Skaalen Monthly Marketing Call — March 2026
Overview
Monthly marketing review for [1]. Covered resolution of a WordPress/Beaver Builder site outage, finalization of open house campaign logistics for March, February performance metrics, and Q1 OKR proposals. Nick (new Skaalen team member, backup to Dawn) attended his first day on the job.
Date: March 2026
Attendees:
- Melissa Cusumano (Asymmetric — account lead)
- Sebastian Gant (Asymmetric — supporting)
- Mark Hope (Asymmetric)
- Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric)
- Dawn Zaemisch (Skaalen)
- Kris Krentz (Skaalen)
- Nick (Skaalen — new, first day; backup to Dawn on web/social/HubSpot)
Key Decisions
- WordPress rollback confirmed as fix: Site will remain on WP v8.2 until Beaver Builder compatibility with v8.8 is resolved. Plugin review cadence (end-of-month) noted as insufficient for mid-month rollouts — process to be revisited.
- Open house email cadence set: First email March 12, follow-up March 18. Social posts scheduled for both dates at 10 a.m.
- Website banner approved: A banner will be created to capture visitors who don't follow Skaalen on social media.
- Q1 OKRs to be sent for review: Melissa will send the full OKR proposal to Dawn for async review before finalizing.
- Community Finder Wizard questionnaire: Melissa will send her draft to Dawn to compare against Simone's existing clinical questionnaire. The two will be merged/reconciled.
Action Items
| Owner | Task |
|---|---|
| Melissa | Send Q1 OKR proposal to Dawn |
| Melissa | Send Community Finder draft questionnaire to Dawn |
| Melissa | Investigate 40% YoY drop in February ad impressions (snowbird/holiday hypothesis) |
| Melissa | Create new unit flyers using provided photos and floor plans with dimensions |
| Melissa | Add new badges to Volunteers page and About Us page |
| Melissa | Create website banner for open house |
| Melissa | Send open house email on Mar 12; send follow-up email on Mar 18 |
| Melissa | Schedule open house social posts for Mar 12 and Mar 18 |
| Chris | Follow up with Brianna on broken ADP career page images |
| Dawn | Provide flyer copy/text for new units |
| Dawn | Confirm Nick's email address for future communications |
Website Technical Issues
Problem: Site went down due to a compatibility conflict between WordPress v8.8 (auto-updated) and the Beaver Builder page builder plugin.
Resolution: Rolled back to WordPress v8.2. Full site functionality restored.
Validation: Melissa submitted a test form during the call; the contact appeared in HubSpot within minutes, confirming the WordPress-to-HubSpot integration was intact.
Note: The site's nav and footer remained visible during the outage (only Beaver Builder content areas were blank), so some users were still able to navigate and request materials via email. Plugin compatibility checks currently happen at end-of-month; mid-month auto-updates can still cause breakage.
"Next time we'll be ready." — Kris Krentz
Website Content Updates
- ADP Career Page: Header images still broken. Asymmetric does not have access to ADP. Chris to follow up with Brianna.
- Badges: New badges need to be added to the Volunteers page (recently updated) and the About Us page (new addition — not previously included).
- New Unit Flyers: Melissa has photos and floor plans. Floor plans with dimensions to be used. Dawn to supply copy text.
- Community Finder Wizard: Melissa drafted a top-level questionnaire; Dawn has a more clinical version from Simone. Both to be reconciled.
February Performance Review
Google Ads
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions | ~4,000 | ↓ 40% vs. prior period |
| Click-Through Rate | 9% | Strong; includes all campaigns |
| Top search terms | "Skaalen," "Skaalen Retirement," "Skaalen Heights" | Branded terms dominate clicks |
| Competitor campaigns | Low yield | Consistent with other clients |
The 40% impression drop is likely seasonal — snowbirds away in February, Valentine's Day reducing search intent mid-month. Melissa to pull year-over-year data to confirm whether this is a recurring February pattern.
Branded searches drive the majority of clicks, indicating strong name recognition in the local market. Non-branded and competitor campaigns underperform by comparison — a key motivation for Q1 OKR focus on non-branded SEO and ads.
Google Analytics (GA4)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Sessions | ~2,400 |
| New Users | ~1,900 |
| Top traffic source | Direct (37%) |
| Organic Search | 28% |
| Paid Search | 21% |
| Top landing pages | Homepage, Careers |
| Primary device | Desktop |
Direct traffic is the largest channel, consistent with strong brand recognition. Desktop dominates, likely reflecting adult children researching options during work hours.
Google Search Console
- "Memory care community" — high-impression keyword; the blog post "What Is a Memory Care Community?" is ranking well for impressions but CTR is low (opportunity to improve).
- "Heritage Senior Living" — top-clicked keyword; Skaalen is successfully capturing traffic from people searching for this Madison-area competitor. Not used as a competitor keyword in ads — captured organically through community/service content.
- "Assisted living in Stoughton" — current average position: 9.3 (target: 5.0 per Q1 OKR).
Q1 OKR Proposals
Melissa will send the full written OKR document to Dawn and Chris for review. Summary below.
Objective 1: Improve Non-Branded Search Visibility
Key Results:
- Improve average position for "assisted living in Stoughton" from 9.3 → 5.0
- Publish 3 competitor/neighborhood comparison guides
- Refresh all website meta titles and descriptions (full audit)
Objective 2: Optimize Google Ads
Key Results:
- Complete a full Google Ads audit (in progress at time of call)
- Implement A/B testing on new non-branded campaigns (emphasizing continuum of care and 125-year heritage)
- Fix high-impression, low-CTR content gaps
Objective 3: Build a Customer Journey Wizard
Key Results:
- Develop an interactive questionnaire to route users to the correct community (Independent / Assisted / Skilled Nursing)
- Grow the Skaalen Ridge waitlist
- Increase qualified leads from the website
The wizard logic: answers are scored/keyed to care level. Example criteria discussed — ability to rise from a chair independently, need for one vs. two-person assist, memory/cognitive changes, need for skilled medical care. Dawn has a clinical version from Simone; Melissa has a top-level UX draft. These will be merged.
Objective 4: Execute Open House & New Construction Marketing
Key Results:
- Open house materials developed ✅ (complete)
- Website banner for open house (in progress)
- Pre-marketing flyers for new units (in progress — awaiting copy from Dawn)
Open House Campaign Details
- Event dates: Sunday, March 19 (implied by context — "a week ahead" of Mar 12 send)
- Email sends: March 12 (initial), March 18 (follow-up / "please join us" reminder)
- Social posts: Scheduled for March 12 and March 18, 10 a.m.
- Print ad: Janesville Gazette format (same as prior year)
- Flyer: PDF to be distributed locally via Dennis
- Website banner: To be created; rationale — captures people who visit the site but don't follow on Facebook/Instagram
Copy note: "Meet our new in-house staff" was updated to "Meet our therapy team" (some therapists are new in-house, some are not; "team" preferred over "staff").
Notable Context
- Nick joined Skaalen's team on the day of this call. He will serve as Dawn's backup on website, social media, and HubSpot. Dawn to confirm his email; Melissa to loop him in going forward.
- Sebastian Gant (Asymmetric) introduced to Chris as a supporting account manager with SEO/paid search strengths. Also working with a retirement community client in Boston.
- New construction units: Melissa drove by the new building. Four units with poured patios facing the main street; landscaping planned for privacy (no fence, per resident focus group preference). Two current residents have already expressed interest.
- Website health score: 100/100 despite the outage day.
Related
- [2]
- [3] (to be created)
- [4] (to be created)