Looking for more home care clients for your private duty home care agency?

We’ve found the 3 best strategies to Get More Home Care Clients, based on 13 years of experience with marketing for home care agencies across the U.S.

From organic to paid online marketing strategies, they’re all here.

You can either scroll through and read each section.

Let’s dive in!

3 Best Strategies for MORE Home Care Clients and Leads

#1 Paid Online Marketing

Use Paid Online Marketing to Get More Home Care Clients

For SHORT TERM, FASTER results, this is our #1 recommended strategy. Does it work? Yes. It is expensive? YES! Do you need any form of patience for this process? DOUBLE YES!

Home Care Lead Quality: Some are amazing, and some are worthless, it’s all over the map!

Pros of Paid Marketing:

• Faster results
• Instant gratification
• Top of search engines faster
• Great for branding while ads are running
• Great for visibility while ads are running

I like to think of paid advertising as a “hold-over” or “supplement” to creative and great organic marketing.

This method must be professionally managed in 2021.

Doing it yourself is a HUGE waste of time and money.

Even having a moderate knowledge of Google Ads or Facebook Ads is not enough to really make this method work to your advantage.

Why do I say that? Because I thought I was pretty darn good at it, until I hired someone who is a 15 year veteran of PPC…and my mind was blown.

Cons of Paid Marketing:

• Expensive. The minimum for most areas is $1000 per month paid directly to Google or Facebook
• This amount does not include the fee you must pay to have the campaign managed. Although we charge the very least for this service, it can still seem expensive if your budget does not tolerate this type of spending.
• Instant gratification is not EXACTLY how to describe it. A well managed Google Ads campaign takes at least 2 weeks to optimize. While you may get a lead in that time, the best results come later.
• Once you turn the campaign off, you have nothing. Nothing was built (as with organic marketing). It’s on then it’s off. There is no residual benefit.

Other Important Information:

1. We recommend that all ads direct the new client to a landing page that only gives them 2 choices- fill out a form or make a call.
2. Running ads to your website is a big no-no.
3. Automation is essential. Make sure that your staff is notified instantly.
4. Automation is essential for the lead: Make sure each lead is communicated with instantly.
5. Follow up is important RIGHT AWAY 24/7.

#2 Organic Online Marketing

Use Organic Online Marketing to Get More Home Care Clients

For LONG-TERM, SLOWER-BUT-FOREVER results, this is our #1 preferred strategy.

Home Care Lead Quality: Steady, and pretty good. Most leads have done their research and have read some of your website.

Does it work? Yes. Do you need any form of patience for this process? TRIPLE YES! Six months to a year.

Pros of Organic Marketing:

• Forever results- great content is rewarded for many years!
• Great for Branding- Doesn’t Stop, Ever.
• Great SEO (be sure you know what that means) cannot be replaced.
• Once Google recognizes your website as a little power-house, you are rewarded in many ways!

I like to think of organic marketing as a long-term strategy that needs to be done correctly, without any flakey BS, right from the moment you put your first website on the internet.

In 2021, I recommend aligning yourself with a CONTENT MARKETING/ SEO company that meets this criteria:

1. Has been in business for more than 2 years. (Experience Counts)
2. Has more than 20 reviews or testimonials on their website (see ours here)
3. This is NOT A SIDE GIG. It’s a real business with a full-time staff.
4. They have professional writers who provide 100% unique content for your website blog posts.
5. If you can find a Content Marketing/SEO company in your market (home care, senior care, assisted living), use them before using a “generalist”.

Cons of Organic Online Marketing:

• Takes time. 6 months to a year. The more competitive your local market is, the longer it can take.
• Established brands and large franchise sites are hard to beat, but it can be done!
• NOT having a brick and mortar office is a real challenge.
• There are a lot of “parts and pieces” to organic marketing. Although you don’t have to understand how they all work, you should at least have some idea as to what your current company is doing.
• If a company promises your first page results in a short period of time, they are either lying to you or using black hat SEO to get the job done. Buyer beware!

Any flakey, black hat SEO strategies (buying backlinks, buying traffic) will result in your website being “Sandboxed”. This means Google won’t let your website get beyond page 4 in search results.

Here’s a list of important pieces of the puzzle for SEO:

1. Your website- faster, cleaner, easy to navigate- all more important than award-winning insane graphics.
2. Your Google My Business Listing.
3. Your Keyword Strategy
4. Your Content on Your MAIN pages, but also in your blog posts.
5. Backlinks that are 100% appropriate.
6. Your monthly newsletter. Yes, it makes a difference!
7. Your Social Media Accounts (FB LI)

#3 Referral Marketing

Use Referral Marketing to Get More Home Care Clients

Building long-term relationships in a crowded market. Rising above the noise is really important!

Home Care Lead Quality: GREAT! There is nothing that replaces a referral from a professional or a current client. These are usually the best quality leads.

In 2020 we all learned how easy it us to shut down in-person marketing. Brew up a good ole nasty pandemic, and the networking (in-person) STOPS. Screeching halt stops!

How does a marketer of home care services get around this? We will discuss!

Does it work? Yes. Do you need any form of patience for this process? TRIPLE YES! Six months to a year.

Pros of Referral Marketing:

• Long-Term results- great relationships are rewarded even when colleagues change companies.
• Great for Branding
• Great for really good leads. The best!

Cons of Referral Marketing

• Takes time. 6 months to a year. The more competitive your local market is, the longer it can take to get past the gatekeeper and establish a relationship.
• You might find yourself taking some “inconvenient” leads- 6pm on a Friday night, or Saturday morning….but if you say NO, they might not call again!
• It’s tough to stay top-of-mind when you can’t visit.
• In-person sales and marketing is generally a full-time job and it’s a tough one! The right person is really important for this role.

Here are some great ways to stay in touch when you can’t visit in-person:

1. Email- yes it works! Build the biggest list you can at every opportunity. Drip a regular set of emails- tell stories about life at your home care agency and what you all are doing to keep clients safe.
2. Monthly newsletter. ABSOLUTELY. This goes with a content/seo strategy. Put EVERYONE on your monthly newsletter list and make sure it sends. Need help? Hire someone to do it for you!
3. Leave-behinds are golden. I’m talking cute, not expensive little thank you gifts for staff and referral sources that cost less than $10, but make a person feel great. Pinterest is a great place to get ideas.
4. Regular snail mail greeting cards and personalized gifts for your big hitters (still under $10). You can learn more about the company we use here: https://mailboxpower.com/VALERIE

Final Thoughts on Ways to Get More Home Care Clients

In 2021, marketing automation for your online efforts is not only a GREAT way to avoid “follow up failure” but it’s almost mandatory to respond to leads and referral sources instantly.

We recommend the ASN SPARK! CRM designed for senior care marketing and recruiting.

Read through our list of services and let us know if there is anything we can do to help you crush the competition in 2021!

Or, if you aren’t sure, fill out our CONTACT US FORM and have a chat with the ever-friendly Bob Costello. He will gladly point you in the right direction, even if it’s not us.