Marketing at its essence is creating a strategy to generate interest in a product or service. In many ways, marketing home care is very different from marketing many other products or services. Most contemporary marketers are crafting messages and creating interactions for products that can fulfill an immediate need for a specific target audience. But marketing home care means getting behind the wheel of a whole different vehicle.
In fact, marketing aging care services is somewhat similar in some ways to marketing cars, in that most people don’t go looking for a car until they absolutely need a new one. The difference is that most people know what a car is and does, just not which one they want or can afford.
A commonality, however, is quality. Unless the car company is competing on price alone, car companies know how important quality is to their customers, and you can see that reflected in their marketing messages – “Driven by What’s Inside,” “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” and as the old Ford slogan said, “Quality is Job One.” Clients searching for aging care services are also looking for quality, so let’s take a lesson from the car guys.
When you’re buying a car, even the smallest things demonstrate the quality of the automobile. If you live in a snowy or mountainous area, you want 4-wheel drive. Have kids? You need lots of room and lots of cup holders, and perhaps a video screen for the back seats. For aging care services, showing your wares means not only listing your services on your website and marketing materials, but providing demonstrative proof that you can provide what the client needs. Home care agencies can provide video of their caregivers discussing or demonstrating the care they provide to clients. Those who provide technology to home care providers, such as scheduling software or telehealth, can also offer video demonstrations that show potential clients the quality of their product.
Additionally, agencies need a well designed brand that speaks to the quality of services they provide. Make sure that all marketing materials, from the website to printed flyers, include this brand, and don’t underestimate the importance of having your print materials professionally printed. Nothing says low quality like smudged ink or an off-center brochure.
While aging care marketing differs in many ways from flashy car ads, companies can learn a lot about using quality as a component for sales from the marketing done for the automobile industry. Let quality be the driving force in your marketing and watch your business grow. Need to craft the right marketing message and materials? Contact the aging care marketing experts at corecubed and let us take a look under the hood!