A much greater appreciation for non-medical home care services has developed in the last few years, in large part due to the pandemic. This has helped to open many doors and created exciting opportunities for home care providers. Still, it has also brought an influx of competitors, increasing the need for a more strategic approach to marketing.
Home care marketing still typically takes a two-pronged approach: referral marketing and consumer marketing. To succeed in both methods in such a crowded market, home care providers must look to increase their business brand awareness and actively generate leads/drive conversions to gain more clients.
Numerous channels and efforts can be used to achieve these objectives – whether you are doing the marketing yourself or using a marketing specialist for support – but some take significantly more time and resources than others.
In this article, you’ll find nine simple and effective ways to market your home care business to help you successfully find new clients and build your client base – both online and offline.
ONLINE
Potential new clients are already online and searching for you! You just need to start leveraging your time, brand, and local presence to win your market share.
1. Make sure your website and social media channels are optimized
Regardless of where your new clients are coming from, most will still carry out research online to check out your business before they contact you.
Whether you use online marketing tools to attract new clients or not, it’s still essential that you establish a strong online reputation via your website and social media channels to support your growth opportunities. Ideas include:
- Ensure your website and social media pages are up-to-date, easy to navigate, and informative.
- Regularly review competitors’ online content to gain insights into their strategies.
- Optimize your website with SEO to increase the number of visitors and page views you receive.
- Provide current and potential clients, and referral partners, with unique, informative, and authentic content to stand out from the competition.
- Share reviews, case studies, and press releases to help your business rate higher in search results, stimulate interest, and make you more credible.
- Ensure high-quality copy and graphics across your site and social media pages, with a strong brand image, to show your home care business pays attention to detail and is professional.
- Make sure your automation software has a client intake feature so you can post a ‘Request Care Here’ button and links on your website, Google Maps, and across your social media channels.
These days, having a Facebook business page is essential, but there are other top platforms for finding new clients, including Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
2. Set up a Google My Business profile
The first page of all Google search results typically has a map showing where all local businesses can be found in the area. This is often the first place potential clients will see you and look for up-to-date information about your business.
To get on the map, you’ll need to set up a Google My Business (GMB) profile. This is a free service that helps promote local businesses and enables business owners to control how they appear online across Google. It’s a crucial part of any business’s online presence that you should be utilizing.
Once set up, it’s important to regularly check Google, Yelp, and Facebook to ensure your home care business is correctly listed, and your current information is up-to-date.
3. List your business on lead-generating sites
Lead gen sites are a third-party referral source and ideal for start-ups and early-stage home care businesses. They can be a good way to find more clients, as they are often a trusted, first port of call for clients and families researching care options – plus, they rank high in search results.
Popular sites for home care providers include:
To get more exposure, you can buy additional features from these sites, for example, to guarantee your business appears at the top of the list in home care service searches. All these sites come at a cost, so you’ll need to do your homework and check if they’re worth the time and cost to your business.
4. Utilize Google’s advertising platform
If you search for ‘home care services near me’ in Google, you’ll see – at the top of the results – referral agencies like Caring.com and AgingCare.com. One of the reasons why they’re hitting these top spots is because they’re utilizing Google Ads.
Why not cut out the middleman by launching your own Google Ads campaign and driving leads directly to your business? Overall, it is worth the cost and effort, but it can take a lot of patience and practice to get it right and see results. If you haven’t used the platform before, you can use a professional to get these ads up and running for you.
5. Collect and promote reviews across all your digital properties
The latest surveys show that 95% of consumers read online reviews before they commit to buying a product or service, with 79% saying they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from family or friends.
In the home care industry, this translates to large numbers of potential clients choosing the provider with the highest quality reviews. They want to hear about your services from existing clients and their families, not from marketers!
You can easily improve your business brand and acquire valuable new leads by proactively sourcing reviews from satisfied clients and promoting them across your website, social media channels, GMB profile, and any lead gen listings. This will be especially easy if you already run an effective client referral program.
OFFLINE
It’s important to remember that home care businesses are person-centered and relationship-based. Therefore, while asserting a strong online presence is essential, and digital marketing can achieve great results, it shouldn’t entirely replace your face-to-face efforts but instead complement them.
Many traditional marketing approaches are still highly effective in the home care industry, for example:
6. Cultivate relationships to build professional referrals
You can find new clients for your home care business by promoting your services with local healthcare professionals. They are always looking for partnerships to supplement or enhance their own services. For example:
- Hospital discharge planners
- Physicians, including house-call physicians
- Occupational therapists
- Continuing care retirement communities (CCRC)
- Nursing homes
- Assisted living facilities
- Skilled nursing facilities
- Home health agencies
Of course, other home care providers will likely be doing the same thing, so be sure to identify what makes your services and caregiver teams special and any additional value that gives your business a competitive edge. Then, promote these unique benefits to increase your chances of standing out and drawing in new business.
7. Ask for referrals from current and past clients
Home care providers’ number one source for finding new clients is still referrals from past and current clients and their families.
By investing in a client referral program, you’ll get more credible leads that are quick to turn into conversions and build your existing clients’ satisfaction and loyalty.
For top tips on building a successful client referral program taking advantage of the many business benefits it offers, read our latest blog here.
8. Be active in your local community
Your local community is full of people who potentially need the services your home care business can provide but don’t necessarily know how to access them.
Being actively involved in the community, connecting with people, and networking at local events is a great way to spread the word and promote your home care services. For example:
- Join the local Chamber of Commerce.
- Get involved in a service organization.
- Volunteer at – or sponsor – local events, such as local health fairs, food banks, senior events, and other community charities.
- Speak at local assisted living facilities, senior centers, retirement communities, or nursing facilities. You get to share your knowledge and expertise for the benefit of others while getting to meet residents and their care staff, who may require additional personal and supportive care services.
- Research and reach out to local businesses/entrepreneurs serving the same community as you to identify potential partnership opportunities.
9. Forge complementary partnerships
There are likely to be several complementary businesses in your local community that target the same client segment with whom you can collaborate. This can enable both parties to extend their client reach, promote their brand, and deliver better services.
Other ways these sorts of partnerships can help to find new clients cost-effectively is through co-sponsored events and webinars, shared advertising and media buys, and joint negotiations with various vendors.
Complementary businesses might include rehab centers, hospice agencies, or skilled home health agencies. While they may provide medical care, there is often a need for non-medical personal care and other support services that your agency can fill – and vice versa.
Track and measure your efforts
When creating an action plan for finding new clients, you must include setting up your home care software to support tracking progress. For example, you need to know where your referrals are coming from, the volume from each source, cost, conversion rates, etc. This will identify which strategies have the most significant impact and which are performing poorly – so you can adjust your plans accordingly.
If you aren’t already tracking how you find new clients, now is the time to start!
No matter where you are in your home care business journey, knowing how to find and attract clients for your services, and build your client base, is essential. After all, no business can stay in business without clients.
By defining your strategy, building a strong online reputation, being actively involved in the community, cultivating partnerships, and providing high-quality care, you can beat the competition and achieve incredible growth results.
Find out how Smartcare software tools can help. Give us a call today or request a free demo.