Last month, Troy Bell, the CEO of TanaBell Health Services, appeared on Experience Care’s LTC Heroes podcast and revealed that approximately 35 percent of the residents admitted to one of his facilities found him on Facebook. This development could speak volumes about the future of long-term care marketing.
All across America, census numbers are down in nursing homes. After the average occupancy rate dropped to 68 percent in January of 2021, it has only risen slightly; in September, the average occupancy for nursing homes was 74 percent.
Long-term care facility owners and other leaders in the industry continue to find innovative ways to boost census numbers. Bell, though, may have found the best strategy of all: using social media to reach potential residents in cities with a higher cost of living.
On the LTC Heroes podcast, Bell spoke to host Peter Murphy Lewis about how his marketing director suggested running Facebook ads for seniors in California looking to move to long-term care. Bell and his team decided to update their marketing strategy after noticing a particular trend among America’s seniors. “There are a lot of people moving to Idaho from California and Texas, all over the country,” he said. “So we kept seeing people contact us from California and other southern states asking about our rates, telling us they’re moving to Boise and thinking about bringing their mom or dad with them.”
When Bell informed the interested parties that TanaBell Health’s private pay rate for assisted living was approximately one-third of what these families were paying in California, he immediately gained their attention. That is what gave his team the idea to look outside Idaho. “We decided to expand our parameters so that our Facebook ads show up for people in California and other neighboring states as well,” he said.
So far, the investment has been a savvy one. Bell remarked 35 percent of the residents admitted to his facility in Meridian, Idaho were found through Facebook ads. And the cost is relatively low. “If we run $400 with Facebook ads and get one admin, it’s worth it,” Bell said. During a time in which long-term care facilities are struggling to keep their doors open, TanaBell Health’s innovative solution may have a major impact on the state of long-term care in the U.S.
You can listen to the entire interview with Bell here. And you can learn more about the latest trends in long-term care by reading Experience Care’s blog.
About Experience Care LLC: Founded in 1969, Experience Care LLC is one of the largest providers of electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and financial systems to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, continuing care retirement communities, long-term acute care, and other long-term care organizations in the U.S. Experience Care’s mission is to make every long-term care organization a fulfilling place to live and work by helping maximize financial success and compliance to achieve the best teams, care, and outcomes.
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