It’s a hectic paced world in the in-home care industry, and with the senior population poised to explode – from 46.2 million in 2014 to a predicted 98 million by 2060 – we can certainly anticipate the pace ramping up even further as providers scramble both to find and retain qualified caregivers, and to stay a step ahead of the ever-growing competition.
If, as an agency owner, you’re finding your days filled with putting out fires, responding to urgent client and staff situations, and basically just keeping your head above water, it may be the perfect time to re-evaluate your home care marketing plan – or, perhaps to create one if you had forged ahead without ever taking time for that crucial first step.
Why creating a plan on how to market your home care is so important? In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Skipping the planning stage sets your agency up for disaster; with no clear direction or goals for today and for the future, there’s no gauge for success, let alone a clear articulation of who your agency is, who your targets are, or even what your purpose is.
At corecubed, our aging care marketing experts understand how critical it is to begin by creating a plan and then following that plan, and we’re here to help! Following are some great resources to help your agency take a step back and ensure that you’ve got a well thought out marketing plan in place:
- Startup Strategy: A new home care agency faces a variety of obstacles to success, not the least of which is the intensely fierce competition in the industry. Your initial strategy on how to market your home care is crucial to ensuring your branding and messaging are clear, you’ve determined what makes your agency different from the plethora of others in your area, your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, and how to best allocate your sales and marketing budget. Home Care Pulse shares some tips to help for a home health startup.
- Regional and National Home Care Associations: Becoming a member of a home care association places a world of resources at your fingertips. For example, the Home Care Association of Florida (HCAF) offers its members an incredibly thorough marketing toolkit loaded with tips on what bases to be sure to cover in your marketing plan, and the Home Care Association of America offers an annual conference and ongoing resources and education.
- Quality Measurement: At the end of the day, what really matters is how well your clients’ needs are being met. Measuring for quality objectively allows you to improve upon areas where your agency may be lacking, and to shout your successes from the rooftops.
- Marketing/Sales Training: Professional home care agency owners are adept at running their agency, and the thought of stepping into the world of marketing to create a plan may seem daunting. Thankfully, there are some excellent training tools available, such as this video from Hurricane Marketing.
- Home Care Consultants: Especially for start-up agencies, but also for those who want to take a step back and begin fresh with a stellar marketing plan, finding a trusted home care marketing consultant can take the pressure off trying to go it alone and help outline some of the necessary steps to craft your marketing plan.
Once you’ve created your marketing plan, the next step, of course, is to implement! That’s where corecubed comes in. Our home care marketing implementation is unparalleled in the in-home care industry, providing a full range of sales tools to target referral sources, e-newsletters to stay top of mind with those referral sources, and consumer-focused marketing such as expertly crafted web content and search engine optimization, so your agency is found by those seeking care.
Contact us to learn more about how to market your home care and ensure your agency is laser-focused to reach and meet the needs of today’s clients, and poised to grow in the future!