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When planning a marketing program, it is critical to understand
who the market is. Not only is it the tenant, but it is the
tenant's family, the county who may be providing Medicaid
Waiver funding, the local housing authority who may be providing
Section 8 Vouchers, the local hospital who may be looking
for an appropriate place for an elderly person to live after
discharge, or the nearby nursing home looking for a less restrictive
setting for a patient. Marketing to these various groups is
important to the success of the RCAC.
Marketing Information Resources
The National Investment Center
serves as a valuable resource to lenders, investors, developers/operators,
and others interested in meeting the housing and healthcare
needs of America's seniors. It offers excellent publications,
many specific to marketing.
For example, in a study by NIC, the reasons for selection
of an assisted living development, in order of importance*,
are:
| |
Reasons |
|
Percent Reporting |
| 1. |
Services offered |
|
32% |
|
| 2. |
Convenience for family and friends |
|
22% |
|
| 3. |
Appearance of the residence |
|
13% |
|
| 4. |
Staff |
|
7% |
|
| 5. |
Only available choice |
|
5% |
|
| 6. |
Lower monthly fee |
|
3% |
|
| 7. |
Family member selected it |
|
3% |
|
| 8. |
Apartment selection |
|
3% |
|
| 9. |
Convenience to shopping and services |
|
2% |
|
| 10. |
Size of apartment |
|
2% |
|
| 11. |
Referral |
|
1% |
|
| 12. |
Other |
|
8% |
|
| |
*From National
Survey of Assisted Living Residents: Who Is the Customer?,
published by National Investment Conference, 1998. |
AARP Research Center Ageline
Data is a searchable electronic database containing detailed
summaries of publications about older adults and aging, including
books, journal and magazine articles, and research reports.
A subset of 74 bibliographic references from AgeLine
relates to marketing to adults 50 and over.
Success Magazine has
many articles devoted to marketing for the market-rate assisted
living developments, including one on start-up
marketing. Consider the lessons
that can be captured from these articles to use in affordable
assisted living.
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