May 2, 2024 —Howard Braxton, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Sales, recently appeared on a panel called “Digital Marketing Strategies for the Boomer Generation” at the Senior Housing News Sales and Marketing Conference in Tampa, Florida.
Howard shared how Kendal has merged digital and traditional mediums into one larger strategy to reach prospective residents and members. At Kendal, as Howard describes, sales and marketing leaders understand that while digital efforts are crucial, traditional, physical advertising continues to be vital.
Blended materials that incorporate both digital and traditional elements are the preferred marketing approach. For example, mailers should include QR codes for potential residents to scan to learn more about communities. This method has led to around 80% of Kendal’s lead generation coming through the website in the last year.
He also emphasized the need to maintain curb appeal off and online. Traditionally, physical curb appeal continues to be important; however, “If you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the front of your building, and looking at your website once a year, you’re doing yourself a disservice,” Howard said. Websites are the new curb appeal, and how communities represent themselves online is vital in today’s world. Communities should examine and update their websites multiple times per year, if not once per month or more.
Finally, Howard touched on the future of marketing in the field. While Kendal has not formally adopted extensive AI to inform marketing activities, Howard encouraged sales and marketers to explore AI tools and not be afraid to test tools that meet their needs.
Read more about Howard’s presentation in a Senior Housing News article here.