Lessons from the Boomers for Senior Living Sales and Marketing

Ask any older adult about moving from their primary home to a senior living community and you’re likely to get some variation of “not now”, “not yet” or “not me”.  Yet if you ask the question in a slightly different way, you’re likely to find that these same older adults really do want the senior living lifestyle, just not the senior living label that comes with it. 

A recent Seniorly survey on Baby Boomer disposition toward senior living uncovered a striking contrast between Baby Boomer desire for a senior living lifestyle and their perceptions of senior living communities. This study not only sheds light on the challenges senior living marketers and salespeople will face in the coming years, but also gives us clear direction on how to navigate the barriers to growth.

Despite expressing a strong desire for many of the services and amenities that senior living communities provide, a substantial portion of respondents - approximately 60% - stated that they would not consider moving to a senior living community in the next five years - even if cost were not a factor. What's more, many indicated that they currently bear the responsibilities of the very tasks they wish to avoid. While resistance to senior living as a concept isn’t new, this study gives us new ideas for how to make senior living more attractive for Baby Boomers.

Becoming truly family-friendly

While most of us in the aging sector understand the connection between engagement and health outcomes, it would seem as though prioritization of social or connective activities is not generally proactively managed among baby boomers. Between 60% and 66% of baby boomers expressed a desire not to be the host or planner of social gatherings or events. And though they may be keen to attend, they decidedly do not want the burden of organizing social activities —which just happens to be a hallmark feature of senior living communities. 

While highlighting a robust activities calendar is commonplace, a full 40% of respondents said that spending time with family members actually brings them the most joy  - almost double the number of respondents who listed any other activity or group of activities as bringing them joy.  And if that wasn’t convincing enough, a recent review of questions posed to Seniorly’s AI-powered Virtual Advisor suggested that prospective residents were deeply concerned about how - and where - to host family members who want to visit them. In this respect, family connection is emerging as an important factor in the changing senior living paradigm.

And yet, family engagement is not something not usually covered in a typical senior sales and marketing strategy - but it’s importance cannot be overstated. It's not just about making family members feel welcome; it's about building programs that mitigate the sense of familial loss that comes with a move to senior living . Prospective residents worry about feeling isolated or restricted from their loved ones, about how and where to host family who want to visit. When they do get visits, they worry about how to entertain children and grandchildren, or where everyone can stay overnight. 

This aspect of building the value proposition is one that is by definition, truly cross functional. It goes well beyond sales and marketing, involving activity coordinators, operations and even facilities teams. Engagement is key, but it’s not always about what happens within the resident community. We need to develop strategies that support true family connection, and that includes everything from family communication strategies to activities, and yes - even the physical space in which they can interact.

Household maintenance and the opportunity of negativity bias 

It may come as no surprise that a whopping 57% of respondents who live independently indicated a preference for outsourcing routine household tasks, like yard work, gardening and household maintenance. In that respect, Baby Boomers are just like the rest of us.  (One puzzling outlier in this dataset was the preference for cleaning; a full 60% of respondents said they would rather clean their own home themselves than have someone else do it for them! We know of few people who fall into this category.)

Despite this outlier, the preference for a carefree lifestyle echoes the core offering of senior living communities, which typically take care of these chores for residents. In fact, while most older adults indicated a preference for this kind of “hassle-free” lifestyle, 47% of them indicated that having to manage these responsibilities actually brings them the “least joy” of all the things they do - meaning it’s a pain point in their lives. 

For marketers and sales professionals, a compelling opportunity emerges when addressing this prevalent pain point. The concept of a negativity bias, which plays a predominant role in shaping consumer decisions, offers us a powerful lever for transformation. It invites us to rethink how we present the value of our service offerings and the manner in which we position them to our audience.

In essence, we can depart from the conventional approach of presenting these offerings solely as features of senior living communities and, instead, recast them as practical solutions to a widely accepted and shared concern in the lives of our potential residents. This shift in perspective enables us to harness the psychological underpinning of the negativity bias, allowing us to effectively alleviate the specific pain points that trouble our target demographic. In short, we have the potential to turn the friction that often deters people from senior living into a source of traction and engagement, ultimately benefiting both our industry and those seeking a senior living solution."

Reframing aging in the sales process 

Our analysis of attitudes toward senior living has also uncovered an surprising revelation: there doesn’t seem to be a widespread bias against senior living as a concept. When we delved into responses to open-ended questions, we found that over 60% of the words used to describe senior living conveyed a positive or neutral tone, while only 36% of the words carried a negative connotation. What's encouraging is that senior living is evolving to embrace descriptors like "fun," "social," and "secure” and “popular." In that respect, senior living is working to meet the new market - and succeeding.

What’s less encouraging is that the words with negative associations are so easily conflated with the aging process itself that they’re tough to combat. Words like "depressing," "undesirable," and "confined" suggest that some associate senior living with restrictions and a loss of independence and autonomy. Others used terms like "lonely," "scary," "mistreatment," and "forgotten", all hinting at a fear of neglect or diminishing importance. Paradoxically, many of these conditions are far more likely to materialize in solitary, unsupervised at-home environments.

Sales and marketing teams in the senior living industry face a unique challenge in promoting their services. They must not only showcase the physical community and its amenities but also convey a transformative vision of aging itself. The negative stereotypes and preconceptions associated with aging can often manifest as hurdles in their sales efforts, as potential residents may view moving into a senior living community as a strike against their independence or vitality. 

The key for these teams is to identify what precisely they need to sell in each interaction. Some seniors may be drawn to the sense of community and the amenities a facility offers, while others may need convincing that embracing this new phase of life can bring fulfillment and well-being. The ability to quickly discern which aspect to emphasize is critical in helping seniors make the transition with confidence and optimism, ultimately creating a win-win situation for both the residents and the senior living community.

The path to successful senior living marketing and sales strategies lies in understanding the complex landscape of baby boomers' desires, perceptions, and pain points. By reframing our approach to how we market and sell key aspects of the senior living experience, we can make senior living a more attractive prospect for everyone.