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Deborah Hayes

Multifamily Marketing to Seniors

Updated: Jan 30, 2020


Marketing to seniors in the multifamily sphere has never been more important. With the buying power of the “Silver Tsunami” comes a huge market for renters looking for value, community, and personalized service. What marketers may fail to realize is that reaching the senior market is not only possible, it’s rather easy! In fact, once you understand the common reasons that seniors chose multifamily rental options, and understand what motivates them as buyers, you will quickly be able to reach your audience and bring in future tenants.

So, what do seniors look for in rentals? First, the senior market will look for personal service and amenities. Many seniors value convenience, location, and on-site services such as maintenance and security features. Marketing these services will instantly appeal to the senior market. Additionally, seniors are more likely to purchase from a brand they can trust. Developing a strong brand story that appeals to value, community, and comfort will help you sell your product while also selling the brand, increasing engagement and retention within the senior market.

While these are the basic building blocks applicable to marketing to seniors, the senior market can actually be broken into two unique parts. Understanding the nuances of the two sectors can help marketers pinpoint their efforts to reach a specific subsection of the senior market. While Baby Boomers and Traditionalists share some common buying habits, mentioned above, they are also unique in certain elements that will help you capture their hearts and wallets.

Baby Boomers, defined as adults born between 1946 and 1964, are reaching retirement age and often making buying decision based on loyalty, bargain, and personalization. Recent projections show renters in this age-range surpassing 5 million by the end of 2020, so it’s an important market to capture. To appeal to Baby Boomers, marketers should focus on building brand value through maintaining a personalized mobile brand presence, using testimonials to build trust, and making the searching process straight-forward. Most Boomers search online as well as by phone and email. However, face to face marketing is proven to be the most effective for this market, so focus on personalization of responses both in terms of communication mode and message. Additionally, it may be helpful to employ brand ambassadors to give a personal voice to your brand message and reinforce your commitment to community and authenticity.

Traditionalist, on the other hand, relate strongly to more of the traditional marketing modes, although many do utilize the internet. For this reason, mixing digital and print marketing efforts will help to reach this sector of the senior market. Born between the mid-20s and 1945, Traditionalists focus on value while also searching for a sense of belonging and ways to stay active. They are not impulsive buyers and will certainly require a sense of comfort with your brand before they commit. For this reason, focus on selling your brand story, emphasizing your amenities and services, and appealing to their sense of belonging. Additionally, make sure all materials include large font and simplistic visual style, as it will be easier for your audience to read and process.

The current senior market has substantial buying power and is choosing to rent, instead of own, for the ease of access to services and amenities as well as developing a strong community. Whether you are trying to reach Baby Boomers or Traditionalists, focus on building a brand story that relates to value, amenities, and provides a sense of personalized service to your audience.


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