When Your Image Needs Some Help: How to Choose the Right Partner to Boost Your Brand

consultants

Aug 13, 2012 | Marketing & Branding

Senior living organizations occasionally find themselves in a situation where they need to revamp, revitalize, or completely redefine their brands. The reasons may include sluggish referrals and sales, a challenging new competitor in the market, or even an unexpected crisis. Due to the overarching importance of the brand to the organization’s success, this need often requires the experience and expertise of an independent senior living marketing consultant.

Consultants can provide the knowhow necessary to solve problems you might not be capable of handling. According to the article, “Why Use a Marketing Consultant?”, the advantages include:

  • Adding marketing skill sets and experience not available within your organization.
  • Providing an objective, unbiased “outside-in” perspective or viewpoint.
  • Asking the difficult questions you and other leaders may not be comfortable asking.
  • Adding needed functional capacity to your organization on a variable expense basis.
  • Offering specialized training in sales or other business development functions.

If you do decide to seek outside help, choose your partner carefully and be sure to consider the strength of their brand.

Important attributes to look for include:

  • A strong track record of success — Does your potential partner have an established track record of strong performance, i.e. a history of success in their industry through strong performance for their clients? Are they growing?
  • A solid client portfolio — Do they have a substantial list of satisfied clients that provide positive “word of mouth”? Do they maintain their clients and do continuing work with them? Are they willing to share their client list with you and provide other references you can speak to directly about their performance and operating style?
  • A customer-centered philosophy — Are they attentive listeners and customized problem solvers? Are they really all about you, or do they have a cookie cutter approach to working with clients’ needs? Do they view themselves as your vested business partner and do they take the time to understand the unique qualities of your organization and the distinct nature of your market?
  • A full service provider — Do they provide a comprehensive scope of client services, e.g. market research, strategic planning and creative services, to provide a seamless and cohesive end product in the form of data analysis, evidence-based business recommendations and messaging strategies? Or do they have to “contract out” some aspects of the work?
  • New business referrals — Do they receive a significant percentage of new business referrals from highly satisfied current or past clients?
  • Industry awards and recognitions — Have they achieved the recognition of their peers in their industry, e.g. The LTC-Link Elite Supplier Award?
  • “Thought leadership” in their industry — Have their team members served as featured speakers at industry conferences, published articles or written blogs that reinforce their position as subject experts and “thought leaders” in their field?

Picking the right strategic partner for marketing and brand development is worth the time it takes to complete your “due diligence”. As in any other industry, you’ll find that not all consultants are created equal!

The Importance of Responding to Online Reviews

Did you know: 95% of people consult reviews before purchasing products or services. 88% of consumers are likely to use a business if they can see the business owner responds to all reviews, whether positive or negative. 87% of consumers used Google to evaluate local...

What Are the Housing Restrictions for Facebook and PPC?

As we know, technology is always changing and adapting. It’s something many of those in the senior housing and marketing fields are used to. One of the most recent changes is making a larger impact on how we target ad audiences on Facebook and through pay-per-click...

The Rise of Senior Living Occupancy

As COVID-19 created a landscape of uncertainty in senior living facilities, experts knew there would be challenges and effects that lasted long after. Although the pandemic continues, many types of senior living communities and...

4 Ways TikTok Is Redefining Senior Living Social Media

Whether you’ve heard about it, tried it out, or use it regularly, TikTok is taking the world by storm. This social media platform, which focuses on short-form video, is seemingly on everyone’s mind in one sense or another, and more often than not, people are following...

The Benefits of Working at a Remote Company

Remote working offers many benefits to employees and businesses. Today, more people are working from home than ever before, offering many benefits to both businesses and employees. Remote positions offer employees flexible work schedules and autonomy while keeping...

The Future of Analytics: What Does Next Year’s GA4 Migration Mean?

Moving Forward with New Updates Whether customer needs, viewing habits or website journeys change – or a better reporting tool emerges – one thing is for certain: Technology is always changing, and the field must adapt as a whole. Among the most recent updates include...

SageTalks

Stories of a Lifetime Senior living residents have lived amazing lives. Now, SageAge is on a quest to share those stories with those in the senior housing and senior living industry, residents and their families, adult children and anyone who wants to be inspired....

The Moment We Have Been Waiting for Is Here

WE have been working hard on something new. Check out our new website today!

Pressing Play on New Possibilities | Seniors and YouTube

Putting You In Front-Row View Gone are the days when YouTube was simply for younger generations to view funny videos. In the era of rising senior social media usage and the high engagement of video content, YouTube is becoming one of the largest search engines and...

Seniors and YouTube | Let’s Get Rolling

Exploring the Possibilities of Pre-Rolls Almost 47% of older adults ages 70 and up use their smartphones for social media access, according to our most recent white paper on seniors and technology use. Which social media platforms are most used among the senior age...
Share This