The Evolving World of Digital Marketing for In Home Care Services

Like the in-home care industry itself, Digital Marketing for in home care services is evolving and growing. With many channels and options available it can be hard for decision makers in this industry to get a clear picture of what’s available and what’s effective. If you find yourself in this situation, you’re in luck because you have found this field-tested resource to guide you through the process for channel exploration and optimization for in home care businesses.

Digital Channels for In Home Care Services

As with other industries, digital marketing for in home care agencies can be broken down by channels. The following is a quick rundown of digital channels that are available for in home care services, as well as some pros and cons. At the end of this article you’ll also be able to find an analysis of where these channels can fit into the life cycle of marketing strategy for in home care businesses.

Online Referral Sources

In this instance the referral channel does not make reference to backlinks sending traffic to your site but indicates paid sites such as a place for mom, homecare.com and local senior placement services. This channel can be extremely effective for fledgling and startup in home care businesses. Typically, this is a pay per lead with a high cost but considering the average value of an in-home care client for most young agencies this is completely worth the cost.  

Pros:

• Effective
• Warm leads that are bottom of the funnel
• Cost per acquisition model

Cons:

• Expensive
• Pay to play

SEM/PPC

Search engine marketing or Pay per click advertising as it is often (incorrectly) referred to can be an extremely effective channel for in home care agencies. Paid Search Advertising is an amazing tool, but as the saying goes a fool with a toll is still a fool. Having a knowledgeable professional with a proven track record of paid search management is essential to success in this channel. Google Ads (formerly Adwords) can be a tricky platform with tons of quarks and options that need to be optimized in order to enjoy the maximum results. Improperly optimized accounts can spell doom for newer companies and piles of waisted marketing money. Items like understanding intent and optimizing match type are as much a practice of analytical deduction as they are an exercise in psychology. Let a pro handle this channel and see how sweet a lead gen platform it can be.

Pros:

• Great cost per acquisition on properly optimized account
• Leads are at the bottom of the funnel on properly optimized account

Cons:

• Due to the complexity of platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads for search it’s best to hire a knowledgeable pro to handle this channel.
• You need to have monthly budget in order to utilize this channel

SEO

Search engine optimization, the holy grail of lead generation. It’s so easy right? – Just rank on google and let the leads roll in. Slow down there if it were that simple wouldn’t everyone be ranking and getting leads? What kind of naïve idiot would pay for google search ads? As I frequently tell clients, search engine optimization is a systematic and scientific process not a packaged product. Understanding that most SEOs worth a spit use a list of over 200 search ranking factors to work off of in order to get results, and that much of the work is time consuming and tedious can give you a little insight into why this channels typically get taken on by companies with larger budgets or dedicated SEO staff. Here at Digalitics, we break SEO ranking factors down into 4 categories in order to simplify the process for clients and students. If you’re interested in contracting SEO for your in-home care agency or getting training for your in-house staff, you can contact us today.

It’s also important to note that the results are not immediate with SEO, it takes diligence and dedication over a period of months or years in order to crush the competition in organic rankings. Items like, content curation and high-quality backlink building can be a long-term undertaking, involving many hours of research or outreach in order to cultivate the best content and backlinks.

Pros:

• Once you rank enjoy a steady supply of high-quality leads
• Earn instant credibility by being at the “top of google and other search engines”
• Capture consumers at all phases of the buying cycle without additional costs

Cons:

• Competitive keywords can be difficult to rank for
• It can take months to climb the ranks and achieve success in SEO
• SEO requires the diligent work of knowledgeable and reputable professionals

Social Media

Believe it or not social media can be an extremely effective channel for in home care agencies. Getting the right social media strategy is key to enjoying a long and fruitful relationship with social media platforms. Social media sites like Facebook can capture potential clients and decision makers in every phase of the buying cycle. Understanding your social media audience and coming up with an omnichannel content creation and dissemination strategy can be your golden ticket into the wonderful world of social media leads. In addition to paid audience building campaigns social platforms like Facebook also have lead generation campaigns to drive leads directly to your phone. Social media for in home care agencies can be a little tricky so make sure you have someone with knowledge of the platform and it’s tools as well as the industry to help you through this process.

Pros:

• Get a captive audience
• Drill down using advanced targeting and analytics tools
• Capture audiences at all phases of the buying cycle

Cons:

• Can be complex and confusing at first
• An effective strategy is essential to success
• Content creation and dissemination takes ongoing time and attention.

The life cycle of digital marketing for in home care agencies

Typically, younger agencies rely on the paid referral sources to establish business and get a steady stream of clients and staff. When businesses have a steady stream of revenue and can allocate monthly marketing budgets, they move into paid search engine marketing and social media marketing. Mature agencies, with large client bases and a healthy amount of revenue tend to focus on SEO aggressively by posting blogs frequently and building backlinks. Finally, agencies with larger marketing budgets tackle the task to building brand equity and engaging in a consistent omnichannel digital marketing front.