You’re excited. This is the day you’ve been waiting for since that fateful date nearly 12 months ago. You’ve spent hundreds of hours planning and designing, making sure everything is right. You’ve met with dozens of vendors and have a script for how the whole day should go. That’s right — it’s launch day for your new website!

But, three months later, you’ve realized that there was a hole in your plan. That new website is starting to feel stale already. The pictures haven’t changed. The blog hasn’t been updated. Your integrated Facebook and Twitter feeds are displaying posts that are already two months old. Getting the website to launch was such hard work, you assumed it would be all downhill once it went live. However, now you realize that that was the simple part; finding time to curate content, post updates on social media, change out photos and respond to inquiries isn’t just hard — it’s nearly impossible.

We’ve seen this time and time again within the senior living space. Finding the time to actively manage the digital presence of the organization is a big challenge. Many communities leave this task to marketing or sales managers who have to choose between posting a nice photo or having a conversation that could lead to a sale. Of course, the sale will always take priority, leaving the digital presence to stagnate over time. Finding quick, shareable content may be slightly easier than you realize, though. We have three proven strategies that will help you find additional engaging content quickly!

1. Don’t be a lone warrior.
   Amazing, shareable stories are happening around your community every single day, but you’re only one person. That’s why you need to enlist the help of your employees and residents. Start creating a culture of shareable moments today by encouraging others to share their moments with you. Yes, there are some pitfalls that have to be avoided regarding photo releases, but a little bit of training with your staff and residents could produce huge dividends in the form of wonderful, engaging photographs and stories that you might not have ever heard about otherwise.
2. Think small.
   Whenever your community is holding a big event or celebration, it’s easy to find shareable moments. Veteran events, innovative programs and food tastings always make for good content. However, it’s the smaller, daily moments that really make your social presence something special. If Mrs. Johnson is always walking her poodle around your community, stop and ask to take a picture. Share Mrs. Johnson and Fido with the rest of the world. After all, they are a part of the fabric of life for your residents. Showing families and potential residents what life is like at your community, day in and day out, is really important for a long-term social media strategy.
3. Stop being a perfectionist.
   Everybody wants their organization to look its best. However, just like a person, there are going to be slight imperfections that crop up. Maybe that picture of a vibrant, exciting resident shows another resident in the background in a motorized chair. That’s okay! That’s real life at your community. Yes, in pre-planned advertising, such as print or television, you’ll want perfectly shot, model-quality photographs, but social media is meant to capture everyday life. None of us look like models every day, and we can’t expect our communities and residents to do so, either.

Generating content for social media and blogs doesn’t have to be difficult. Your social media feed should feel like someone is walking the halls of your community, experiencing what life is like. It should never feel like they are enduring a sales pitch or having a digital “lunch and learn.” Be true to your community and show off what life is genuinely like there, and you’ll soon have more content than you ever thought imaginable!