Extend the Impact of your Hospitality & Wellness Programs with New Digital and Virtual Marketing Strategies

Your digital marketing program will shine with a strong content strategy that reinforces your reputation for safety, wellness, and hospitality. There’s no better way to do that than to seed your channels with solid information, including data, powerful stories, and compelling images that reflect your communities’ culture, practices, and events. Effective marketers regularly publish articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, and infographics that tell your story in easy-to-consume, search-friendly “bites.”

Remember that there are two aspects to your marketing efforts. Your commercial brand is aimed at prospective residents and their adult children. Your employer brand is aimed at prospective team members. Your content should be directed at establishing your brand promise and personality for the benefit of both audiences.

Today, digital and virtual strategies enable us to create and leverage a new kind of hospitality, when each guest welcomes others into their own space. Done right, it can lead to increased transparency and better connection. The Morrison family of communities are stepping up to the challenge with these success strategies that welcome and nurture newcomers into our world. 

Success Stories from the Morrison Living Family

Now our communities are using the same concept to add new dimensions to their marketing efforts with webinars and online programs that convey the spirit and quality of their dining programs.

Wesley, based in Washington State, has shifted their marketing efforts to accommodate the need for online engagement in parallel with their effort to build awareness of their new building. “Wesley Wednesdays” were introduced to nurture their prospect lists and introduce a few new people to their communities in a series of monthly webinars.

For November, the team boosted the concept by framing the session as a Teaching Kitchen, situated in the brand new Wesley Des Moines Demonstration Kitchen and hosted by Chef Bryan Dean and Valerie Rawlinson, RDN, CD. Once online, participants learned about the superfood powers of cranberries. Chef then prepared salmon, topped with spiced cranberry relish, and Cranberry Rosemary Spritzers. In advance of the session, registrants received everything they needed to create the “mocktail,” including a tumbler, Sprite, rosemary-infused simple syrup, and of course, cranberries. Apropos choices for the run-up to Thanksgiving! The event was such a hit that Virtual Teaching Kitchens are now being scheduled monthly. Check out the spiced cranberry relish Teaching Kitchen here.

Community Outreach – Chef-prepared To Go Meals

Thanksgiving Carside-To-Go for Isolated Sisters – Sisters of Charity, University of St. Mary

Protecting our seniors through the pandemic has been a double-edged sword.  While the need to isolate may protect them from exposure, it also can magnify the negative effects of food insecurity, loneliness, and anxiety.  Since 1858, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Kansas has cared for its community and founded the University of St. Mary in 1923. With a mission to serve the needs of students and society, it’s no surprise that the Sisters would not let a pandemic stand in their way.

Not all of the Sisters live on campus in the Mother House; more than 125 live in the neighborhood beyond campus.  Including many seniors, they are a tight group that always gather for a meal on special occasions, the risk of spreading the virus meant that Sisters who weren’t in residence couldn’t attend any special events, including Thanksgiving.

To bridge the gap, the dining team cooked up the idea of offering Thanksgiving Carside To Go. Mailers were distributed throughout the community, enabling the Sisters to order and pick up a delicious Thanksgiving hot meal that included Turkey and all the fixings. To make it super easy and attractive, the Order supported most of the cost and enabled payroll deductions. The Sisters who ordered meals never even had to get out of their cars.

Nurturing Leads in a Safe Environment

Drive-through Open House – The Forum

In 2020, The Forum at Rancho San Antonio celebrated the opening of 23 new Villas and needed to get the word out even though in-person tours were limited. They’ve gotten super creative in their use of virtual tours, Virtual Teaching Kitchens, and wine tastings, with all of their events being prominently featured on their Facebook page. In September, they hosted Cruise the Forum, a self-guided, drive-thru tour of their beautiful campus, including their new villas and six other “ports of call” that illuminated the resident experience. At Port #4, Forum Flavors, Executive Chef Abbie Greenberg, Food and Beverage Director, Janice De la Cruz, and Laura Brown, Assistant Director of Food and Beverage, gave prospective residents a taste of the artistry and quality of the community’s culinary program.