The Importance of Authenticity with the Rise of AI

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent in the senior living industry, it is essential to remain authentic to your brand. Authenticity can present itself in several forms. It could be a genuine interaction with a prospective resident, a personalized marketing email, or creating content for your community. These touchpoints help create a meaningful connection with your audience, creating an environment for trust and loyalty to grow.

Why is Authenticity Important?

When individuals are looking for a senior living community, they don’t have a specific place in mind. They want to find a community that reflects their values and meets their personal criteria. The best way for your community to be selected is to stand out from the crowd.

As more senior living communities use artificial intelligence in their marketing plan, the content created can become very similar and repetitive. As a community, you want your brand to stick out for your values, not just those of the senior living industry. AI doesn’t know your community as well as you do, so personal touches can create a significant difference between you and your competitors.

An additional issue is that AI cannot make a personal connection the same way that a human could. While having Chatbots on your website can be incredibly helpful, it is still vital to have a person ready to assist in answering questions that AI cannot. Potential residents should feel as if they have left the conversation with the information they were looking for, not confused or frustrated. This personal touch is especially crucial in sensitive areas, such as discussing healthcare options or personalized living arrangements. A genuine human experience can be the tipping point for a potential resident to look further into your community or cross it off their list entirely.

Combining Authenticity and Artificial Intelligence 

Considering all of the issues previously mentioned, it’s not to say that you should never use AI. In fact, it can be beneficial to your brand’s marketing strategy when used correctly. AI can provide assistance in analyzing data trends, personalizing marketing efforts, and automating repetitive tasks, giving your team more free time to focus on more strategic activities. However, it is still important to keep content authentic and true to your brand.

One way to maintain authenticity while using AI is by editing what AI has generated. Artificial intelligence is beneficial when it comes to developing content, but sometimes, it is only partially accurate to your brand voice.  One of the most significant issues of using AI is that content will start to follow a particular formatted response. The generated content will be generic to similar prompts used across the industry. An easy way to correct that is by editing what was generated so it is consistent with your brand message. This may include editing the phrases or formalities, adding personal anecdotes, or incorporating current residents’ testimonials to highlight your community’s unique aspects.

Another way to maintain authenticity is to balance the use of AI. AI-generated ideas will lack the empathy, connectivity, and understanding that a human touch would have. After AI has generated ideas for your marketing plan, make sure that a person on your marketing team further develops them to ensure a balance between the two.

A final and crucial way to combine AI and authenticity is transparency. By letting potential residents and their families know that AI tools are employed to improve their experience, trust can be built in place of skepticism. It is essential to have the right balance between using AI’s capabilities and preserving the human touch, which is critical and valuable in the senior living industry.

Overall, the integrity of AI usage depends on ethical considerations. Avoiding manipulative tactics or overpromising through AI-driven content ensures that your brand’s core values and transparency remain intact. By doing so, senior living communities can not only attract but retain residents who are aligned with their values.

While AI can help streamline efficiency, a human touch is still vital to your brand. To truly connect with your potential residents, ensure they can see the values of your brand and not what AI thinks your brand is.

To learn more about AI and how it can enhance your marketing efforts, we invite you to contact our Markentum team for a free evaluation!