by 25 to 50 percent over the next two to three years demands more than just effective senior living marketing—it requires a solid infrastructure to sustain and support that growth. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Centralized CRM: Implement a robust CRM that tracks all lead data from inquiry to move-in and that shows critical KPI that is visible on a dashboard. This is critical to avoid losing track of prospects.
• Standardized Sales Processes: Ensure all your communities follow the same high standards for follow-up, tours, and lead nurturing. Consistency is key to scaling.
• Training: Invest in ongoing training, coaching, and accountability measures for your senior living sales team or outsource it to professionals like Bild & Co. Whether it’s empathy training, consultative selling, or technology use, continuous education is vital to maintaining performance.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Use KPIs like lead-to-tour conversion rates, tour-to-move-in ratios, and time-to-close metrics. Review these numbers weekly and make data-driven adjustments to your sales process in real time.

Why Capital Partners Are Interested in Strong Senior Living Operators

Capital partners are looking for operators who can scale effectively without sacrificing NOI and revenue. Your senior living sales and marketing performance will be a critical factor in their decision-making process.

• Revenue Growth: Capital partners want to see consistent revenue growth. Focus on boosting your occupancy rates while maintaining revenue per resident; and even premium pricing those final four to five apartments to optimize revenue and NOI.
• Operating Efficiency: Demonstrating streamlined sales and operational efficiencies will give investors confidence that you can manage a larger portfolio.
• Market Leadership: A strong senior living marketing platform will position you as a leader in your market. Capital partners are more likely to invest in operators who have a clear growth strategy backed by data.

Now is Your Moment to Scale Your Senior Living Operation

There has never been a better time to grow your senior living portfolio. Demand is on the rise, and operators who are ready will capture the market. But to succeed, you need a clear plan, a solid infrastructure, and a relentless focus on executing senior living sales and marketing best practices.

If you don’t know where to start, schedule a one-on-one call with Traci Bild or Jennifer Saxman this week by emailing Revenue@BildandCo.com. We’ll help you create a 90-day action plan for growth, position your company for success, and ensure you’re on the senior housing growth map before the year ends. Time is of the essence—don’t miss this opportunity to scale your senior living operation!

FAQ

Q: What is the best marketing strategy for small senior living operators?
A: A balanced approach that combines digital marketing (SEO, PPC, social media) with traditional marketing (local events, direct mail) to maximize reach and lead generation.

Q: How do I attract capital partners to my senior living portfolio?
A: By demonstrating strong sales and marketing systems, efficient lead conversion, and the ability to scale operations while maintaining NOI and revenue growth.

Q: How can senior living operators improve their lead conversion rates?

A: Operators can improve lead conversion by implementing a structured follow-up system, investing in personalized tours, and ensuring prompt responses to inquiries. Training your sales team to build trust, address concerns, and nurture leads through every stage of the buying journey is critical to closing more sales.

Q: What infrastructure is needed to successfully scale senior living communities?

A: To scale successfully, senior living operators need a centralized CRM for lead tracking, standardized sales processes across all communities, and ongoing staff training. Data-driven decision-making and a focus on KPIs like lead-to-tour and tour-to-move-in conversion rates will help ensure consistent growth.

Q: What if I have consistent turnover in the sales department of my senior living communities? 

A: Implement BILDX sales technology and bring stability to your sales pipeline while creating a drastically improved buyer experience. 

Bild & Co is a senior living sales and marketing consulting firm with 25 years of deep expertise advising owners, operators, and developers on how to drive financial performance across their portfolios. To speak with Traci Bild, call 1-800-640-0688, text 813.390.3349, or email TBild@BildandCo.com.