The senior living industry has gone through a difficult 18 months to say the least. That’s why it’s no better time to take a look at your senior center and determine how not only can you scale your organization, but also increase business revenue for your senior center.
Here are five actionable strategies you can use to boost your senior center’s revenue in 2021.
Fun activities to keep body and mind active are key to involved residents, and involved residents stay. Retention is fundamental to a thriving business and increased revenue.
According to McKnight Senior Living, the average cost per lead for senior care sales representatives is $431. Compare that to acquisition costs for medical or healthcare sales which average $286.82. That’s 51% less than senior care sales!
Instead, if you keep your current members happy, engaged, and attending events and classes, you’re more likely to keep them as paying members. So though you might need to invest in great content and packed activity calendars, it’s worth it to not have to start from scratch.
Plus, retention helps with lead generation. Involved residents also make recommendations to friends and even leave great reviews about your senior center. And when a resident is happy, so is their family, who may also become lead generators. Acquisition of new leads and closing sales is of course important to your business cycle, but remember: lead generation is expensive compared to retention.
Check out these 10 ways to use virtual programs to improve engagement!
Even before the pandemic, up to 40% of seniors reported feelings of isolation and loneliness. And COVID made it worse: during the first few months of the pandemic, a poll from the University of Michigan showed that the number of seniors experiencing loneliness leapt to 56%.
Providing virtual/hybrid events in your activity calendar will allow you to reach more people, provide opportunities for social interaction, offer flexibility, and promote engagement. What can you offer? Games, workshops, exercise sessions, support groups, classes—all can be offered online with a live audience.
Anything with music is always a big hit. Research gathered from studies around the world shows clear evidence that for seniors with any form of mild dementia, playing a musical instrument activates the portions of the brain that have yet to be damaged by disease.
These studies also showed that making music improves mood. Singing, karaoke, dancing, and even meditation with music are all ways to engage seniors members.
Fun fact: If you're throwing a virtual dance party, keep in mind that older seniors will have a totally different playlist than Baby Boomers. Think Bobby Darin vs. The Rolling Stones!
Also consider events that can engage and include family members. Many of Televeda's online events are family friendly, such as yoga, cooking, and online games that are perfect for grandparents and grandkids alike.
Of course, getting funding from sources in addition to memberships is incredibly important. Some ways to get funding to increase your senior center revenue?
Don't assume seniors are technologically illiterate. People over 50 usually started using technology in their 20s or 30s, perhaps starting with the old AT computers or Apple's Lisa.
Seniors may not be digital natives like millennials, but most are digital adapters, and this technology is allowing them to live better lives! Seniors are online, cruising the web, reading news, finding classes and activities, using their smartphone and more.
And this all means your senior center should up your digital marketing game. Look at your SEO (Search Engine Optimization), especially your local SEO. Local SEO is a strategy which helps you be more visible during Google searches in a specific area, and people are most likely going to be searching for senior centers near them (though virtual senior center events are becoming more popular).
Another helpful tactic for senior center marketing is getting more good online reviews about your senior center. Reviews are one of the most important ranking factors on Google’s search engine result pages, so good reviews can definitely drive more traffic to your senior center page.
Check out how to best market your senior center here.
Tracking metrics is fundamental to your business’ success. Why should you spend good money on a class if only three people attend? Having CRM (customer relationship management) software is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. If you don’t have one, get one—your sales and marketing team will thank you. If your center is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, TechSoup offers deep discounts on all things tech, including several CRM packages.
Track engagement, too. If a person drops off a virtual event after 10 minutes, it's usually a red flag that something’s not going right. Review instructor ratings after the session. Look at chat logs—were people engaged and enthused? Over time, you’ll be able to see your “fans”—people who repeatedly show up (we call them our power users)!
Also, take a look at well-being metrics. Seniors can be vulnerable, so if Joe usually attends virtual yoga every Friday and drops off for several weeks, reach out and find out how he is.
At Televeda, we can help manage many of these challenges. We analyze core metrics and satisfaction levels to improve participant retention and longevity, and well as send data reports and feedback directly to you to help improve operational efficiencies.
Televeda is a recreation management platform that empowers senior living and recreational centers to engage active and older adults through live, virtual/hybrid social activities that reduce social isolation. Schedule a free demo to see how we can help you reduce costs and increase revenue at your center.
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