Hawthorn Senior Living - Graphic Designer
Hawthorn Senior Living is a management company that runs over 80 senior community centers across the United States, as well as a few communities within Canada, ranging from retirement living homes to assisted living centers.
With a marketing budget north of 4 million a year, one other graphic designer and I would create all the marketing material used for the communities across the US & Canada.
This ranged from Publications in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, The Columbian, Tampa Bay Times, etc., to Postcards used for direct mailing to “Influencers” and “Direct Inquiries.” Event Promotion for the communities, as well as home office events for staff, were also ours to create and design.
Creating and managing social media accounts for each of the communities; Facebook Postings, Facebook event promotions, Google review replies, etc., also fell under our umbrella of tasks to monitor and complete.
Make it stand out.
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Digital Ads
Used on websites for advertisements, such as banners, columns, etc. Typically, they were clickable links that directed the user to dedicated websites for the respective community promoted within the ad.
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Inserts
These were placed within magazines and local newspapers. This ranged from single pages within the issue’s spreads or as double-sided leaflets that were placed within the magazines & papers. We would communicate with the publicists to find the dimensions and other requirements for the inserts, along with forecasting future inserts
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Postcards/Direct Mailers
With our targeted demographic being in the age range that requires a retirement home, postcards were still incredibly effective. Utilizing tracking numbers, we can see which promotional methods were most effective, with postcards often taking the lead. We would use sites like Sherpa, which contained databases of all our potential prospects and inquiries that we would use to coordinate mail launches.
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Facebook Promotional Advertisements
Facebook is the primary social media platform for our demographic. We often create target advertisements that focus on families. By doing so, we can create content for those with family members who are or soon will be moving into a community. Creating and promoting events and content for the whole family enables residents to invite multiple family members to the community, fostering tight-knit bonds that continue to grow.
Sharing this on Facebook allows others in similar positions to see the benefits of a community and shows a glimpse of what's possible.