Data from 2,200 Senior Living Communities Illustrate Effects of the Pandemic on Sales and Marketing
Through another month, the senior living industry has been in turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting rapidly to protect the health and safety of community residents and staff. During this time, many sales and marketing tactics have been updated to support communities. It is critical to track key performance metrics to objectively evaluate all new investments being made.
In the month of May, numerous communities have continued delaying onsite tours and move ins as they further explore new ways to engage prospective residents including virtual tours, additional home or “porch” visits and waitlist strategies to track future move ins. Marketing investments have been made in new messaging and mediums, often replacing traditional tactics. Specifically, these investments are focused on new content, video messaging and marketing automation to distribute personalized and timely communications to prospective residents and their loved ones. Communities that are moving in new residents are rapidly adapting their technology to be able to efficiently and effectively screen and track results.
These dramatic shifts in the senior living sales and marketing process place an even greater emphasis on making smart business decisions. While there is an abundance of opinion available, it is imperative to utilize data when making decisions and allocating investments, especially with the additional pressure of the current COVID-19 environment.
“In comparison to April, we saw mostly positive increases in May in regard to inquiries, tours and move ins. In the month of May, inquiries were down only 21% from the prior year while April was down 42%. I suspect we will see this positive upswing continue into June and July. The best way to utilize this data is to take a look at what your organization’s numbers are for this year and last year and compare them to the trends shown in this report.” stated Erin Hayes, Enquire Chief Revenue Officer.
Enquire has aggregated actual sales and marketing data from over 2,200 senior living communities offering independent living only, independent and assisted living, assisted living, assisted living and memory care and also stand-alone memory care communities to serve as your guide. In this report, 2020 averages for specific metrics by care level, state and region as well as year-to-date metrics were compared to the same period in 2019. This data was also narrowed to the just-completed month of May and analyzed against the same data points from May 2019. The report focuses on the average inquiry, tour and move in volume month-over-month per community and compares 2019 trends to 2020. Additionally, the report looks at other key sales and marketing metrics such as web forms from internet inquiries, home visits, call outs, referrals and move outs that are critical to senior living sales and marketing success.
These data points will provide owners, operators and the investment community insight into what a recovery will look like and how the effects on changing operations, consumer confidence and financial outlook will impact move ins, move outs and overall occupancy trends. To understand current sales and marketing performance, an organization’s 2019 and 2020 year-to-date data should be reviewed and evaluated against the senior living industry benchmarks contained within the report.
An excerpt of the May 2020 aggregated sales and marketing data from over 2,200 senior living communities is below, and the full report can be downloaded for deeper analysis.
May Senior Living COVID-19 Statistics:
- May inquiries for senior living on average were 22% higher than April’s inquiries.
- May move outs in comparison to the prior year are on average 38% lower.
- Move in averages increased just over 10% from April of this year to May of this year.
- Web form submissions overall have increased with 20% more web forms submitted this May than May of last year.
This report will be updated monthly as Enquire continues to aggregate critical data to inform senior living sales and marketing teams. Click to download all of the senior living COVID-19 statistics to understand the effects of the pandemic on sales and marketing teams through May 2020.
