For senior living communities, publishing valuable content online is now one of the best ways to connect with potential residents and their families.
But should you freely share this content, or place it behind a form to capture leads?
Craft & Communicate recognizes how much strategic decisions between gated and ungated content can impact your senior living marketing results.
What Is Gated Content?
Gated content refers to downloadable resources that require users to provide contact information (typically through a form) before accessing. Examples include:
- Comprehensive guides to financing senior living
- Detailed checklists for downsizing
- In-depth comparison tools for different care levels
- Exclusive webinars on aging-related topics
- Specialized ebooks about memory care approaches
The form creates a “gate” visitors pass through, exchanging their information for your valuable content.
Benefits of Gated Content for Senior Living
Quality Lead Generation
When people provide their information to access specialized content, they self-identify as serious researchers with specific interests. This creates higher-quality leads compared to general website visitors.
Contact Information Collection
Capturing email addresses and phone numbers enables your senior living sales team to follow up with leads, nurturing them through personalized communication toward a decision.
Lead Qualification Insights
The gated content someone accesses reveals their interests and concerns. If someone downloads your “Memory Care Evaluation Guide,” they’re likely researching memory support options, allowing for more targeted follow-up.
Perceived Value Enhancement
Content that requires “payment” (in the form of contact information) is often perceived as more valuable than freely available resources. It can position your community as an authority in specialized areas.
Drawbacks of Gated Content
Reduced Content Visibility
Gated content won’t appear in search results, limiting its reach and discoverability. For senior living communities competing in crowded cities, this can be a big disadvantage.
Limited Sharing Potential
Family members researching senior living options often share resources with each other. Gated content creates friction in this sharing process, limiting your content’s distribution among decision-makers.
Trust Barriers
Many seniors and their families may be hesitant to provide personal information, especially when first researching options. Forms can create barriers for those concerned about privacy or sales pressure.
Missed Education Opportunities
By restricting access to valuable information, you may miss the chance to educate families who aren’t yet ready to share their information but could benefit from your expertise.
What Is Ungated Content?
Ungated content is freely accessible to anyone online without asking for contact information. This generally involves:
- Blog posts about senior wellness
- Public videos showcasing community events
- Basic FAQs about assisted living options
- Community news and updates
- Pages with general information about services
Benefits of Ungated Content for Senior Living
Maximum Reach and Visibility
Freely accessible content can be indexed by search engines, shared on social media, and shared without barriers — expanding your community’s visibility.
Trust Building
Providing valuable information without requiring anything in return demonstrates confidence in your offerings and builds trust with seniors and families who may be apprehensive about making such a life-changing decision.
Enhanced Sharing Among Family Decision-Makers
Senior housing decisions tend to involve multiple family members. Ungated content is easily shareable, facilitating family discussions and collaborative decision-making.
Broader Awareness
For many people, research about senior living begins long before they’re ready to engage with a sales team. Ungated content serves these early-stage researchers, building brand awareness that may cause them to convert later.
Drawbacks of Ungated Content
Missed Lead Capture Opportunities
Without forms, you won’t collect contact information from interested seniors or their family members, making it harder to follow up and nurture relationships.
Difficulty Measuring ROI
It’s challenging to track exactly how ungated content contributes to move-ins and revenue, making ROI calculation less straightforward than with gated content’s clear lead metrics.
Reduced Lead Quality Insights
Without knowing who’s accessing your content, you miss valuable data about families’ interests and concerns that could inform sales conversations.
Potential Value Perception Issues
Some might perceive freely available information as less authoritative or valuable than premium resources they would need to “pay” for with their information.
How to Find the Right Balance of Content for Your Senior Community
The most effective content strategy for senior living communities usually combines both approaches:
Strategic Gating
Consider gating higher-value, specialized content such as:
- Comprehensive pricing guides
- Detailed care assessment tools
- In-depth comparison worksheets
- Exclusive webinar registrations
- Community-specific financial planning resources
Keep Essential Information Ungated
Maintain free access to content that helps build awareness and trust:
- Basic information about your community and services
- Blog posts addressing common concerns and questions
- Virtual tours and community photos
- Resident testimonials and stories
- General wellness and aging information
The Progressive Approach
Consider implementing a progressive strategy where initial resources are ungated, but more specialized, decision-stage content requires contact information. This respects the senior living decision journey, which often involves:
- Early awareness and education (ungated)
- Comparison and evaluation (partially gated)
- Decision-making and details (gated)
Senior Living Content Tips
Consider Age-Friendly Design
Whether gated or ungated, ensure all content is accessible to older adults with larger text options, high contrast, and straightforward navigation.
Create Clear Value Propositions
For gated content, clearly communicate what valuable information families will receive in exchange for their information. For assisted living or memory care resources, specify how the content addresses specific concerns.
Keep Forms Simple
Especially important for senior audiences, make forms short and accessible. Request only essential information — name, email, and perhaps relationship to the potential resident (themselves, adult child, spouse, and so on).
Respect Privacy Concerns
Many seniors and their families are particularly sensitive about privacy issues; clearly state how information will be used and honor preferences.
Test and Measure
Experiment with gating different types of content and measure not just form completions, but also the quality of leads and their progression through the senior living journey.
Build Trust Through Smarter Content Strategies
The decision between gated and ungated content isn’t an either/or proposition for retirement and care communities.
By strategically gating high-value content while maintaining freely accessible resources that build awareness and trust, your community can both generate qualified leads and provide the educational support families need throughout their decision process.
Remember that the ultimate goal isn’t just lead generation, but creating meaningful connections with seniors and their families. Our marketing agency’s own content reflects this relationship-centered approach that defines quality senior living.
Let’s Talk About What’s Next in Content Marketing
Craft & Communicate specializes in creating effective content plans for senior living communities. Contact us to learn how we can help optimize your approach to gated and ungated content.
