The Power of Storytelling in Marketing Your Senior Care Facility

Chrissy Bernal, brand acceleration guide & public relations at Be A Better Brand

Effectively marketing a senior care organization is key to building census and maintaining a positive reputation. In addition to traditional marketing efforts like social media marketing and digital marketing, incorporating storytelling into your marketing efforts can strengthen its effectiveness.

Why Storytelling Matters

When thinking of marketing strategies for your senior care organization, storytelling might not be the first item on your list, but it’s important to include. Chrissy Bernal, brand acceleration guide & public relations at Be A Better Brand, explains that this strategy can pay off in multiple ways. “Man has been telling stories from the very beginning,” she says. “Stories often evoke empathy and allow the person receiving the message to relate to the story, or the emotion within the story. And because we ultimately make decisions to solve an internal problem, the emotions we’re able to connect with in a story will better connect us with the product or service being marketed.”

Ways to Incorporate Storytelling Into Marketing

Alexa Justine Callada, marketing and accounting specialist with Dream Chasers, explains that senior care organizations can share stories with their audience in many potential ways. “Some examples are through blog posts, videos, social media, and press releases,” she says. “Senior care organizations should make sure they have the right content for the right audience to ensure they reach out to as many people as possible and stand out from the competition.”

Bernal explains that humanizing marketing with stories can be very effective across multiple marketing channels. “Some videos from current residents or their caregivers that highlight how their internal and external problems were solved would be great,” she says. She notes that placing such a video on a website so that it’s quickly seen when visitors land on the site has been shown to increase conversions. Organizations can also create consistency in their marketing by making sure that each social media post follows a story model.

How to Gather and Craft Quality Stories

When it comes to gathering quality stories, Callada recommends that a senior care organization start by identifying the goal of the campaign. “Once you know what your goal is, you should start looking for stories that will suit your goals,” she says. Next, organizations should identify their audience. Find out who they are and determine what the audience wants from the organization. With that information in hand, the organization can determine which story is the best fit for the audience and the campaign.

It’s also important for organizations to recognize what makes a good story. Callada explains that a great story should have a good hook, or first line. “The first line of your story should get people hooked on what they’re about to read,” she says. “Something like, ‘I was at work when I saw her’ is an example of a good hook.”

Additionally, the story needs a compelling narrative. The narrative should be engaging, and readers should be able to easily follow along with that narrative.

Bernal echoes the importance of understanding the audience, and that trying to address too many problems at once is a mistake. “Marketers need to get laser focused on who their audience is and speak specifically to them,” she says. “A great story should attract those it’s intending to attract, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.”

Quality stories can make marketing memorable and help a senior care organization stand apart from others. Whether you’re designing your next campaign or reworking your entire marketing strategy, consider incorporating stories to increase the effectiveness of your efforts.

Paige Cerulli

Paige Cerulli is a contributing writer to i Advance Senior Care.