How to Choose the Right Images for Your Senior Living Marketing Campaign

Senior living marketing is crucial for any senior living community because getting your company name and brand out to the public is what helps drive leads.

It's no secret that content is a crucial component of strategy (because you want to educate people and show them what sets your company apart) but another important aspect of marketing that sometimes gets overlooked is imagery.

The photos and illustrations used to promote for your senior living marketing campaign is just as important as the written content that it supports, and it should be as cohesive and realistic as possible. In a sense, it brings real-life situations to your marketing.

Choosing the right images is something your team should definitely focus on, and we dive into the specifics below.

What Images Should (And Should Not) Be Used In Your Senior Living Marketing Campaign?

What images you use depends on what type of campaign you’re running, but there are some general guidelines that you should follow.

What you should take into consideration first is what part of the community your campaign is focused on (meaning what type of care you’re focusing on or whether your campaign is marketing your company as a whole). A photo you would use to market memory care would not work if you’re promoting independent living and an active lifestyle.

Once you have your campaign idea set in stone, you can go ahead and pick images, but here are things to keep in mind:

What NOT to focus on:

• Any image that has an elderly person looking sad or depressed. That could turn people off very quickly. It implies that seniors in "senior living" are always "upset or confused." Senior living is all about the journey in this next stage of life, so focus on the excitement of that.
• Images that have walkers or wheelchairs in them. Images like this may be okay if you are discussing the topic of rehabilitation, but sometimes people jump to negative thoughts when a group of people in wheelchairs is shown. When people think of senior living, wheelchairs, canes and walkers can come to mind. You don’t want them to stay in that mindset. Try and get people away from that stigma about senior living.
• Seniors in a hospital or looking ill. Definitely stay away from images like this because they are negative. Your company wants to show that senior living is anything but negative. Look for photos that are positive such as seniors enjoying each others company! Even if you are discussing a tough topic such as dementia, don’t pick an image that matches the stereotype of dementia.

What TO focus on:

• Happy and healthy seniors. Showing seniors looking happy is important. No matter what type of campaign you’re creating, you want to show someone smiling if you show an image of people. Happy people will resonate with your audience. Showing active seniors is a great idea if it’s applicable to what you’re doing.
• Family images. Senior living and family can go hand in hand. A photo of a family enjoying themselves with a loved one can be a nice image to use.
• Actual residents. If your senior living marketing campaign is focusing on a community, it would be a great idea to get actual imagery of residents. It will be much more realistic than stock images. See what your options are for doing a photoshoot, because this should be something you consider.

Having the right images in your senior living marketing campaign is important because they help convey the message you’re trying to communicate. Make sure the images you choose are as upbeat and realistic as possible, as you want people to connect with your content.

This post was originally published in June 2019 and has since been updated.