No matter if you’re a brand new in-home care agency with a brand spanking new brand or an established franchise, you need to have a rock solid marketing plan to get off to the best start in your local community.
Unless you’d like to spend your whole day doing networking events from dawn to dusk, you’ll probably want to read about some helpful tips to make your life easier.
Home care businesses specialize in bringing a helping hand to those people who need it most—the elderly, the disabled, and the injured. However, they’re still businesses, so they need to gain clients as much as possible.
Digital marketing is the perfect complimentary marketing option, but it can be tricky to market a home care business since not everyone needs it. Fortunately, there are easy ways to do so, such as:
#1 - Content Marketing
I know, starting off with content marketing? Crazy suggestion but listen to my reasoning.
Content marketing is one of the best ways to market a home care business, especially since it’s cost-effective, easy to implement, and can bring great results.
All you will need to create an online presence and create content that’s useful to your potential customers and SHARE that content as your collateral both online and in person.
Start by creating a website or a blog. If you’re thinking of hiring a professional web developer, we’ve got some services that can help you out. You can also do it yourself to start out by using a website builder like WordPress, Wix or Webflow to create and customize your website.
If you are going to DIY it, many modern website platforms make it easier because you can use their free templates.
The only thing you need to do is create quality content relevant to your business.
You are already 95% more knowledgeable about in-home care than the general population, so use that insight and put together content.
Blog posts are probably the easiest to get started, then you can move into video and other interactive formats such as web stories.
Another trick here is by reaching out to other business owners and including them in your content or asking if they’d like to share your content on their website or social media accounts, particularly those doing the same thing for the same industry.
Content is such a great strategy to reach more people and build a following, just like how many digital marketing agencies do.
#2 - Facebook
Social media marketing is also an effective way to market a home care business online, and there’s no better platform than Facebook.
It’s the ideal platform because of the many seniors who use it (a lot more often than you think) and the children / grandchildren that play a big role in the decision making process for care.
This make Facebook the most effective way to reach prospects since you’re targeting them where they hang out.
You can start by creating a Facebook page for your business. On that page, you need to post updates about your business, such as the advantages that you offer. On the “about” section, you can also post a short description of your business, services, and contact details.
Build out your social profiles as if any user is one step away from doing business with you but needs that little extra info first.
You can also do paid advertising on Facebook, which will help you reach more people and potential clients.
This method is more expensive, but it’s worth it because it has a better reach.
#3 - Google Ads
Google is where we go for answers, and it’s also an ideal platform to market a home care business.
Aside from the fact that it’s the leading search engine globally, many seniors are using it since they’re less tech-savvy when it comes to search engines and Google has made is really easy for everyone to use.
You can run Google Ad Words or pay experts like Greatness Digital to do paid advertising, but it’s only effective if you’re careful with your keywords.
In my presentations, I always tell people that advertising online is one of the easiest and fastest ways to waste money.
Remember, these marketing platforms online are powerful tools that can change your business, but they are also built for million dollar companies that spend more in a day than most would in a year.
However, once you have a well performing Google ad account on your side, leads can be generated consistently and on demand.
#4 - Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) uses relevant keywords to rank a website higher in search results.
If we are being open, we’d tell you that local SEO with a well set up and optimized Google Business Profile can be an absolute beast at generating local leads IF you follow best practices.
SEO is not the same as pay-per-click advertising (Google Ads mentioned above) since it’s free to use. However, the return on investment is typically much higher than paid forms of advertising.
Word of warning, you need to be careful with your keywords to prevent your site AND your Google Business Profile from being penalized by Google or misleading Google.
For example, if you’re targeting seniors, you can use keyword phrases like “senior home care in San Diego.” You’ll want to make sure your website & Google profile properly represent these keywords.
You can use some SEO tools to help your search engine optimization, especially if you decide to take the tasks in-house. We typically like to use a combination of Ahref, SemRush and Keywords Everywhere to knock it out of the park and gain more visibility for our clients.
SEO has many advantages, most long-term, and since there are many seniors who are always searching online for home care services, SEO is a great way to reach them.
Last little pitch here, SEO beats out many paid strategies because it continues to bring in revenue / leads even when you stop paying towards it. (again, unlike paid ads.)
#5 - Creating a Website
There’s no better place to point your digital advertising to than a well crafted senior care website. Having a website is a must for a home care business since it can be the first impression of your business.
It should be easy to navigate, and the design should be clean and professional. Having high-quality and branded photos can set you apart when prospects are scoping you out.
We already talked about creating a website for content marketing, so you’re familiar that you can try to do it yourself or pay some creative geniuses like we have at Greatness Digital to do it for you.
Lastly, we want to be transparent in that although it’s important to have a fine tuned website that sells your services, spending huge $$$ on one is not advised.
Think of it as a conversation starter with a focus on opening the door for you. Keep it real, keep it clean, keep it focused.
Conclusion
There are many ways you can market a home care business online. While marketing can be hard at first, it’s vital to reach more people and gain more clients.
All that matters is that you create quality content for your business and use highly effective ad platforms for your home care business.
Don’t just guess on what will work! This is a good way to get frustrated and become hyper critical that digital marketing doesn’t work in the industry. Ugh!
Greatness Digital provides top-quality services for in-home care marketing. We understand that home care & home health agencies have unique marketing needs, so we develop comprehensive solutions to ensure that your message reaches the right people.
Reach out today and allow us to build your strategy!
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