What types of senior care content earn the best engagement?
It’s a question we hear often. While Google has been the Wild West of search engines for a while now, we still see the categories of senior living content we focus our efforts on performing well.
As we near the 14-year anniversary of our SCCS launch… (what?? how is that number even possible?) … the basics that we started with still apply.
So, what are those? Let’s take a quick look on the broad categories you might find helpful.
Creating Senior Care Content That Engages Your Target Audience
In the broadest terms, our two most requested audiences are: seniors searching for themselves and family members (adult children) trying to find help/solutions for loved ones.
Within those two categories, we break things down a little more…
Content Target: Families searching for a senior loved one
When loved ones are researching various types of senior care, they have different priorities for solutions than a senior usually has. And when it comes to content, there are two broad categories to keep in mind to better meet the needs of your family member audience:
- Topics/resources to self-educate: When you’ve worked in senior living or home care for a while, it’s easy to forget how steep the learning curve can be. For adult children and other family members, however, it can be overwhelming. That’s why you need, and will always need, content that meets families wherever they are on this journey. And, yes, that means not just those getting started but families who have already helped their loved one make this transition.
- Content that offers solutions to emotional issues: This is an area where there is still tremendous opportunity to stand out. Senior living providers and home care companies continue to miss the boat on telling stories as a way to showcase solutions. Sure, they can involve more footwork up front, i.e., identifying resident stories, talking with the resident, discussing the upfront concerns with family members. But the end result is senior care content that truly shows the benefits offered by different types of senior care.
Content Target: Active Seniors Searching for Solutions
When older adults hit the Google search box to start exploring, they are likely looking at potential options through a bit of a different lens. They don’t want anyone to take away their independence, even if they do need a helping hand to maintain it.
Many are also looking for ways to rebuild their social network and fight isolation and loneliness. And some are forward-thinking, choosing to plan now for their future health and safety needs.
In terms of determining what senior living content that will reach this audience and keep them connected, we find clients have the best results with:
- Thriving at every age: Successful aging has been a buzzy phrase for quite some time, and for good reason. People want to not just live longer, but to stay healthy as they grow old. Quality of life matters greatly. Blog articles, tip sheets, interviews, and guides that address these types of topics remain popular.
- Ways to make money last: Even those people with what seems like a good retirement fund worry they will run out of money. It is a common concern. Because of that, we continue to find topics that discuss the value of life plan communities, home care, and other types of senior housing perform well. As do topics on budgeting, bridge loans, selling a home, and additional ways to finance senior care.
While this is obviously a pretty simplified overview, we hope it helps make it a little easier to strategize your senior living and home care content.
Have a question? Shoot us a note? We’ll be happy to help!