7 Home Care Marketing Tips for Local Agencies

7 Home Care Marketing Tips for Local Agencies

November 15, 2022 By Rob Cantrell

Building a profitable home care agency depends on a strong marketing strategy. Home care marketing is what allows you to reach new clients and grow your business. That’s true whether you’re focused on word-of-mouth referrals, digital marketing, traditional media, or a mix of marketing channels. 

At Senior Helpers, we provide new franchises with an “Off to the Races” plan for marketing and lead generation. We also run national marketing campaigns, provide local marketing resources to franchisees, and offer continued support with marketing efforts after opening.

In this post, we’ve pulled together our most valuable home care marketing ideas and tips, based on more than two decades of experience in the industry. 

Below, you’ll find seven of the most effective strategies for marketing a home care business, including in-home care franchises and independent agencies. 

How to Market a Home Care Business

1. Develop a Marketing Plan. A successful home care marketing strategy starts with a detailed plan. A home care marketing plan should answer a number of important questions, including:

  • Buyer Personas. Who are your target buyers? Where can you reach them? And what types of features are they looking for in a home care provider?
  • Conversion Funnels. What types of journeys do your customers take before converting? What will you do to move clients from the top to the middle to the bottom of the funnel?
  • Marketing Channels. What types of marketing channels will your business focus on? How will you assign time and resources to each of these channels?
  • Performance Indicators. How will you measure your marketing efforts? Which types of metrics will you rely on to gauge their performance?
  • Target Goals. What are the ultimate goals for your marketing plan? What milestones do you expect to hit on the way to those goals? What timelines will you set for your campaigns?

2. Know Your Target Markets. Marketing depends on knowing your audience and tailoring your messaging to their needs.

As a home care provider, your primary audience will be the family care coordinators. These are children and partners of older adults who are usually the ones to suggest, research, and coordinate home care services.

Meanwhile, you’ll need to consider the clients who will actually receive your services, and who may want to research your agency before agreeing to care. If you are pursuing local referral sources, your marketing efforts might also have a third audience of medical professionals, senior service providers, and other local referral sources.

As you build your marketing plan, take the time to create personas for each market. Then, you can tailor your strategies and materials to fit each audience.

3. Build Relationships in the Community. One of the most effective marketing strategies for home care providers is to take an active role in the community.

Home care agencies can build visibility and develop leads by sponsoring or taking part in community events. It’s a proven way to get your brand recognized, and as a business focused on serving others, it gives you the chance to demonstrate the mission and values behind your agency.

Another great way to be active in the community is to find local organizations that offer classes or activities for older adults. These organizations can be a great referral source for home care agencies. 

At the same time, they may also be looking for local partners to assist with their efforts. This gives you an opportunity to meet potential clients face-to-face and start building the personal relationships that drive the caregiving industry.

4. Create a Strong Digital Presence. Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans research local businesses online. Digital marketing can help your agency get found more easily online and stand out from other providers.

As a home care business, your online efforts start with your website. An effective website should give potential clients all of the information they need to understand your services and decide if your business is a fit for their needs.

In addition to your website, you’ll need a social media presence. Platforms like Facebook are a great way to share photos of your business and post important news and updates. You’ll also want to create a Google Business Profile to build reviews and boost visibility in local search.

Finally, you may want to set aside funds for paid ad campaigns. These campaigns can be a cost-effective way to generate early leads for your business.

5. Leverage Traditional Media. As important as online marketing has become, that doesn’t mean you should ignore traditional media.

Print, television, radio, and billboard ads can be invaluable for building awareness within your local market. They’re also a great way to connect with clients who aren’t as digitally savvy or simply prefer traditional sources for news and entertainment.

6. Develop Referral Sources. As an agency owner, it’s always a good idea to encourage client referrals. Some businesses take an additional step of offering incentives to existing clients who refer their business to family or friends.

At the same time, you can develop referral sources with local hospitals, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and/or senior services providers. These referral sources are some of the strongest and most reliable streams for new home care clients.

As a third option, you can explore paid referral services. These services can range from online websites that suggest local care providers to local businesses that offer care consultations and referrals.

7. Focus on Quality Care. As helpful as social media, print ads, and buyer funnels may be, they’re not enough to overcome mediocre care.

Home care is one of the most important and personal services a business can offer. As a care provider, your ability to attract new clients will depend on your reputation. Whether it’s shared through online reviews or word-of-mouth, your reputation will define your business and have an outsized impact on your ability to attract new clients.

The best way to maintain a positive reputation? Provide high-quality care to your clients and their families!

At Senior Helpers, we encourage agency owners to build a people-focused business model that actively puts clients first. By operating this kind of model, you can stand apart from other providers, earn trust from potential clients, and generate referrals more easily.

Marketing with a Senior Helpers Franchise

Running a home care business can be a challenge, and marketing is a prime example. Between the number of marketing channels you need to track, the amount of time and effort it takes to build your brand, and the importance of full-funnel campaigns, it’s easy to get tripped up by home care marketing efforts.

At Senior Helpers, our franchise model takes the stress and guesswork out of home care marketing for new agency owners. This support is one of the core reasons why so many home care entrepreneurs opt for a franchise like Senior Helpers over starting an independent agency.

Rather than having to build your own marketing plan from scratch without help, we work with every owner to develop a custom “Off to the Races” marketing plan. Your plan will include a coordinated marketing and lead generation campaign for the weeks leading up to opening day, as well as your first weeks of operations.

Senior Helpers offers a range of marketing materials, templates, and strategies that you can use for your franchise. We also operate a national lead generation program, which provides leads directly to Senior Helpers franchises. Finally, as one of America’s most trusted home care brands, we make it easy to build a local presence and get your agency recognized.

Want to learn more about Senior Helpers franchise opportunities and the marketing support we provide? Contact us online or schedule a call to take your first step toward franchise ownership!