As the importance of maintaining an active social media presence begins to sink in with luxury retirement communities, the question is slowly shifting from “why use social media?” to “how do we use it effectively?” In addition to these social media tips, there is one cardinal rule when it comes to luxury retirement community social media content: authenticity. In fact, this should apply to your marketing materials across the board. Authenticity is what can take your social media content from good to great.

Why is authenticity so important?

With the exception of location, you are encountering the same struggles and marketing to similar audiences as your competitors –especially in a niche market like luxury retirement communities – but that doesn’t mean you have to approach them in the same way.

Authentic content, unique to your community, will help differentiate your brand from your competitors. And since you are most likely speaking to active, digital-savvy prospects rather than their families, sharing real images and stories can help your potential customers relate to and connect with your brand.

How can authenticity be incorporated into your luxury retirement community social media content?

1. Ditch the stock photos. As my colleague, Michelle, noted in a previous post, generic, dated images send the wrong message to active luxury retirement community prospects. There’s also a chance that those same photos could be found on your competitors’ sites, too. Real photos of residents can have a much stronger impact on prospects, especially since most of us today can sniff out a stock photo from miles away. The 65+ community is the fastest-growing group of social media users, so make a great first impression with authentic images. And while keeping a professional photographer on staff would be ideal, you can easily appoint someone in-house to take photos on a regular basis in order to frequently refresh images both on your social media channels and on your website.
2. Share engaging stories – from your residents. Your prospects don’t just come to your social media sites to learn about your community, they come to learn how they will fit in with your community. What better way to share what makes your community unique than by presenting stories from your current residents. This doesn’t just mean testimonials which, while important, can feel formulaic. Invite residents to share stories about milestones in their lives, their current or past careers, even talents or hobbies. Reading (or even better, watching) stories from people who could potentially become your prospects’ friends or neighbors can help create a more authentic learning experience as they explore your community online.
3. Interact with your followers. This might seem obvious, but comments, tweets, and shares often go unacknowledged and unanswered on social media channels. If this is happening at your luxury retirement community, your prospects might question how attentive you will be when they become residents. From an engagement standpoint, the faster and more frequently you respond to interactions on social media, the more your followers will be encouraged to participate. Social media is becoming one of the most critical aspects of your customer service toolkit, so be careful not to ignore it, and to craft thoughtful responses to each comment. Just like stock photos (see #1 above), canned answers are easily detected and can turn off your prospects.
4. Have a plan. It may be last on the list, but this is by far the most important way to share authentic content on social media. Trying to collect residents’ stories, capture new photos, and manage your interactions on social media on the fly can end up in disaster or worse, as a well-intended pipe dream. Have a strategy and timetable in place for generating your content in advance, and for distributing it at the best times for your audience to see it.