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Andrea Backes is transforming senior living marketing by combining a decade of crossindustry expertise with digital innovation in healthcare communication. Since becoming Digital Marketing Director at Cedarhurst Senior Living in June 2024, she has revolutionized how retirement communities engage with multigenerational decision-makers, integrating data-driven strategies with compelling storytelling.
Her career spans craft beverage distribution, B2B tech staffing, and senior living—industries where she has consistently translated complex market dynamics into actionable strategies. At Atria Management Company, she increased marketing-attributed move-ins by 17 percent through audience segmentation and landing page optimization. Now at Cedarhurst Senior Living, she applies this results-driven approach to omnichannel campaigns, from YouTube community tours for adult children researching care options to AI-enhanced chat tools that provide immediate responses to prospective residents. Tech-Driven, Human-Centered Senior Marketing Backes merges technological innovation with humancentered design. At Cedarhurst Senior Living, she led the adoption of predictive analytics for lead scoring—a strategy that improved lead quality by 22 percent—while also implementing empathy training for marketing teams. This dual focus is evident in Cedarhurst Senior Living’s “Second Act Stories” video series, which pairs data-targeted social media placements with resident narratives about rediscovering hobbies in retirement. She believes effective senior living marketing must address practical concerns like cost and healthcare while fulfilling deeper human needs for purpose and connection. Backes’ marketing leadership began in sales at Deschutes Brewery, where she drove a 180 percent increase in case growth by aligning craft beer enthusiasts with retailers’ needs. This early experience in relationship-driven commerce shaped her expertise in customer journey mapping within healthcare. Transitioning to the senior living industry during the pandemic, she saw a parallel between craft beer’s narrative-driven branding and the need for retirement communities to differentiate beyond traditional amenities. In response, she developed a “content concentric” strategy, guiding families from Medicare guidance articles to data-informed community-matching tools. While technology is central to her strategies, Backes takes a pragmatic approach. She advocated for Cedarhurst Senior Living’s adoption of Virtual Reality apartment tours for long-distance caregivers while championing low-tech solutions like printed decision-making guides for seniors less comfortable with digital interfaces. Her expertise in agile methodologies and ScrumMaster principles emphasizes iterative testing, as seen in Cedarhurst Senior Living’s pilot combining ChatGPTpowered FAQ bots with live operator handoffs for emotionally complex conversations. This hybrid approach reduced call abandonment rates by 34 percent compared to fully automated systems. Future-Proofing Senior Living Marketing Looking ahead, Backes identifies voice search optimization and intergenerational content strategies as key areas. Her team is adapting TikTok content to cater to seniors who share device screens with grandchildren, acknowledging the platform’s 39 percent uptake among older adults exploring lifestyle options. These innovations operate within strict HIPAA compliance frameworks, with Cedarhurst Senior Living’s new consent management portal allowing families to control data usage while maintaining personalized service. Beyond corporate strategy, Backes is shaping industrywide conversations on ethical tech adoption. As a featured speaker at the 2024 LeadingAge Tech Summit, she challenged peers to audit AI tools for hidden age biases, citing cases where ad platforms excluded users over 75 from independent living content. Her advocacy aligns with Cedarhurst Senior Living’s partnership with university linguistics departments to develop age-inclusive natural language processing models for better voice search interpretation. As demographic shifts place senior living at the center of consumer marketing challenges, Backes paves the way for a model where technological efficiency and human empathy work in harmony. Her upcoming pilot integrates generative AI to create personalized community welcome packages while training staff to enhance engagement through handwritten follow-ups—an approach designed to address the 73 percent of seniors overwhelmed by fully digital sales experiences. Under her leadership, Cedarhurst Senior Living is setting a new industry standard, proving that innovation and personal connection are essential components of quality care.
