Six Powerful Ways to Engage Your Employees in Marketing Your Senior Living Community

At EVR, we understand how competitive the senior living industry is. To stand out, a compelling marketing strategy is essential—but the real game-changer lies within your team. By fostering a workplace that values internal communication and rewards staff advocacy, you can turn employees into passionate brand ambassadors who share your community’s story with the right audience.

We’ve got some actionable strategies and quick wins to help you build a culture of advocacy, engage your team and supercharge your marketing—attracting the right residents and top talent to your community.

1. Create Brand Champions

Every employee can be a brand ambassador, but to get them to be brand ambassadors, you need a strong internal communications plan and a shared sense of purpose. These aren’t just fuzzy, feel-good ideas; when your staff feels connected to your mission and part of the team, they’re more engaged, satisfied and ready to champion your brand.

Actionable Steps: 

1. Communicate the Vision: Share updates about the community’s goals, achievements and stories that highlight its unique culture with your team. Explain how they affect your residents and recruitment efforts. Make your mission and parts of your brand an integral part of employee town halls and meetings.
2. Create a Culture of Advocacy: Go beyond simply sharing the brand vision in newsletters and meetings—integrate advocacy training into your onboarding process to inspire and equip employees from day one.
3. Give Your Team the Tools They Need: Provide social media guidelines, talking points and branded content to help empower staff members to represent your community confidently.

A Quick Win: Create a one-page guide with simple tips on how employees can share their positive experiences on social media to bolster community engagement and recruitment power.

2. Encourage Your Staff to Recruit Residents and Workers

Staff members interact with your residents and their families daily, which gives them unique insights. Their stories and experiences can become a powerful part of your recruitment strategy; firsthand recommendations beat advertising and statistics every time.

Actionable Steps:

1. Real-Life Stories: Collaborate with your team to craft social media posts that showcase meaningful interactions with residents with their approval. Provide clear guidelines and support to ensure the stories align with your brand’s voice and messaging.
2. Employee Referrals: Offer a day off or a gift card to employees who refer new residents or staff members.
3. Use Authentic Content: Share behind-the-scenes moments that highlight your community’s warmth and culture and show a side of life not commonly seen by the public.

Quick Win: Launch a “Day in the Life” campaign featuring photos of staff members working and interacting with residents in your community. It will show potential residents and their families the staff’s compassion and professionalism and attract potential employees who will get a feel for the community’s culture.

3. Fire Up Your Staff

When employees feel included and rewarded, they are more motivated to drive results. After all, they’re the boots on the ground, and what they say and do resonates with your audience as authentic. Their advocacy can have an immediate and lasting impact, so recognize and reward their efforts to increase enthusiasm and instill pride. It costs little, but you’ll reap big rewards.

Actionable Steps:

1. Celebrate Your Team: Recognize standout contributions and highlight employee excellence in external monthly newsletters, internal communications and other public ways.
2. Don’t Make It “One and Done”: Provide consistent feedback and reminders of the importance of advocacy. Reward employees for their efforts with unexpected treats like a branded care package or a catered lunch to thank them for their efforts.
3. Get Creative with Swag: Go beyond standard branded items. Forget pens and mugs. Think of fun and functional gifts like a branded backpack or headphones or offer them a catalog of items to choose from.

Quick Win: Introduce a peer-nominated “Brand Champion of the Month” program with rewards like a day off or a preferred parking spot.

4. Leverage Social Media and Your Online Presence

Social media is a critical tool in your senior living marketing toolbox. Not only are authentic employee posts some of the most powerful posts in your social media feed, but when employees share with their networks, they amplify your reach.

Actionable Steps:

1. Outline Responsible Social Media Posting: Teach employees how to share positive, authentic posts while respecting privacy guidelines.
2. Create a Shareable Content Library: Have a dedicated location where employees can find pre-approved photos, videos and captions to use on their social platforms.
3. Gamify It: Create challenges, such as a contest for the best or “most viral” social media post. Gamification makes advocacy fun, engaging and challenging.

Quick Win: Make a custom hashtag, such as #LifeAt[YourCommunity], and encourage employees to use it when posting about your community on their social media.

5. Keep It Fun

Give employees tools to make it easier for them to be brand advocates, keeping them engaged and eager to participate. Most importantly, keep it fun; once it feels like work, employees won’t participate. Keep in mind the Four Rs: remind, recognize, reward and, by all means, relax!

Actionable Steps:

1. Photo Booth Fun: Set up a photo booth and include props for staff to use during events. It’s an unexpected peek behind the scenes that makes excellent sharable content.
2. Seasonal Swag: Offer themed items, like cozy hats in winter or branded hoodies in fall.
3. Community Challenges: Host team challenges that encourage staff to showcase their creativity, such as decorating common spaces or sharing resident stories.

Quick Win: Distribute “Advocacy Starter Kits” with fun tools like branded selfie sticks, colorful pins and stickers. When employees use these items in daily life, they’re promoting your brand and acting as walking billboards.

6. It Begins at the Top

Don’t ask employees to do something company management won’t. When managers set the tone by promoting the community and embracing advocacy efforts, employees can’t help but follow.

Actionable Steps:

1. Leaders Go First: The C-suite and management can’t just talk about it. They must “walk the walk” and advocate for the brand independently.
2. Advocate Always: Make advocacy a formal part of your community’s overall marketing and communication plan 365 days a year.
3. Train Management to Take the Lead: Teach managers how to encourage and support brand advocates within their teams.

Quick Win: Get an executive team to participate in a fun, shareable campaign, such as a TikTok dance challenge. It will show your staff a different side of their managers and challenge them to outdo the bosses.

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By fostering a culture of communication, recognition and creativity, you can empower your staff to become the authentic, enthusiastic voices of your brand, increasing the reach of your messaging and making your community stand out from your competition.

Start small, celebrate successes and watch as your community thrives—not just from the outside in, but from the inside out.