Video Storytelling: 5 Ideas for Your Senior Living Community

Storytelling is something that humans have been doing since the beginning of time; it is the best way to evoke emotion and communicate a deeper truth. Of course, as we have developed and advanced, so have our storytelling techniques. We now have the amazing ability to capture stories as they happen and have them permanently frozen in time. Not only this, but we can make these stories accessible to every person from their home, office, or on the road through the power of video.

This is the magic of video storytelling in the modern era. ✨

A few years ago, if you wanted to make a video yourself, this would have been a very daunting or even expensive endeavor. However, now with only a smartphone, it is as easy as possible. 

Why should you utilize video storytelling, and what types of videos should you be creating even if you did? At Markentum, we specialize in creating a wide variety of content for our partners in all mediums, including video, to help tell each brand’s story. We want to help you do the same, so we’re sharing why video storytelling is so important and five easy video ideas you can create for your senior living community.

The Power of Video Storytelling

{% icon icon_set=”fontawesome-5.14.0″ name=”Check Circle” style=”SOLID” height=”18″ purpose=”decorative” title=”Check Circle icon” %}Videos Help Build Trust

Building trust with your target audience is crucial, and creating video content can help you establish it. Through video, you are able to draw out more emotions than you would by using only text or still images. In fact, a study found that 57% of consumers felt more confident making a purchase online after watching a video on that product or service from the company.

{% icon icon_set=”fontawesome-5.14.0″ name=”Check Circle” style=”SOLID” height=”18″ purpose=”decorative” title=”Check Circle icon” %} Boosts SEO Efforts

Implementing videos into your digital marketing strategy is a great way to improve your rankings and boost your SEO efforts. Because videos encourage users to spend more time in one place, having them embedded on your website signals search engines to trust that you have good, relevant content. Moovly gives us whopping statistics: You’re 53 times more likely to show up first on Google if you have a video embedded on your website.

This also allows you to use SEO best practices, such as optimizing video titles and descriptions with links back to your website and services, to improve your efforts.

{% icon icon_set=”fontawesome-5.14.0″ name=”Check Circle” style=”SOLID” height=”18″ purpose=”decorative” title=”Check Circle icon” %} Showing vs. Telling

There is value in telling your audience about your senior living community, but allowing them to see it for themselves puts a picture in their minds and helps build additional trust in your brand. Videos can better explain your community’s offerings than writing about them alone.

Anyone can say that they offer exceptional senior living services and amenities, but it is another thing to show it. Through the copy on your website and other content, you have to “paint” a picture of what life is like in your community. On the other hand, video storytelling literally shows your audience everything that your senior living community offers.

 

5 Video Ideas for Your Senior Living Community

1. Forever Capture Your Residents’ Life Stories

One of the most powerful videos a senior living community can capture is a resident’s life story. Your residents have deep, rich, and interesting lives with too many stories to count. Many are a testament to a life well-lived and deserve to be told and treasured. Capturing and sharing these stories on video will show that your community is respectful of the legacy of the people living in your community and that you want to learn from them.

In addition, capturing your residents’ life stories is an amazing gift that you can give back to the family members of your residents. You will leave them with a deep impact, showing that you are a community that cares.

Now, part of their life story is in your senior living community. You can also use clips of these videos as resident testimonials to showcase how current residents feel about their experiences. With their permission, you can implement these testimonial videos into your digital marketing strategy to highlight why individuals love living in your community.

2. Share Your Passion

If you are working in senior living, you are likely not doing it for the fame. You genuinely want to serve this population of seniors in the best way possible, so you should be talking about it! Share your message with your online community.  

 Here are some starter topics:

• What made you get into senior living?
• What is a personal story or event that affected you?
• What do you believe about senior care?
• What is something awesome you are seeing in senior living today? 

Let the world know how much you care for your residents, and they will listen. People want to know that their parent is living in a community that they can trust to love and serve their loved one.  

3. Show Off Your Community’s Events

Hopefully, your community is full of great events for residents and guests. It would be a shame if you did not share those with the world (or at least your target audience)! 

During the event, take time to pull out your phone and capture the experience so that people know what to expect on a daily basis if they were to come live in your community.

For videos like this, think about platforms like:

• Facebook Live
• IGTV (Instagram TV)
• Instagram Stories  

4. Be a Resource with Senior Living Knowledge & Tips

Senior living and senior health can raise many questions. Being an expert, a great way to give back would be to create videos that help answer questions frequently asked by potential residents or their family members. This sets you up as a resource and builds trust. Think about:

• Having a weekly FAQ video where you answer questions you have heard throughout the week
• Talking in detail about each service line you offer and what they do
• Health, exercise, or diet tips for seniors to follow

5. Follow Your New Community Openings ✂️ 

If your senior living company is expanding with more locations, a great way to get free promotion is to film the timeline of their opening! Start with videos of them breaking ground, laying the foundation, painting the walls, putting out the sign, etc. There are endless ways to build hype around your upcoming, new community.

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It is easier than you think to use video storytelling to promote your senior living community and give back. The key is consistency! Make sure to start creating videos and then stick with it.

If you have any more questions regarding the power of video or senior living marketing, feel free to reach out to the Markentum team for a free evaluation!