Facebook Advertising Tips
Apartment marketers who work with 55+ communities don’t have too many options when it comes to social advertising. After all, it’s quite uncommon for a Baby Boomer to have an Instagram account. And you can completely forget about Snapchat.
But there is one social network that has captured the attention of Boomers: Facebook.
As of 2016, roughly 30 percent of Boomers had active Facebook accounts, and that number is expected to grow in 2017. And because this generation is rapidly approaching the ages where a 55+ community is the ideal place to call home, Facebook advertising and 55+ marketing are a perfect match.
With that in mind, we’ve pulled together the following three tips to help Multifamily marketers kick off Facebook advertising for 55+ communities. At Respage we also provide whole suite of senior living marketing solutions and services that can help you take your online apartment marketing to the next level. Consider working with us to create a more efficient strategy, but for now check out these great Facebook advertising tips:
Target the Right Age Groups
Advertising a 55+ community to 30-year-olds doesn’t make any sense. So when you create a Facebook ad campaign for such a community, set your ads to only target users born before 1964. Although these ads will reach users who won’t be qualified to live in your community for another year or two, many people research 55+ communities years before they plan on moving, and it pays to reach them early on in the game.
Another age demographic that’s worth paying special attention to is the 62-67 range, or users born between 1950 and 1955. These users have reached the medium retirement age. And because 55+ communities tend to attract retirees, you may want to deploy more aggressive bidding strategies to increase awareness among this demographic.
Match by Interest
Matching ads according to interests is a universal theme on Facebook, and it works just as well with 55+ communities as it does with vacation packages, restaurant promotions, and shoe merchants. But that’s only if you’re honest with your audience (and yourself) about what your community has to offer.
So if your community boasts a tennis court, a pool, and a gym, you’ll want to target users who have shown some kind of affinity to fitness. Similarly, if your community is by the ocean in Florida, and features its own private golf course, you’ll want to target users who enjoy boating, golfing, or the outdoors in general.
Remember not to mislead or over-embellish any particular feature, and you’re sure to receive the most qualified leads.
Design Experience-Based Ads
We’ve published multiple blog posts in the past about how ad design influences click-through-rates, site traffic, and conversions. But we have to bring it up again. It’s that important.v
Facebook ads should never look like ads. Instead, they should look like the user-generated content that fills your newsfeed. And it’s for this reason that you should be creating ads that emphasize experiences over amenities.
It’s not enough to just show your waterfront property or your golf course. You want to show people fishing that water, and playing that golf course. And these people need to look like your primary audience, I.E. people over age of 54.
Other Things to Consider
It should go without saying that, while incredibly useful, Facebook is not the only online medium through which Multifamily marketers can advertise 55+ communities. Pay-Per-Click ads, Remarketing ads, and other ad formats have their merits as well. For more information on what you can do to increase your community’s online visibility and get more leads, please check out our senior Living marketing services page.