By Courtney Ryan
Some memory care operators are preparing for new demand in 2025 and beyond with marketing strategies centered on educational content and evidence-based information.
In a market where misinformation is rampant, especially online, operators including Sonida Senior Living (NYSE: SNDA) and Bella Groves are trying to cut through the noise to reach individual consumers. In doing so, they are balancing expertise and credibility with empathy and authenticity to reach new customers.
Education a cornerstone of both companies’ marketing strategies
Recent data suggests prospects and their families may not always know where to look for correct information regarding memory care. Although they are doing more research online in 2024, using the internet has a downside, too, according to Maribeth Neelis, senior director of marketing and communications at Sonida Senior Living.
“The sheer amount of content — information and misinformation — available online is daunting, and there is a great deal of competition for attention, which requires an algorithm-minded, data-driven approach,” said Neelis.
That is why operators including Sonida and Texas-based Bella Groves are underscoring the need to educate families and dispel stigmas during the sales and marketing process.
“Our goal is to help ensure the right information and support gets to our audiences at the various points of their journeys to help them better navigate the process of finding memory care for their loved ones,” Neelis said.
Ahead of 2025, Sonida is expanding its multichannel marketing approach, which includes long- and short-form videos, Q&As, quizzes and surveys.
Sonida is taking that “data-driven approach” to target baby boomers in the online spaces they frequent. For senior living operators that wish to stand out, it also means prioritizing accurate information and a holistic education model that targets the entire community.
The Dallas-based senior living provider trains and certifies all of its memory care directors so they can better educate family caregivers as well as local healthcare providers and social workers.
“[Our directors] are the experts, and our goal is to empower each of them to be a resource and advisor, to educate and help families understand their options — whether it’s at one of our communities or elsewhere,” said Neelis.
According to James Lee, co-founder and CEO of Bella Groves and former executive director at Brookdale Senior Living, the future of memory care lies in more holistic education and marketing practices. He also cautioned his peers against relying on generic “off-the-shelf” training programs for employees.
“Our industry has an over-reliance on terminology like ‘evidence-based dementia training,’ but my philosophical and professional view is that dementia care has a lot more to do with the intentions of the care team rather than a so-called evidence-based training,” he said.
At San Antonio, Texas-based Bella Groves, new employees undergo a minimum of 13 weeks of dementia training, which is far more than the state of Texas’ minimum requirement for four hours. The company launched roughly three years ago with a model that emphasizes proprietary education and training for family caregivers.
Although Bella Groves aims to equip prospects and others with the best possible knowledge regarding dementia, Lee explained that even a robust education program rooted in evidence requires space for anecdotal insights.
“The metaphor I use with families is, if you’ve ever had children, how did you learn to be a parent? Did you go get evidence-based parental training, or did you try a lot of things and did you talk to your neighbors and family members about what to do?” he said.
Focusing on education over real estate also means reaching a consumer base that has historically been ignored by the industry: People living with the early to moderate stages of dementia who aren’t yet ready to move into a memory care facility. For example, Bella Groves in 2025 is slated to launch a dementia navigator service for families with the resources to care for their loved one at home.
“What they need is a coach, a guide, a dementia expert, somebody to call at two in the morning,” he said. “What we are building and providing is the means to develop and execute a good care plan to keep their loved ones safe at home.”
Marketing with authenticity, empathy
Senior living operators, especially those working in memory care, have long noted the effectiveness of empathy and understanding in the sales process. Those qualities are still very important looking ahead to 2025, especially for memory care operators.
Neelis said a major focus for Sonida Senior Living in 2025 will be leveraging user-generated content, like reviews and testimonials, to highlight positive experiences to build trust and shape the marketing narrative with other prospects. Her team is also making a greater effort to reach consumers via people who live in the markets where the company’s communities are located.
“We are hyperlocal in our approach,” she said.
At Bella Groves, Lee said his team will continue to shirk what he describes as a commoditized memory care product.
“The effect of the commoditization of dementia care is you can go to any memory care community and it’ll feel pretty much the same as any other place,” he said.
One way his team counters this is by favoring transparency by listing prices directly on the Bella Groves website and using real photographs of residents on the site and in social media posts as opposed to stock imagery.
“I think our industry, for the most part, paints this very bright and beautiful picture of independent seniors. So when families come to view a traditional memory care community, the reality of what they see is a stark contrast to what has been marketed to them,” said Lee. “Almost all of our photos on our website are of our residents, our families, our staff.”
