Because home care is an “at need” service (meaning most people don’t pay attention to local services or service providers until the need arises), the key to successful home care marketing is being found and contacted when that need arises.
Merrily Orsini, MSSW, President and CEO of corecubed, is a pioneer in the home care industry, and has been working either in home care or for home care agencies since 1981. Throughout her long and successful career, her marketing strategy has been centered on meeting the needs of the clients and their families. She has also found that being a helpful resource for potential referral sources, providing them with useful educational information and materials that they or their clients can use, is a much more effective marketing strategy than simply delivering sales or promotional materials, especially when the educational information is delivered regularly, is of high quality and is differentiated for the target.
So, how do you get people to find your agency when the need arises and then call? You stay in front of them in a variety of ways on a very regular basis so they remember your agency name. Additionally, you stay in front of their trusted advisors with materials that answer their aging care related questions, so when asked, those trusted advisors point people in your direction.
To meet the needs of the private duty home care industry, corecubed developed a turnkey marketing program called MOST (Marketing, Operations, & Sales Tools). MOST is a marketing partnership between a geographically limited number of home care agencies and corecubed’s team of experienced home care marketing design, social media and SEO experts. It provides agencies with a web-based library containing many choices for marketing and sales materials and services as well as recruitment and retention tools for monthly marketing efforts. All chosen materials are then branded specifically for a particular agency, providing a nearly effortless marketing system. Using corecubed’s MOST program for agency marketing allows agency owners to concentrate on running their business, and outsource the marketing implementation and details to corecubed.
The strategic theory behind the MOST marketing program is based on:
- How to best market home care services (targets, educational messages and high quality visuals)
- A proven method used by agencies nationwide (interactive, content-laden and personalized)
- A process that is easy, affordable, strategic and branded (web-based, multi-channeled and of excellent quality)
Through corecubed’s MOST program, agencies are able to target specific audiences with strategic messaging, including:
- Your agency’s current clients (and their adult children)
- Those who inquire about services
- Traditional referral sources:
◦ Case managers and discharge planners at local hospitals or in the community
◦ Chronic care physicians and health professionals
◦ Rehab, skilled nursing and care facilities in your service area
- Non-traditional referral sources
◦ Estate and trust attorneys
◦ Geriatric care managers
◦ Funeral homes, retirement homes, disease associations
◦ Those needing CEUs for working in aging care
◦ Many, many more
With regular, targeted and branded educational resources and communication materials (eNewsletters, postcards, flyers, blogs, social media, etc.) corecubed’s MOST program keeps your agency communicating on a regular basis with potential clients and referral sources. Many of the MOST resource and communication materials are centered around specific aging, in-home care, or chronic disease-related themes for a full multi-touch monthly communications and marketing campaign. There are over 50 themes from which to choose. Examples are Alzheimer’s, Cancer Care, Stroke Care, Options to Age at Home, and Long-Term Care Planning.
Most importantly, corecubed’s MOST program helps differentiate your agency, helping it stand out in a crowded market. By positioning your agency as an expert on home care-related information, MOST sets you ahead of your competition with high-quality, incredibly professional marketing materials.
Results Speak for Themselves!
It is one thing to say MOST is the 18K gold standard in home care marketing, but nothing means more than results. Longtime MOST client and President of Continuum Care in St. Louis, MO, Barth Holohan, has this to say about the program, “The feedback has been exceptional. We are now pretty well known for our resources and expertise in the industry. We are positioning ourselves as a one-stop shop for all senior needs and issues, and utilizing the MOST program is helping us achieve and maintain this goal.”
Similarly, the MOST eNewsletter that Atlanta Home Care Partners uses monthly caught the eye of a potential customer. She wrote to let them know, “I especially enjoyed reading your newsletter – very informative and interesting. I also went to your website and found it very resourceful – love it! I feel better now that I know I have someone I can call when my father, or even my mother, needs help.”
MOST makes a big impression on referral sources, as well, as Frank Spinosa of Responsive Home Health in Florida Ft. Lauderdale
Successful agencies use MOST as their “back office” marketing communications partner, and spend their valuable time converting inquiries to clients and giving them excellent service. Want to start seeing some of these same excellent results right now? Contact corecubed today!
