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When it comes to marketing your home health care business, there are several things you need to consider. As a business owner, you need to keep in mind that this is a people-centric business, and that should reflect in your marketing strategy. Making stronger connections in the industry and having a trustworthy network is a more effective way to market your business than to blindly promote your services.

Not sure where to start? No worries, we have you covered. We’ve put together a list of 10 actionable and easy-to-do marketing strategies that are tailor-made for your home health care business.

#1 Advertise to Your Niche

Targeted advertising is an ever-fruitful endeavor when it comes to marketing. It might take a little more time to campaign, but the results are well worth it.

You can do this by getting in touch with your local hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and health centers and convincing them to let you leave your business pamphlets/cards for their customers to see. This can also be done in a mutually beneficial way by agreeing to recommend their services to your clients as well, if the need arises. This gives you the opportunity to market your business to the right people at the right time.

#2 Blog About It

A good way to build up your influence in the industry is to regularly churn out informative and useful content online in the form of a blog. This could be any type of blog – written content, video blogs, and even photo blogs. The main goal here is to educate people about the issues and developments in your industry, and also highlight the work that your business is doing. You can use your social profiles to promote your blog as well. Hello! Home Care’s blog is a good example in this regard.

Over time, this will result in your target audience looking up to your business for whatever information or help they need when it comes to health care. This develops trust, and that, in turn, will lead to increased brand awareness and more direct business.

#3 Local SEO

One of the most important things you can do to drive traffic toward your business is to make it discoverable online, and you can achieve this by optimizing your local SEO. But before that, let’s take a step back and address the question that’s probably popping up in your head right now: why is this so important?

The answer is simple. When a potential client requires home health care, their first course of action is to search online for businesses that provide those services. Businesses such as yours. Optimizing your business’ local SEO helps it rank higher in these searches, giving it the visibility that it needs. Needless to say, this directly translates to higher traffic, brand awareness, and footfalls to your business. You can learn more about how to optimize your business’ local SEO here.

Optimizing your business’ local SEO can often prove to be a time-consuming and cumbersome task. To help you manage this better, we recommend using a tool like Synup that takes care of all your local listings requirements for you.

#4 Community Outreach

Participating in, and hosting community outreach programs is another effective way to market your home health care business. It shows the people in your locality that you care about them and the issues they face, and that you’re ready to help.

For example, you could host an awareness program for self-care at a local school or community park. You can collaborate with organizations such as Health Outreach Partners to support your program. This propagates word-of-mouth marketing, and also gives you a chance to expand your list of contacts and generate more quality leads for your business.

You can learn more about conducting community outreach programs here.

#5 Testimonials & Online Reviews

Statistics show that every year, an increasing percentage of people trust online reviews and testimonials enough to make decisions based on them. This clearly tells us that business owners should work towards better engagement with their customers and gaining more positive reviews as part of their marketing strategy.

You can start by requesting your clients to leave an online review or a written testimonial, once they’ve availed your services. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are great places to start. You could even put together a wall of testimonials in your office for potential clients to see.

#6 Marketing via Media

When it comes to local marketing, television ads and other print media have proven themselves to be a great source. According to the NY Times, the average American spends around 5 hours a day watching television. That’s a huge window of opportunity for advertising right there.

And if your business is located away from the urban hubs, print media can still be a great source of marketing. According to Public News Service, majority of these people still rely on print media for their daily dose of local information.

Even better, you could try integrating a little technology in your print ads too! For example, you could include a scannable link in your print ads that readers can scan using their phones. This link could take them to a short interview video collage where your clients talk about the quality of care they received. It could even be an explainer video outlining the benefits of home health care. The choice is yours to make!

P.S.: Check out what Nivea did with their print ad for sunscreen that serves as a good example.

This opens up a very lucrative avenue for marketing, one that business owners can quickly capitalize on.

#7 Social Media Marketing

We all know how big a part social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest play in our everyday lives. Leveraging the prominence of these sites to market your business is something every business owner should consider seriously.

Businesses that market themselves well on social media do so by following a predefined plan. Here are a few tips to help you get started with yours.

• Choose a suitable social media channel that your target audience is likely to visit.
• Create a content plan for your social media marketing. For example, on Mondays you could post about a client’s experience with your business, Tuesdays could be set aside to address social issues in your locality, and so on.
• Join relevant communities and actively participate.
• Engage with your reviewers and followers and build rapport.

These are just a few basic tips, but if done correctly, they have the potential to boost your clientele tenfold.

#8 Organize Health Fairs

Organizing a health fair in your community not only builds your reputation, but also lets everyone in your locality know that you’re an authoritative person and a leader in your industry. Invite other professionals in your field to talk about health and personal care, and possibly interact with the audience. This also gives you a great opportunity to build connections within your business framework.

Make sure to bring with you as much promotional material as you can, such as pamphlets, business cards, and takeaway coupons. You can also use this to promote your social network pages through scannable QR codes in your pamphlets.

You can learn more about how to organize your own health fair here.

#9 Traditional Marketing

Although technological developments have changed the face of modern marketing methods, a traditional approach is not out of the cards yet. This is especially true when it’s done in tandem with the other marketing methods we’ve discussed so far.

Hoardings, print ads, and signposts are still effective ways to plant your business’ name in the back of people’s minds. So put up that hoarding beside the highway, print out some ads and pass it along in your neighborhood, and hammer some signposts in your vicinity. This way, your business will be the first thing that people will remember when it comes to home health care.

#10 Construct a Rewarding Referral Program

Referral programs have always been a cornerstone when it comes to marketing strategies. After all, who wouldn’t love a discount on a product or service they require? This especially stands true when it comes to a service industry like home health care. A well-crafted referral program holds the potential to generate a lot of business and retain existing customers.

This referral program by Timberland Home Care is a great example. It provides an incentive for both parties, all the while generating business for the company.