How to Get Home Care Clients for Your Agency
Creative strategies for attracting new clients to your home care agency
How strong is your client acquisition strategy? Running print and digital ads can be effective, so can social media engagement and paid search, but a fulsome marketing plan requires creative, multichannel modes of attracting new clients and plenty of creative strategies.
So, how do you get home care clients for your agency? Try these new eight creative strategies for winning new business.
8 creative ways to get new home care clients for your agency
1. Be a community educator
Attract new clients by serving your community through free education. The goodwill will go a long way, and you’ll be able to demonstrate your expertise to your ideal client base.
Here are a few ideas for free, in-person and virtual events to add to your marketing efforts:
- Partner with community centers and health organizations to educate the local community on things like at-home memory care.
- Host seminars for expectant parents who will care for newborns with chromosomal abnormalities or cardiac abnormalities, for example.
- Throw a senior game night at a local community center to get seniors out of the house.
2. Pitch stories to local media
Get your agency on the local news and in front of potential clients by pitching educational story ideas to local newspapers and TV stations.
- Is flu season coming up? Pitch your best tips for preventing the spread.
- Share tips for summertime activities for children on the autism spectrum.
- Share homework best practices for students with learning disabilities as the school year approaches.
- Offer tips for keeping independent seniors safe in icy conditions or in extreme heat.
This kind of media coverage promotes brand recognition and contributes to the public good. Plus, the better the relationship you form with your local news media and reporters, the more likely they are to tap you as a regular source.
3. Focus on benefits rather than features
When promoting your home health care services to potential clients, focus on the benefits rather than the features. For example:
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Help with bathing, hygiene, and dressing for seniors living on their own | More independence for your aging family members |
| Behavioral therapy for children with autism spectrum diagnoses | Help close self-help deficits and improve communication skills |
| Transportation to medical appointments, therapy, and even social activities and hobbies | Increase community mobility and ensure consistency of care |
4. Set up a referral program with incentives
Make it easy and rewarding for existing clients to refer new clients to your home care agency.
- Set criteria for ideal new clients and make a plan for vetting referrals.
- Determine incentives for successful referrals, like service discounts, credits, or gift cards.
- Build a page on your home care agency website that walks current clients through the referral process.
- Promote the program to current clients with printed info cards and email newsletters.
- Point referring clients to educational resources they can share with their contacts.
- Track newly referred clients through the sales funnel and onboarding process so you can measure the effectiveness of the program and give referrers the credit they deserve.
5. Offer service trials for existing clients
Increase the number of services used by your current clientele by offering service previews, like one free week of meal planning for companion care clients or two free homework tutoring sessions for pediatric occupational therapy clients.
You can also use these previews to test new services, ask for feedback, and improve your offerings.
6. Show new clients who needs home care
Potential clients may not know if they’re the right candidates for in-home care. Build a library of rich and data-backed resources for those considering home care services.
- Quizzes and questionnaires that help determine the right home care services for their family (don’t forget to collect visitor email addresses for follow-up)
- Detailed guides on specific services that include “a day in the life” accounts, benefits, and client testimonials
- Free video consultations with a live client services representative for prospective clients at the bottom of your funnel
- Public info sessions scheduled at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, etc.) where potential clients can ask questions about services and meet agency staff (don’t forget to collect contact information here too!)
7. Invite current clients to review your services
Along with client referrals, asking for client reviews may well be one of the most successful ways to get home care clients for your agency. Eighty-eight percent of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as they trust a recommendation from someone they know.
Ask clients to review your agency on sites like Care.com, Google, and Yelp. Consider offering incentives for reviewers, like being entered to win a gift card or free service trials.
8. Ask for recommendations from local health care professionals and senior care centers
Partner with local health care professionals and health centers to form a recommendation network so you can reach out to potential clients who need your services in the immediate future.
Your local hospital discharge planners, post-op rehab centers, occupational and physical therapists, and assisted living facilities can all be recommending your home care agency to their clients. Don’t forget to return the favor and recommend them in return.
Make sure your referral partners know what you offer and provide them with literature and resources they can give to their patients. Consider also having them ask patients if they would like to be contacted by you—that way you can collect their contact information and seamlessly fold them into your client funnel.
Need extra help finding out how to get the home care clients your agency needs?
Contact Home Care Marketing Pros to find out how our professional digital marketing solutions can help get your agency's name out there and get you the clients and caregivers you need!
