Your business’s home care marketing is an essential part. Your primary goal is to provide the best care possible to your clients. Without a marketing plan, no one will be able to see how great your home care agency really is.

There are so many marketing channels and advertising options available, along with contradictory advice. So where can you begin? It is not worth wasting your time, money, or resources on the wrong strategy.

We’ve put together 14 proven marketing strategies that home care agencies can use immediately to save you the time of researching and deliberating about which methods will work best.

These 14 home care marketing tips will help you increase your revenue and promote your business.

1. Ask current clients for referrals

Referrals from past clients (or current ones) are a great way to promote your home healthcare agency. Social proof, such as testimonials and reviews, is the most powerful form of social proof. It’s easier to request referrals if you have a strong relationship right from the beginning.

The 2020 Home Care Benchmarking Study found that current and former clients are the most important source of referrals.

2. Optimize your Google My Business profile

Google My Business (GMB), which allows you to create a free Google business profile and connect with potential customers via the Map pack, lets you do this.

Local map packs are a crucial element in any home care marketing strategy.

These are the four best ways to optimize your profile so you get maximum value.

a) Give as much information as you can

Your business name, address, phone number (NAP) and telephone number are the most important information for any listing. Make sure these are accurate and current. A business category, logo and website link can be included. Reviews, photos, opening hours, and a URL to the website are also possible.

Research has shown that a complete profile can make your business look twice as trustworthy online.

b) Make it easy to reach you

Prospective customers can call you via their phone using Google Maps and Google Search by including your phone number in their profile.

GMB allows you to activate instant messaging, so you can chat online with others.

c) Maintain a regularly updated profile

Maintaining your GMB profile up to date with the most current information is crucial.

Photos help you stand out. Plus, businesses with photos receive 42% more directions requests than those without.

Posts: Regular updates keep your profile current and make it more interesting for people to read your news.

Hours of operation: Be sure to update your hours, especially if you have holiday or seasonal changes.

d) Choose the appropriate categories

You will appear in relevant search results if you have a business category. You should be as specific as you can. You might choose to have “home health care” instead of “health care”.

3. Create an organic SEO strategy

After optimizing your GMB profile to appear in local maps, it’s time to create local landing pages for your website that rank in organic search results.

It is important to rank at the top of Google Maps and organic search results.

If you have more than one location, make sure to include these items on your local landing page.

• Google My Business Map
• The URL and location name are included in the title tag.
• NAP – Name, address, phone number, plus opening hours.
• Client reviews and testimonials about the location.
• A brief overview of the area.

These SEO tips will help you rank higher than your local competitors.

4. Start a Google Ads Campaign

Local SEO is not always easy. In the meantime, Google Ads can help you rank high for the most important search terms.

Here’s an example of a “san francisco caregiver agent”:

Google Paid Listing San Francisco Caregiver Agency

This strategy requires that you only bid on keywords that can drive leads to your company.

Consider the things that your clients or others might search for when they go online to find agencies that offer the services you offer.

This 3-step guideline will help you create a profitable PPC campaign.

a) Keyword — Attracts the Right Traffic

The above example shows that Homecare Assistance in San Francisco is targeting several keywords. Three of these keywords are the #1 position.

San francisco home care assistance

Eldercare services in San Francisco

San francisco home care services

Paid Search for Home Care Services

b) Ad copy wins the click.

Comparing the ads for “san francisco caregiver agent”, you will see that the #1 position has more detail in the ad copy, but still addresses the main points.

Trust:

“Home Care Assistance is The Trusted Provider of Home Care in San Francisco”

Premium home care and independence:

“A Lifetime of Independence at Home from America’s Largest Premium Care Provider”

Flexible, insured, and available:

Available 24 hours a day. No long-term contracts. Bonded and Insured

Contact details and map location:

“2001 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, CA – (+1 415-579-341 – Hours and service may vary.”

The company is positioned as the largest provider of home care services. It also provides a simple way to make contact with the company, including 24/7 availability and no obligations.

c) Landing Page — Converts.

The landing page for the top advertisement contains all the necessary details.

Multiple times, the city name is displayed on the page and in the URL.

The number of your phone is clearly visible on the entire page.

Here is a brief overview of the care packages available at the location.

Clients leave 5-star reviews and testimonials about the location.

Bonus tip: Connect your Google My Business profile and your Google Ads account to add a location extension. Your ads will be eligible to appear in the local map pack.

5. Collect reviews from key third-party sites

People will do business with people they trust, like and who are trustworthy. A bunch of 5-star reviews from independent third-party sites is a great way to show your trust.

A business that gets five stars on Yelp will see a 5-9% increase of revenue for every one star it earns. The likelihood that a product is purchased by 270% increases if it has five-star reviews.

Consider the websites people use to search for companies offering the services you offer.

It is important to ask happy customers (not incentivize as it is against Google guidelines) if they are willing to leave positive reviews on your sites.

Ask at the point-of-service and send an email after a specified period to request a review. Include a link back to your profile. This automation can help you stand out and passively increase your review count.

While it is great to receive positive reviews, you should also respond to any negative ones. It will help you to differentiate yourself from your competitors by taking the time to respond to each review and offering immediate corrective actions if necessary.

Bazaarvoice research revealed that 71% of consumers change their perceptions about a brand after it replies to a review. This is because it shows they care about customers (41%), it has great customer support (35%), and it is trustworthy (22%).

Remember to include your testimonials and reviews on your homepage as well as your services pages.

6. Your blog can be used to educate and draw website visitors

Your blog can be used to inform and attract visitors about homecare.

Answering questions your target audience might be looking for when researching home health care is a great strategy. You can answer questions about costs, benefits, screening out qualified caregivers, and so forth.

You can find these topics easily without investing in expensive SEO tools by simply entering your business terms, such as “home healthcare agency” or “caregiver agencies”, and then see which topics are auto-populated in the search dropdown.These sources will tell you exactly what terms people are searching for in relation to your business.

You can educate your audience to not only bring more people to you website, but also position yourself as a trusted source.

7. Facebook ads can amplify content

Facebook advertising, along with Google ads can increase your revenue as well as amplify the content of your blog.

Facebook’s location targeting and audience can be used to promote client reviews, educational blog posts, videos and videos to people living within a certain radius of your business.

Facebook ads help you get your content seen by more people and grow your brand.8. Retarget warm web traffic

It’s a smart way of attracting people back to your site who have already visited it. The conversion rate for the first time visitors to a website is usually low so if you can get them back for another visit, your chances of conversion are higher.

You could, for example, send a video to all people who have visited your service pages in the past 30 days. You could use the video to introduce your home care agency owner, or show client testimonials. The CTA will allow you to schedule a home care consultation.

Nearly 96% of visitors who visit your site for the first time aren’t ready to purchase and will leave. These visitors are more likely than others to show interest in your services, and will take action.

Do not waste this traffic. Engage them again and get them to return to your site. We recommend that you start with Google, YouTube, and/or Facebook retargeting ads. All of these campaigns can be managed within the native ad manager on each platform or via a central dashboard with a tool like AdRoll.

9. Get connected with local healthcare professionals

A steady stream of referrals can be made by connecting with local healthcare professionals. Here are some professional referral sources.

• Physicians, including House Call Physicians
• Occupational Therapists
• Hospital Discharge Planners
• Social workers
• Nursing Homes
• Rehabilitation Centers (outpatient and Inpatient)
• Adult Day Care Centers
• Hospices
• Assisted Living Facilities
• Skilled Nursing Facilities
• Home Health Agencies (Medicare Certified).
• Social Service Agencies
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC).
• Disease-Specific Associations, e.g. MS or ALS
• Veterans Administration Programs

10. Register your agency on industry-leading sites

Listing your home care agency on industry-leading sites like CareinHomes.com and SeniorAdvisor.com is one of the best ways to market your business.

These sites often rank high in search results pages and consumers trust them because they are independent sources.

Care.com is the #1 organic ranking for “[location] Home Care Agency” terms. It would be smart to get your company listed so you can piggyback on their existing rankings.

These sites also offer a feature listing option, which guarantees your business will be at the top in the chosen service categories.

11. Social media is a great place to showcase your brand using images and videos

Images and videos are a great way to promote your brand on social media. Text captions can be useful, but images and videos are more effective at grabbing users’ attention, especially when they are on visual platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest.

Professional photography, illustrations, graphics and animations are great ways to reach a wider audience for home care businesses while still looking professional and modern.

Elite Home Health Care, for example, uses Instagram to share photos, images and graphics. This includes an employee of the Month, tips and advice, and inspiring captions.

Employees can answer common questions and then share their experiences on social media. You can also host AMA days and show a “day-in-the life” video of employees. This information is not only useful, but also humanizes the brand.

12. Support community events

Participating in and sponsoring community events increases visibility for your company, raises brand awareness, and allows your community to get to know you and your team.

13. Participate in educational seminars

Speaking at educational seminars is another area you can tap into. This includes both in-person events and virtual ones. Universities and other institutions are always looking for speakers with insights about healthcare topics. These organizers are available for assistance.

Public appearances can establish your authority locally and nationally, and expand your professional network in home caregiving and healthcare.

14. Advertisements in local newspapers

Despite newspapers being less popular online, many still enjoy reading their local papers and checking out the ads. It’s worth placing ads in local newspapers to see what response you get.

What Home Care Marketing Strategies are You Going To Try?

Although we have narrowed down your options to 14 proven home-care marketing strategies, that doesn’t mean that you should rush to implement them all at once.

Take your time to go through the list, and then choose a few that you feel comfortable with. You might not feel comfortable speaking at seminars, but you don’t have to stop asking for referrals or collecting testimonials.

Whatever strategy you choose, ensure you measure its effectiveness and adjust them if necessary.