To keep momentum and consistency in senior living growth and scaling initiatives, we suggest a quarterly pulse of regular whole-organization sales and marketing meetings. Having a one-page strategic marketing plan on hand, similar to the template below, can help frame the conversation and give way to actionable outcomes. The “BIG,” or Big Important Goal, at the top, as well as the objectives in the left column, stay the same for the year, and the strategies and measures are refreshed each quarter dynamically as the bulk of the meeting agenda.

Here are a few deeper insights from your peers on how they are using the quarterly pulse meeting and one-page strategic marketing plan:

“During our whole-organization sales and marketing meetings, we dedicate considerable time to discussing and refining our strategy. We delve into market trends, emerging technologies and new marketing methods to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the industry. By aligning our goals with our sales and marketing activities, we can effectively navigate the ever-evolving market landscape and maintain our competitive edge.”

– Third-quarter 2023 survey respondent

“At the heart of our organization’s success lies our dedicated sales team. To support their growth and enhance their effectiveness, we prioritize providing comprehensive training and development opportunities. During our meetings, we focus on evaluating sales performance, setting ambitious but attainable targets and incentivizing our sales team. We inspire our sales staff and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles. It’s more than a meeting; it’s a time to motivate our team to achieve exceptional results.”

– Third-quarter 2023 survey respondent

“In our whole-team meetings, we carve out time to discuss our levels of care, including each one’s strengths and weaknesses and how we can close any known gaps. We explore how to bring various levels of care to market effectively, ensuring that we communicate the value proposition of each while also staying consistent with our overall brand positioning. This is how we enhance customer satisfaction, differentiate ourselves from competitors and expand our reach.”

– Third-quarter 2023 survey respondent

This e-book has additional information.

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of Big Buzz, a marketing agency that for more than 15 years has helped senior living marketing and sales teams nurture leads to increase occupancy, grow and scale. She is the author of the book “Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results,” has been published in McKnight’s Senior Living, has been a regular contributor to Forbes, and has been quoted in the Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune.

The Big Buzz leadership team regularly lectures in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 6,000 attendees, including at Argentum and various LeadingAge chapters. Agency awards and accolades include recognition for excellence by the American Marketing Association, Gold Key Award Winner by the Business Marketing Association, HubSpot Academy Inbound Marketing Certification and Top Advertising and Marketing Agency by Clutch.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

1. Establish common values and culture. Doing so ensures that all team members adhere to the same code of conduct and standards, fostering team cohesion and cooperation. At each quarterly session, have team members read aloud for the entire group your organizational mission, vision and values. Encourage folks to share about how another person on the team embodied the organizational values or culture. As Alicia Marie of PeopleBiz Inc. says, “Culture is what you say, do and reward.” Dust off the document and make it come to life with regular discussion. 
2. Offer incentives and rewards. This can be done through team bonuses, recognition programs and promotion mechanisms. By providing tangible rewards for achieving team goals, organizations such as yours can motivate and engage their employees. And remember, even a simple verbal acknowledgement in front of a high-performing team member and her co-workers can be received as a remarkable reward.
3. Establish effective communication channels. By developing independent communication software or platforms, organizations can facilitate daily communication among team members, ensuring that everyone stays informed and connected. A favorite of ours is Slack. Carry that same crystal clarity into your meetings with the L10 meeting format.
4. Encourage ongoing training and development. By providing necessary training programs and continuous learning opportunities, organizations such as yours enable team members to acquire new skills, grow professionally and remain competitive in their respective fields.
5. Provide feedback and assessments. Gathering feedback and conducting assessments of the team’s current state allows organizations like yours to identify areas for improvement and address any issues or challenges hindering team alignment. Regular feedback and assessment help foster continuous improvement and enhance team effectiveness. Initiating a voice-of-the-employee survey before your quarterly meeting will allow you to share data and trends that emerge from your study.
6. Clarify goals and expectations. It’s crucial for organizations to ensure that all team members are aware of your organization’s goals and expectations. This clarity helps align individual efforts with the larger organizational objectives, promoting a shared sense of purpose and direction.
7. Establish consistent rules and procedures. To maintain team alignment, organizations should establish consistent rules, policies and procedures. By ensuring that all employees understand and follow these guidelines, organizations can create a unified and efficient work environment. But don’t spend too much time here — even 15 minutes of reminders about structures in your quarterly meeting can go a long way in promoting adherence to company policies.

These best practices, when implemented effectively, can significantly contribute to team alignment and enhance overall organizational performance. And we wish you all the best in achieving higher marketing outcomes by aligning your team!

Get your copy of the complete e-book.

CEO Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is the author of the book “Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results,” has been published in McKnight’s Senior Living, has been a regular contributor to Forbes, and has been quoted in the Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune.

Big Buzz is a marketing agency that for more than 15 years has helped senior living marketing and sales teams nurture leads to increase occupancy, grow and scale. 

The Big Buzz leadership team regularly lectures in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 6,000 attendees, including at Argentum and various LeadingAge chapters. Agency awards and accolades include recognition for excellence by the American Marketing Association, Gold Key Award Winner by the Business Marketing Association, HubSpot Academy Inbound Marketing Certification and Top Advertising and Marketing Agency by Clutch.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

We have overlayed with your peers’ survey data a few of Big Buzz’s tools and approaches to streamline social media marketing and bolster results. The following is an excerpt of an e-book.

1. Set goals. Of all our survey respondents, 49% said they set goals pertaining to social media. Over time, all posts should follow a path that aligns with various points in the conversion process as well as high-level business objectives that your organization seeks to reach. This path should make clear what types of posts should appear day by day as well as a call to action and measure for each post type.
2. Complete research. Review brand standards, gather survey data and review past social media initiatives and analytics to determine what actions increase followership and engagements and which do not. In our study, 75% of respondents said they take this step.
3. Review brand standards. When asked, “How often does your organization consult a brand standards guide when creating social media posts?” 54% of our respondents said monthly, and 41% said quarterly. Both are a good cadence for refreshing the mind on the organization’s brand pillars when planning social posts. It is entirely appropriate to integrate brand messaging into posts in the Awareness area of the Conversion Process in the Content Path, ensuring that it truly differentiates your organization.
4. Create the calendar. Most our survey respondents said they develop a new calendar either quarterly or monthly. We recommend quarterly development for organizations posting about four times weekly and monthly development for those posting up to seven times weekly. In fact, 66% of your peers said that they ideate and align as a team on the overall social media marketing strategy.
5. Create the posts. For each post, ensure that the creation team includes an image or video with alt text to describe visuals for people who have trouble seeing them. Be sure every post includes attention-getting or educational text. Include relevant hashtags every time. In our research, we found only 51% of your peers include calls to action, or CTAs, on all social posts. Recalling that people take action only when we call them to action, it’s imperative every post include a CTA and link.
6. Distribute posts. Are you posting adequately on the proper social media outlets? Only a strategic marketing plan specific to your organization’s enterprise goals and business objectives can answer that question. To prevent posting across too many channels, expending resources and leaking returns, be sure to have researched which social media outlets your target audience frequent most and focus time and budget there.
7. Analyze results. Although only 49% of survey respondents included data analysis in the social media process, it’s a critical indicator of success or areas in need of improvement. Social media marketers will measure a dozen or more data points, but your team likely will gain a clear high-level picture by measuring and reporting on just four metrics: reach; engagement rate; click-through-rate, or CTR; and conversion rate.
8. Optimize and evolve. In analyzing and reporting on results over time, your team will be in good position to replicate more social media efforts that are paying off and improve or retire efforts that are not.

Get your copy of the complete e-book, with more information about the points discussed in this column, here.

Big Buzz is a marketing agency that for more than 15 years has helped senior living marketing and sales teams nurture leads to increase occupancy, grow and scale. The Big Buzz leadership team regularly lectures in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 3,000 attendees, including at Argentum conferences and various LeadingAge chapter meetings. Agency awards and accolades include recognition by the American Marketing Association, the Business Marketing Association, HubSpot Academy Inbound Marketing Certification and Clutch.

Big Buzz CEO Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is the author of the book “Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results,” has been published in McKnight’s Senior Living, has been a regular contributor to Forbes, and has been quoted in The Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

Nurture marketing is the key to forging fruitful relationships with prospective residents and families. This can be achieved with a healthy arsenal of marketing collateral. But are you investing in the right collateral, or are your investments diversified? How do you know you are allocating your budget to the development of the right collateral assets? Learn from the choices of fellow senior living marketers, and consider their actions as you design your new marketing collateral strategy.

“Because collateral plays an important role in marketing, it can give people some sense of security and trustworthiness,” said a Big Buzz survey respondent.

Popular forms of marketing collateral

Big Buzz’s proprietary data provided a clearer look into the most popular varieties of marketing collateral employed by your peers in senior living. The five most common responses:

• 54% said their organization always uses brochures.
• 43% said their organization always uses mission, vision and values handouts.
• 37% said their organization always uses social media posts.
• 36% said their organization always uses community calendars.
• 32% said their organization always uses business cards.

Take a moment to consider whether your organization is using these types of marketing collateral. To ensure that your organization can make the most out of those forms of collateral, we explore each in a bit more depth in an e-book.

Budgeting for marketing collateral

The creation of marketing collateral requires an initial degree of investment, and some senior living marketers may be unsure of just where to put their money, or how much. A few noteworthy findings from our data:

• 65% of your peers allocate 25% to 50% of their marketing budget to marketing collateral.
• 27% allocated more than 50%.
• Not a single respondent indicated that their organization did not allocate a part of their budget to collateral.

With those figures in mind, you may be getting a better picture of how much to dedicate to marketing collateral and how it can pay off. Those broad strokes are only a starting point, however. It is imperative that your organization spends its budget wisely, focuses on the collateral that generates a return on its investment and invests in the collateral that performs best with your audience. In the full e-book, we offer a few pointers on making sure your budget is put to the best use.

A collection of consistent, branded, data-backed marketing collateral is indispensable in your organization’s mission to reach ambitious revenue goals. As one survey respondent put it, “It helps you market in any medium, to [your ideal] audience, at all stages of the funnel.” In an era of digital marketing noise and oversaturation, one that demands a renewed focus on continued interpersonal relationships, what could be better than that?

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of the Big Buzz senior living marketing agency and the author of the book Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results.“ Big Buzz has helped senior living marketing and sales teams nurture leads to increase occupancy, grow and scale for more than 15 years. In addition to being published in McKnight’s Senior Living, she has been a regular contributor to Forbes and has been quoted in the Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune. The Big Buzz leadership team regularly lectures in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 3,000 attendees, including at Argentum and various LeadingAge chapter meetings.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

Big Buzz conducted an audit of website calls to action from the top 10 largest senior living providers in the United States, according to Argentum’s 2021 Largest Providers Report and surveyed 100 website development and online marketing experts to uncover precise best practices for marketing calls to action that actually bring older adults into your doors. Here are the findings.

If we expect people to take action, then we must clearly call them to action. Herein is the manifesto of The Clear Call to Action Model for the senior living industry as shown by trends from our study:

1. All CTA buttons shall start with an action word, or verb, such as “Get,” “Download” or “Schedule” for optimum click-through rate.

2. Downloadable assets shall bear the CTA “Download now – it’s free.”

3. Content marketing signups shall bear the CTA “Subscribe.”

4. The contact CTA shall be “Schedule a tour now” or “Schedule a consultation now.”

5. Website calls to action shall appear “above the fold,” or before the visitor must scroll, for optimum click-through rate.

6. Website buttons shall be designed in a color that contrasts with the content or web page, for optimum click-through rate.

7. Supporting copy appearing above or near the website call-to-action button shall be written in no more than word sentences, each about five words long.

8. Text appearing inside the website CTA button shall be written in no more than five words.

9. Call-to-action buttons shall be larger than desktop CTA buttons on mobile devices for optimum click-through rate.

10. A testimonial quote shall be placed near the website call-to-action button to increase click-through rates.

11. Website CTA buttons shall be rounded, not square.

12. Calls to action shall follow the Z formation along which a website visitor’s eyes travel.

To ensure whole-team compliance, document a standard operating procedure based on this manifesto, train your team, celebrate wins toward achieving the desired outcomes and keep your team accountable for ongoing updates and improvements.

Get your copy of the complete e-book.

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of the Big Buzz senior living marketing agency and the author of the book Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results.“ In addition to being published in McKnight’s, she has been a regular contributor to Forbes and has been quoted in the Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

“They want to see our communities but never have any intention of putting their loved ones here even after using all of our resources and time.”

Sound familiar?

This was a verbatim quote taken from data Big Buzz recently gathered from 191 marketing executives in senior living and care, and it aptly describes the issue faced by most. The full study revealed six untapped opportunities to motivate older adults to leave home in favor of a senior living community, and in this article we detail the No. 1 most missed opportunity.

Economic trends indicate now is the time to proactively improve on content marketing efforts to attract warm leads who are intentional about moving, rather than investing organizational budget in large marketing and sales teams working hundreds of colder leads who may never move.

Our study showed that 95% of senior living marketers and executives believe that content marketing is an integral part of their organization’s overall marketing approach. More than half of respondents said they invest 25% to 49% of their overall marketing budget in content marketing, and another 24% indicated that they invest more than half of the budget.

That’s a whole lot of content for older adults and their families. And it’s working.

Well over half of respondents said they get up to 25% of sales-qualified leads from content marketing. How can this percentage be increased?

This is the most prominent trend we would like to see bucked in content marketing for the industry. Our data indicate that 78% of senior living marketing teams are going too broad with their target audience: 56% publish content for various target audiences by service subset, such as independent living, assisted living or skilled nursing; another 22% address one broad target audience. Both sets miss the mark by aiming to reach too many differently minded people at once.

When you speak to everyone, you reach no one.

Only 14% of our respondents identified marketing-qualified leads within their organization’s database to create content just for that subset of people. Even fewer, 9%, identified sales-qualified leads within the organization’s database to whom to address specific content. This is a huge opportunity. Sales teams that took an account-based approach to content marketing were the ones that made it onto Sherpa’s latest Best Sales Performers Report.

A second opportunity — and one upon which very few of your competitors are capitalizing — is for your organization to narrow its positioning and content marketing focus to just one service. Become known as the local expert in memory care, for example. This is not to say you wouldn’t market other levels of care; rather, you would lead with one and let the rest follow. Lead with the care/service level at which your data show people are most likely to enter your communities.

At the very least, hone your target audience to just one or two personas to which your content speaks. Doing so more readily invites the right folks to become intentional about moving in with you.

For more trends and opportunities in senior living content marketing, read the full e-book.

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of the Big Buzz senior living marketing agency and the author of the book “Flourish!: The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results.” In addition to being published in McKnight’s, she has been a regular contributor to Forbes and has been quoted in the Washington Post, ABC News and Chicago Tribune.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

Across the ages, stories have been passed down to build culture, entertain, educate and inspire. Storytelling started as an oral tradition, evolved to pictures then to writing.

A memorable story discloses previously unknown information, offers a new perspective on known information or reveals an unforeseen twist or development. Today, many of our stories live online.

How can you apply storytelling to enrich your community, the lives of those you serve and your approach to business? 

First, let’s define storytelling. In a 2022 study, Big Buzz uncovered that marketing executives in the senior living and care industry define storytelling in three ways:

1. Feeling

Our data revealed that your peers define storytelling primarily to evoke a feeling or elicit an emotional response. In storytelling marketing, you can offer a feeling of pleasure, a sense of belonging, a sense of loyalty or confirmation of previous experiences, thoughts or feelings — all critical to the resident’s or patient’s sense of well-being under your care. One respondent described this synapse as the moment “the [potential resident/patient or family] can identify with the brand as it holds their same values or ideas.”

2. Connectedness

Overwhelmingly, the data showed that feeling ties directly to a sense of connectedness. I relate to you, you relate to me. We understand each other. I will allow you to care for me. We must not stop at education; rather, it’s better to take prospective residents, patients and families all the way through inspiration into feeling ready to take the next step with you. One participant said that the purpose of storytelling is to “make the [potential resident/patient or family] feel enough to take action.”

3. Guidance on the journey

The data indicated that storytelling should take the potential resident, patient or family from where they are to someplace new. You are the guide. You know how trying life can be for an individual in need of assisted living services or skilled nursing care before they find you. Equally, you know the reality of those fully immersed in your care. You see the wonder and possibility. That is the guidance and inspiration you want to convey in storytelling marketing.

Next, let’s examine why storytelling is important in marketing. Eighty-six percent of our survey respondents said that storytelling is important in marketing for two reasons:

1. Storytelling provides a deeper connection between an organization’s brand and its target audience. Potential residents, patients and families feel more bonded to what you offer and more readily choose you over the competition.
2. Storytelling serves to build relationships. Over the course of communication with potential residents, patients and families, from written messaging on your organization’s website and blog to intake conversations, great storytelling bolsters the relationship.

Finally, let’s explore how you can apply storytelling at various points in your residents’ and patients’ journey with your community.

Social media marketing

More than half of our survey respondents said that 60% to 100% of their leads came from social media. Social media is like an open house for your organization. Share stories across social media to position your brand as different and beneficial to prospective patients and families. Social media marketing leads are top-of-the-funnel leads.

Content marketing

Nearly three-fourths of our survey respondents said that 30% to 100% of their leads came from content marketing. Share stories across content to nurture prospective residents, patients and families to understand you can provide the care and services they need. Here are some example content titles:

• Helping Adult Children with Caring for a Parent: Tips from Long-Term Care Nurses
• Rosie and Sally Put Sisterly Differences Aside to Assist Dad
• Preserving Peter’s Pride: One Family’s Journey in Senior Care

Content marketing leads are middle-of-the-funnel leads. Engaging content marketing stories show folks you are the expert, help them see they need care and services, and demonstrate you can be trusted to deliver that care and services. Gating content allows prospective residents, patients and families to share contact information in exchange for your expertise.

Marketing automation

Automated email campaigns can deliver storytelling marketing to those who have read or downloaded your content, coaxing them from the middle of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel. Although content marketing is educational, automated email campaigns are promotional. The gist is, “We noticed you downloaded our education. We are here to care for you and your family. For more assistance, contact us now.”

Add a compelling success story of a current resident and you will attract warm sales qualified leads ready for intake.

For more detail on how to expand storytelling at various points in the resident and family journey, including in the sales conversation, get The Complete Data-Driven eBook to Storytelling Marketing for Senior Living. You also will get full access to additional insights on marketing for assisted living communities, life plan communities, nursing homes, hospitals and other care sectors. For additional support, get a complimentary initial marketing plan.

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of Big Buzz, an agency delivering strategy and consultation to drive focused marketing efforts for executives and teams nationwide. She is the author of two books available on Amazon, has been published in many healthcare journals, is a member of the Women’s President Organization, has been honored by the American Marketing Association for excellence in her field, and regularly lectures for healthcare organizations in front of audiences ranging from 25 to 6,000 attendees.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living marketplace column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

Occupancy levels have dropped off, and it’s clear that it’s time to ratchet up the marketing machine. Before simply investing in more marketing, take time to consider these seven “cardinal sins” committed by aging services organizations coast-to-coast, and master the marketing mix.

1. Longing.

The ailment: An unhealthy and intense longing can come in the form of deep desire for money or power. Too often, organizations can let this desire lead the marketing strategy, which has marketing fall flat.

The antidote: The healthiest impetus for marketing is a genuine desire to help and serve those who need the organization most — older adults or those in need memory care, for example. Certainly, great marketing leads to strong cash flow, higher revenues and higher profits, but having that desire lead efforts inevitably will narrow the vision and gyp the organization out of any real reward.

2. Gluttony.

The misstep: Too often, aging services organizations cobble together multiple marketing solutions from multiple providers, which is wasteful overindulgence. Without an overarching strategy in place, each of those marketing providers is serving up trial-and-error solutions, causing the organization to leak money.

The correct course: Every great marketing strategy starts with target market research, including the development of an ideal resident profile, demographic data detailing what media they consume most, a dedicated marketing message that truly defines and differentiates the organization, and graphic standards to glue together the look and feel of all marketing materials. Together, these tools act as a songbook from which all marketing providers can sing, creating efficiencies and increasing effectiveness of all marketing efforts.

3. Greed.

The toxin: “We need more leads now,” say some aging services executives. As with longing, this viewpoint shortens the line of sight. What the organization needs is not a quick, temporary spike in new leads but long-term success.

The counteragent: Be sure that the organization’s marketing strategy is well-rounded to attract a steady flow of leads that readily need the care provided by the organization. Ideally, the strategy attracts residents and families who will be delighted and one day will be avid referrers.

4. Sloth.

The malady: About 50 different ways exist to market an aging services organization, from search engine optimization to social media to direct mail and dozens more. With so many aging services marketing options available, it’s easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis and end up doing nothing.

The cure: Ask the marketing department or agency to develop a comprehensive 12-month marketing strategy, detailing exactly which tactics out of those 50 will be used, as well as the investment and projected return on investment for each. Now the organization has a roadmap for marketing and can take the right day-by-day action to marketing full success.

5. Wrath.

The breakdown: “We’ve been burned by marketing,” lament some aging services organizations. And rightfully so: having fallen victim to the other deadly sins, marketing just isn’t working. That can induce anger, for sure.

The breakthrough: If marketing hasn’t produced high returns in the past, then let go of resentment and begin again with fresh insight. Just by being willing to try new approaches, new ideas and even total marketing breakthroughs.

6. Envy.

The broken link: Copycat marketing runs amok in the aging services industry. Not only do organizations copy from each other, but some less reputable marketing providers also have been known to sell the same exact website template to multiple organizations. Although it may seem like a viable shortcut, mirroring the traits of another only creates a sea of sameness that will drown potential residents.

The best fix: Have a marketing firm survey the most satisfied current residents and families to uncover what they love most about the organization. They will light up and talk about how the organization made life better. This is marketing gold. Bottle up that collective message and paper the world with it.

This is exactly what Fortune 500 companies such as Apple and Starbucks do, collect customer data to maximize what is loved and minimize what isn’t. When an aging services organization puts to market a message that the residents and family members believes in, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s marketing at its very best.

7. Pride.

The problem: The owner or top executive of the organization wants to direct the marketing, but without marketing expertise. He or she wants to control the message, colors and – what’s worse – only wants to deploy the marketing tactics that grab his or her attention. This approach negates the most important people in marketing – the prospective residents.

The positive opposite: It matters not what gets the owner or executive’s attention, but only what captivates residents, potential residents, their families and their peers. The organization can uncover this information in the previously mentioned target market research and surveys.

Perhaps your organization is guilty of a few of these “sins.” Becoming aware is the first step in changing. Believe that transformation is possible. Above all else, an unwavering faith that marketing works is the organization’s greatest promotional asset.

Wendy O’Donovan Phillips is CEO of Bloom, the nation’s third-largest aging services marketing agency and only full-service firm, offering more than 50 different marketing tactics, all backed by research. She is the author of FLOURISH! The Method Used by Aging Services Organizations for the Ultimate Marketing Results. She has been honored by the American Marketing Association for excellence in her field. Her firm celebrated 10 years in business in 2017.

McKnight’s Senior Living welcomes guest columns from thought leaders writing about subjects of value to the industry. Please see our submission guidelines for more information.