Building Trust and Caring Connections: Why a High Standard of Care Is Needed for Your Marketing
How to use marketing to build a brand with a reputation for quality
In your agency, you hold your staff to the highest standards. Your caregivers provide the best, most conscientious hands-on care to your clients, your client services team provides top-notch customer service, and your agency sales team matches leads to the best senior care services for them.
Your marketing too must also reflect the high standards of your agency. Why? Exceeding the expectations of your leads can lead to higher sales and happier clients.
What is a standard of care?
Standard of care is a term often used in healthcare that describes the generally accepted best practices for treating a condition, but it has its place in senior care marketing too.
Your service quality builds your brand’s reputation and that reputation is what brings in sales. Reflecting that in your marketing strategy is vital.
Why is standard of care important in senior care marketing?
High standards are a powerful tool for client attraction and retention. When you have exceptional service quality you can:
- Build trust with clients and potential clients. When you consistently provide high quality care to your clients and their families, they grow to trust you—and they will stick with you. When your marketing presence reflects the same high standards, potential clients will grow to trust you as well.
- Bond with clients long-term. Your brand is what “attaches” clients to your agency. Research has shown that brand communication that “tangibilizes” services is key to the success of that product (especially if it’s new). The way consumers feel about your brand is what makes them go with your agency—or with a competitor.
- Increase referrals. Happy clients are the best marketers: Consumers are 90% more likely to trust a brand (and buy from them) that was recommended by a friend.
- Attract new caregivers. Standard of care in marketing is a recruitment tool. When you have a reputation for being the best in the business, caregivers will want to work with you.
- Build your brand’s reputation and recognition. A high-quality standard of care that is reflected in your marketing is a magnet for more eyes on your brand.
- Speed up sales. When clients are already convinced of your high standard of care, your sales team can move to close the sale more quickly.
- Sell more services. A polished brand simply sells more: 47% of consumers say they will pay more for a brand they trust.
People will notice investment in your marketing campaigns. Consistent, polished campaigns that contain high-quality images and video, thoughtful messages, and professional design send a message to your client leads that you care about maintaining a high standard of care.
Maintaining high standards in your marketing
The quality of your care should be reflected in your marketing, and your marketing must accurately reflect your standard of care. Empty promises will quickly be found out: Your clients, potential clients, and employees will set the record straight in their reviews and in their recommendations to friends and family.
What makes great care?
- Empathy: One of the most important characteristics of a healthcare provider is empathy, and this should be reflected in your marketing messages and agency brand.
- Compassion: Compassionate care is central to any senior care business, and this too should show up in your presence in the market.
- Consistency: Do client leads have a good experience at every point on their customer journey, or does quality begin to fall when they become a paying client?
- Quality control: In order to provide consistent service to your clients and potential clients, you need to set a standard and enforce it. This requires documenting those standards and conducting regular training refreshes and reviews.
- Communication: How easy is it for client leads to get in touch with you? How often do you reach out to your clients and client leads, and how clear are your messages?
- Responsiveness: How quickly do you respond to client leads? (The faster you respond, the more likely you are to land the sale.)
- Employees: Your employees are your messengers, and the way they represent themselves and talk about your agency is a reflection of your brand.
How to reflect quality in your services
Here are best practices for reflecting a high standard of care in your senior care marketing campaigns.
- Invest in good images of your offices, of your caregivers, and of your staff.
- Invest in a polished, modern website that showcases your services and philosophy of care.
- Create high-quality thought leadership content that demonstrates your senior care expertise.
- Commit to maintaining an SEO strategy that puts your brand in front of interested clients.
- Complete your Google Business Profile with photos and videos and client reviews and commit to keeping it fresh.
- Build a plan for consistent client outreach, using email drip campaigns, social media marketing, and TK.
- Ask clients to review your services and use those messages across your marketing materials.
- Train your client services and sales teams on the best customer service practices. (Try sales scripts for easy quality control.)
- Train all employees on company standards so they know how to recommend the company to others and talk about your services.
Ready to make sure that your standard of care is reflected in your marketing?
Our comprehensive suite of digital marketing tools and services here at Home Care Marketing Pros is here to provide you with what you need to reflect your high standard of care to your potential clients and hires.
From polished and professional websites to reputation management and beyond, learn more about what we can do here!
