Marketing Strategy Review — PPC to SEO Pivot
Overview
Asymmetric (Sebastian Gant, Melissa Cusumano, Mark Hope) met with Adava Care leadership (Kurosh Dejgosha, Kari Krause, and others) to review marketing performance and align on a forward strategy. The core outcome was a decisive pivot away from paid PPC as the primary channel toward organic SEO, paired with a content engine, attribution infrastructure, and a Google review management plan.
Attendees:
- Sebastian Gant, Melissa Cusumano, Mark Hope (Asymmetric)
- Kurosh Dejgosha, Kari Krause, Cassandra, J. Spinelli, T. Olson, L. Schwartz (Adava Care)
Key Decisions
1. Strategic Pivot: PPC → Organic SEO
Decision: Shift primary marketing focus from paid PPC to organic SEO. PPC will be retained as a supplemental channel only.
Rationale:
- Estimated cost-per-conversion via PPC is ~$3,500–$4,000 per move-in (based on ~10 qualified form leads/month at a 10% industry conversion rate), which Kurosh flagged as approaching unsustainable.
- PPC faces diminishing returns: high CPCs, limited search volume for target keywords, and consistent but flat call volume month-over-month.
- SEO offers greater untapped growth potential — particularly for non-branded queries like "memory care near me" or "assisted living Oak Creek" — at effectively zero marginal cost per click.
- Adava Care's current average search position for non-branded queries is 34, indicating significant room for improvement.
New PPC Role: PPC spend will be redirected to boost high-performing SEO content (e.g., a strong Medicaid blog post) immediately after publication to accelerate indexing and signal authority to Google.
2. CallRail Attribution Implementation
Decision: Implement CallRail immediately. A dedicated setup meeting with Kurosh and Mark to be scheduled.
Problem it solves: The current tracking setup misses calls from users who see a phone number in an ad or on the website and dial manually — those calls are not attributed to the campaign. This creates a critical blind spot that makes true ad ROI unmeasurable.
Expected outcome: Full call-source attribution across ads, organic, and direct, enabling accurate cost-per-lead and cost-per-conversion calculations.
3. Content Engine Launch
Decision: Launch a focused content initiative comprising:
- 10 keyword-rich blog posts targeting high-intent topics: Medicaid acceptance, pricing, memory care, dementia/Alzheimer's care, move-in timelines, and payment options.
- "2026 Guide to Assisted Living in Wisconsin" lead magnet — a 15–20 page PDF guide gated behind an email opt-in.
- Location page expansion with richer local SEO copy and location-specific FAQs on every page.
Asymmetric will own drafting; Adava Care will review for accuracy (especially on Medicaid/pricing specifics).
4. Tour Scheduler Rejected
Decision: An instant online tour scheduler will not be implemented at this time.
Rationale (from Kari Krause): Scheduling a tour requires pre-screening. Kari currently serves as the intake filter — she qualifies leads, gathers care-need information, and directs families to the correct facility (e.g., memory care vs. RCAC). Bypassing this step with an instant scheduler would result in unqualified tours, no-shows, and misrouted leads. The feature may be revisited in the future under different operational conditions.
Regional Context
Kurosh segmented Adava Care's portfolio into three clusters with distinct marketing needs:
| Region | Buildings | Status | Marketing Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neenah | Neenah, Irish Road | High occupancy; nice buildings | Private pay targeting viable |
| Waukesha | Pewaukee, Heartland | High occupancy; strong Medicaid demand | Private pay targeting viable |
| Milwaukee | Fardale, Magnolia, Wabash, St. Francis, others | Declining census in some; primarily Medicaid | Medicaid fill; advertising efficacy unclear |
Key insight from Kurosh: The Neenah and Waukesha census improvements may not be attributable to advertising — the buildings are strong enough to fill with Medicaid organically. The Milwaukee buildings present a harder question: whether digital advertising is an effective tool for Medicaid census recovery at all.
Content & SEO Initiatives Detail
Location Page Optimization
- Expand copy on all location pages to give Google more context for local keyword ranking.
- Target phrases: "[City] memory care," "[City] assisted living near me," "[City] senior living."
- Melissa has drafted updated private pay copy for four priority locations (Neenah, and three others). These will go to Adava Care for approval before any on-page changes are made.
- FAQs will be added to location pages before the pages are re-crawled, so Google indexes the full updated version in one pass.
FAQ Strategy
- Location-specific FAQs on every location page, phrased to match how users query AI tools (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, "People Also Ask").
- Example: "What assisted living options are available in Glendale, WI?" → Answer highlights Adava Care.
- Sebastian noted that FAQs drive ~1/3 of Asymmetric's own website traffic via AI snippet citations — a meaningful benchmark.
Blog Content (10 Posts)
- Topics drawn from actual form inquiry analysis: Medicaid acceptance, pricing/payment options, memory care specifics, dementia/Alzheimer's care, move-in timelines, safety measures, staff training.
- Each blog will include its own FAQ section for AI snippet optimization.
- After publication: share on social media, then boost the social post (not run a standalone awareness campaign) to drive early traffic and signal authority to Google.
Lead Magnet: "2026 Guide to Assisted Living in Wisconsin"
- Format: 15–20 page PDF, downloadable via email opt-in on a dedicated landing page.
- Contents: Overview of the assisted living process, cost drivers, care options, Medicaid/waiver programs, Adava Care-specific offerings, printable planning worksheet, FAQs.
- Purpose (dual):
1. Establishes Adava Care as a trusted, authoritative resource for families navigating the process.
2. Builds a HIPAA-compliant email list (voluntary opt-in) usable for email marketing and as a lookalike audience for future PPC/Facebook campaigns. - Kurosh confirmed the guide concept is valuable — families frequently call confused about basic process questions (e.g., "Do we have to pay you?" for Medicaid residents).
- Asymmetric will draft; Adava Care will review.
Google Review Management
Problem: Multiple negative reviews across locations, including some from disgruntled employees and potentially fake accounts. These are harming brand perception, particularly at Wabash, St. Francis, and Magnolia.
Three-part strategy:
-
Dispute — Continue filing disputes for reviews that violate Google's policies (conflict of interest, spam, employee reviews). One St. Francis review was successfully removed as of this meeting. Others are pending (up to one week for Google response).
-
Dilute — Actively solicit new positive reviews from satisfied families and residents to push negative reviews down. Kari noted she already ran a Google review contest internally. Sebastian confirmed this is the primary lever for reviews that can't be removed.
-
Respond — Asymmetric to develop a response strategy. Kari, Jenny, or Laura (not Kurosh) will own responding. Recommended response templates:
- Recent negative (employee): Acknowledge professionally, direct to HR. ("Thank you for your feedback. We take all concerns seriously — please reach out to our Human Resources office to discuss further.")
- Old negative (pre-new management): Note the change in ownership/management and invite re-evaluation. ("We're under new management and have made significant improvements — we'd love the opportunity to show you.")
- Very old reviews (7–8 years): Evaluate case-by-case whether responding adds value or draws unnecessary attention.
Action Items
Asymmetric
- [ ] Schedule CallRail setup meeting with Kurosh and Mark
- [ ] Develop 30-60-90 day SEO rollout plan
- [ ] Finalize private pay location page copy (4 locations) with FAQs → send to Adava Care for approval
- [ ] Draft "2026 Guide to Assisted Living in Wisconsin" lead magnet (first draft)
- [ ] Write 10 keyword-rich blog posts (with FAQs)
- [ ] Develop Google review response strategy and template language
Adava Care
- [ ] Approve final private pay location page copy
- [ ] Review and provide subject-matter input on blog drafts (especially Medicaid/pricing accuracy)
- [ ] Identify satisfied families/residents to solicit positive reviews (especially at Wabash, Heartland)
- [ ] Designate internal owner for Google review responses (Kari, Jenny, or Laura)
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