Like it or hate it, video is here to stay

By Susan Saldibar

In no other industry is storytelling more important than senior living. And video has rapidly become the medium of choice for storytelling these days. Are you using it to tell yours?

Hopefully, you’re no longer immobilized with worries about HIPAA violations or crazy staff members going rogue with cameras. Better awareness and education on using video has helped most communities meet those challenges. So, with a little planning, there is no longer a good reason not to put a strong focus on using video to tell the story of your community.

With that in mind, the folks at G5 (a Senior Housing Forum partner) have taken a huge step forward on the video front by partnering with OneDay, a leading provider of an instant video platform that takes the grunt work out of creating and sharing high-quality videos. The goal of the new partnership is to use technology to help communities share their stories in a way that positions their brands in the most positive light. A good move, given the expectations of today’s consumers.

As you may know, those long, expensive “shoots” of yesteryear are being replaced with informal, on-the-spot iPhone videos, often taken by staff or family members. Still, there is homework to be done to get it right. Here are three things G5 advises for those senior living operators ready to put video into play:

  1. First, tap into the “voice” of your residents. There is actually a term for this: the “Voice of the Customer” or “VoC”. According to Qualtrics, this is a term that describes your customer’s feedback about their experiences with, and expectations for, your products or services. It centers around customer needs, expectations, understandings, and product improvement. And, it’s the positive aspects of your community that you want to share in videos. Tapping into the VoC, according to G5, helps you identify those aspects, capture them and use them to build your brand (and create your videos).

  2. Be authentic. Remember how so-called “professional” videos used to be? Those expensive, slick videos using spokespeople, stock images, and a background music track? Today it’s all about authenticity. Short, unscripted videos with real people are proving to be more effective. G5 suggests using images and interview prompts to create a more personal experience for the interviewee as well as those watching the video. Focus on areas of your community and amenities that your residents have indicated they like and showcase them.

  3. Share, share, share. Too many communities select a single channel to share their videos, post it and forget it. That’s a mistake, according to G5. It’s important to pay attention to the “digital touchpoints” that accompany your prospective resident along his/her journey. They will help you identify the best ways to present your videos and images. Of course, you should post those videos on your home page. But don’t stop there. Make sure you are optimizing social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These channels are regularly used by seniors and their adult children to get a deeper sense of what different senior living communities are really like. Yours needs to be among them.

Get on Board

Like it or hate it, video is here to stay. It’s become the most effective, impactful way of sharing an organization’s brand in a way that reaches out and touches prospects and customers alike. It’s not going away. It’s only getting better. Especially as organizations like OneDay continue to perfect and expand the limits of what video can do. And the new partnership between G5 and OneDay looks like it will continue to influence how senior living taps into the power of video.

And tap into it they must, as the envelope continues to be pushed by a younger generation of adult children of aging seniors taking the helm. They’ll be looking for authentic, engaging videos to describe and define your property. If and how you do that is up to you.

You can read more about using video to tell your story here.

For more information about G5, please visit their website.

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