Lack of decision is the death of done. In my 15 years at the helm of Big Buzz, never have I seen a marketing executive so swiftly and gracefully move through a series of decisions culminating in a massive rollout as I did Missy Day of Sinceri Senior Living (formerly JEA Senior Living).

While many of your competitors spend time thinking critically about their brand, most only do so in siloed meetings with internal executives. This negates that brand comes from those served rather than those in service to the organization. Research is the critical precursor to an accurate and lasting brand strategy and should be completed at minimum once every 3 years to provide actionable data to inform each component of the brand lifecycle.

If you’re beginning to think about taking your practices's marketing plan to the next level with an advertising campaign, then it might be time to think about the message you want to send. In advertising, there are six messaging strategies that are most commonly used.

The human attention span is a fascinating thing, and it seems to shorten with every new technological innovation. Every year there are more apps, more streaming platforms and generally more channels through which to consume content and media. 20 years ago, the human attention span lasted for 12 seconds. In 2015… 8 seconds.

With nonstop advancements in market research, search engine optimization and digital marketing technologies, it can be easy to forget one of the most powerful strategies for driving senior living occupancies: word of mouth. Big Buzz recently conducted a series of surveys for a leading senior living operator which has communities in several states.

As budgets and sales funnels continue to fluctuate, it’s important to maintain consistent marketing practices. Even more, it is vital to ensure your marketing team is eliminating waste related to ineffective or overpriced marketing tactics. At Big Buzz, we’ve partnered with hundreds of professionals in the senior living industry to assess their current marketing plans, identify which strategies should take priority and which are no longer useful.

Your competition has a one-year strategic plan, of course, and some may have 3- to 5-year plans, but they don’t have the vision you have. Consider what your organization will look like 20 years from now, or once you have exited. Imagine bringing your vision to life for your team now and what impact that will have over the years to come.

ROI is a metric favored due to its easily interpreted nature and direct reflection of profitability and financial standing. Its calculations and results are much more easily conducted and understood than a metric like, say, size of gross margin. It’s a straightforward litmus test to determine the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of investments of any nature.

It’s no secret that consumerism is changing the way the U.S. healthcare system operates. In fact, it’s a hot topic of the last few years, and Big Buzz has reviewed it extensively in our weekly blog. For those unfamiliar with the concept, essentially the scales of advantage have tipped in favor of the healthcare consumer: they have more choices, more power, and more discerning tastes than ever.