Social Media For Senior Living Communities: Resident Stories and Testimonials Will Grow Your Audience

Our next tip on how to make social media work for your senior living community is to meet with your current residents to grow your audience. Listening to stories and testimonials from your residents and inviting them to share their stories on social media will reinforce why they decided to move to your community, and it will help inspire other prospects to see themselves living in a new home. Bonus if you can tag the person sharing the story so that they can share with their friends! 

Consider hosting periodic “Facebook 101” workshops where residents can learn how to:

• Like and follow the community’s page

• Tag friends in photos

• Share events or announcements

• Invite their friends to follow the page

While some people might be leery of social media, promote this as a time when residents can be “cheerleaders” for your community. We want to hear from you! (People love to share feedback.)

Not only does this grow your audience, but it also fosters a sense of pride and ownership among residents. Helping your residents learn the ins and outs of Facebook can turn them into advocates for your community page.

• Meet with your resident hospitality committee to discuss Facebook and social media

• Work 1:1 with residents to teach them to follow your page and invite contacts to follow and like the page

• Talk about the approach of the page – less of a scrapbook, more of a resource page

• Discuss potential resource topics that would interest your prospective residents

Invest in two pieces of hardware that can make anyone on your team a “content creator.” 

A gimbal stabilizer and/or tripod for your phone. Set up a comfortable interview space where you can stand up and meet residents for a 1:1 question and answer setting. Think of this as a “man on the street” interview. Make sure it is a space with great lighting, and it is fairly quiet. 

A handheld, Bluetooth microphone for your phone. This will ensure that the audio you are capturing with your resident is crisp and easy to hear. 

Try a few Q&A sessions with your residents to get a quick, 30 second video produced. Start simple: What is your favorite thing about living in this community? Interview 2-3 residents to see what they say. That’s an easy way to get comfortable with the video process and start driving content on your page. 

Think about other fun questions to ask related to holidays or special times of the year…

Labor Day is coming up - what if you asked 6-7 residents about their past careers? In October, ask about the best costume you’ve ever worn for Halloween. What is the best Halloween candy? Around Valentine’s Day… How did you meet your spouse? 

Don’t forget to involve your fellow team members in this conversation. Getting your team involved in the fun shares with your audience the true flavor of community life. 

Stay tuned for more tips that could help your senior living community thrive on social media!