Does connected TV actually drive move-ins?
Rarely as a last click, and that is the wrong way to judge it. It shows up as higher branded search volume, better conversion rates on paid search, and shorter time from inquiry to tour.
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Awareness
Stay in front of the family through the whole deliberation.
Adult children compare four or five communities over weeks or months. Retargeting and connected TV placements on Hulu, Roku, and YouTube TV keep you present through every step of that comparison, not just the moment they clicked.
This service, measured
$2,500-4,500
typical cost per move-in from paid social and display
- Ad spend managed
- $30M+
- Communities served
- 100+
- Avg 90-day tour lift
- +47%
- Peak ROAS
- 28×
Where it works
Programmatic does its work here.
The leak
Three reasons this is underperforming.
Search captures the family at the moment of intent and then loses them. The decision takes months, involves siblings, and happens mostly off your website. Without a presence during that stretch, the community that stays visible wins on familiarity alone.
- Reason 1
Search captures the family at the moment of intent, then loses them for the months the decision actually takes.
- Reason 2
The comparison happens across four or five communities and almost entirely off your website.
- Reason 3
Without presence during deliberation, the most familiar name wins by default.
End to end
How we run it.
In this order, on every engagement.
- 01
Retargeting built on real intent
Segmented by what they actually viewed. Someone who read the memory care page gets memory care creative, not a generic brand spot.
- 02
Connected TV where the family watches
Hulu, Roku, and YouTube TV reach the adult children doing the research, in the living room, with sound and full attention.
- 03
Geofenced to the catchment
Tight radius targeting around each community and the markets families actually search from. We do not geofence hospitals or other health care sites.
- 04
Frequency that persuades without irritating
Capped and monitored. In a category this sensitive, over-serving a grieving family is a brand problem, not a reach win.
Generalist agencies vs. Inertia
The difference is the starting line.
A generalist agency
- Learns senior living on your budget
- One account for every community
- Reports on impressions and engagement
- Percentage of media spend
- Annual contract, then a renewal conversation
Inertia
- Knows IL, AL, MC, and CCRC dynamics on day one
- Campaign per community, budgeted to occupancy
- Reports on cost per move-in and cost per hire
- Flat monthly fee
- 90-day initial period, no long-term lock-in
Operator FAQ
The questions we actually get asked.
What is the minimum budget worth running?
Enough to reach the same households often enough to be remembered. Spread too thin, streaming and display ads are seen once and forgotten, so it is better to concentrate spend on one market than spread it across four. We size it to your markets during the audit.
Do you geofence hospitals?
We do not run it. Targeting people by their presence at a hospital or other health care site is restricted or banned in a growing number of states, and it is the wrong way to meet a family at a hard moment. We reach them through search, community-area targeting and professional referral relationships instead.
Pairs well with
Rarely bought on its own.
Google & Meta Ads
We have placed more than $30M in senior living ad spend across 100+ communities. Search, Display, YouTube, and Meta, structured around the way families actually shop for care and built at the community level, because a 40-unit memory care building and a 200-unit CCRC do not share a keyword list, a budget, or a buyer.
Social Media Management
Resident stories, staff spotlights, and event coverage published on a real calendar. This is the proof families look for after they click the ad, and the thing prospective caregivers check before they apply.
SEO & Content
Organic search produces the lowest cost per move-in of any channel measured, and it compounds. We build the long-tail visibility that captures families searching for care in your market, and structure it so AI answer engines can quote you.
Across the portfolio
Same service, four different problems.
What this looks like depends entirely on the building. Memory care costs roughly twice what independent living does to fill, and runs on a cycle measured in days rather than months.
Further reading
More on Programmatic.
Paid media
Programmatic Advertising for Senior Living: What It Does and Where It Stops
Programmatic advertising for senior living explained: how it works, audience sources and privacy limits, site lists, brand safety, CTV, and how to measure it.
Paid media
OTT and CTV Advertising for Senior Living: What It Is and When It Works
Streaming TV ads keep a senior living community familiar through a long decision, but you cannot click a TV. Here is how OTT and CTV work and when they pay.
Strategy
The Referral Aggregator Math Nobody Puts in the Board Deck
Referral aggregators charge 50 to 100% of first month's rent and are the largest advertisers in senior living. The arithmetic is not whether to use them, but what share of your census you are renting rather than owning.
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