Home Care Marketing Tips

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Technology Disrupts Technology

Good digital marketing can overcome the barriers
Technology Disrupts Home Care Marketing

Great article this morning by Michael Wolff about changes in push marketing (advertising), and the resistance it meets (ability to block ads). Since I have been in marketing for the last 17 years now, I have such an intrinsic understanding of how things work, and how things are changing (have changed). Digital marketing (content marketing) is really more educational, enticing and engaging because of those ad blocking technologies, and the changes that access to information have brought in the buyer’s search for products and services. This is all fairly complicated theory, but is continuing to be proven.

“Always ahead of the curve” has been my blessing and my curse. Seeing the future as if it were today, and envisioning it is easy for me. I will come back to marketing and technology disrupts technology, but first I want to discuss elder care, and “being ahead of the curve”.

In the elder care industry, I was one of the first to discover that care managed home care was the model that worked best. You see, I created it from the customers’ requests. The model evolved from what worked, and I just did more of that. Dr. Eric Rackhow, from Humana at Home, spoke at the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation Symposium this past week in NYC, and he said the model that Humana at Home is finding provides the best level of service (better patient outcomes) for the lowest cost is:

1) Have a Nurse Practitioner/physician as the lead
2) Care management and coordination
3) Some type of in-home, remote monitoring
4) Post-acute skilled services
5) Ongoing caregiving support at home

This is a fine example of technology allowing the disruption of a model: the home health model.

And Humana at Home’s model of care? Guess where it came from? Larry Sosnow, the founder of SeniorBridge, hired me in 1997 to help him create that model. The cookbook for how it is done we still sell (update as technology changes, but the same basic point-by-point model on how to create the best home care model). The two differences are the remote telemonitoring advancements and the NP as one of the leads. Humana bought SeniorBridge and it is now Humana at Home.

Rona Bartelstone, one of the early geriatric care managers, and another who offered up the same care managed home care model that I created, sold her business to SeniorBridge. She just reemerged as a board member on home care model HomeTeam business, doing business nationwide, but located in NYC. That model is technology disrupting home care. They are using the same model Rona and I created, but have added an Uber-esque software component that truly allows for the care team to work in tandem. It is everyone’s dream- no staffing issues as staff has control over where and when they work, and complete transparency with care in the home. An iPad in every home. That one bears watching. It is taking the Honor and Home Heros concepts, but employing and monitoring the care.

So, back to digital marketing and technology disrupting technology. That same HomeTeam business has a website that is not SEO friendly, and that does not make one feel “warm and fuzzy” or even feel that this group will take good care of your loved one. The buyer psychology in home care is one that is needy, in quest of information on the best solution, guilty for even seeking out care and highly emotional. The smart agency will use technology in their favor and educate that seeker. The person seeking home care has to be met where they are in the cycle. They have to find the information they are seeking in their searches, and, only then will they pick up that phone and call. Join me tomorrow on our sales webinar for our MOST Program, where I discuss that psychology and do sort of a primer for the HCAOA workshop on the same topic.

And, contact us at corecubed if you want to reach either the consumer, the referral sources, or sell into the industry.

Updated Social Media Results for Home Care Marketing

Would you believe I still get asked, “So how does social media bring me clients?” And, today, I will answer this, using today’s user statistics and technological realities.

74% of American adults are online. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn are still the top platforms used. Older, affluent users are a subgroup that is growing daily.

Have you ever looked at the Internet Live Stats page? In real time, you can see activities on the Internet. As I write this, there are 3 billion 200 million and growing users. Over 2.5 billion google searches today, so far, and over 5 billion videos viewed on YouTube. Think about that usage, and understand that when someone is searching online, the search includes all of the Internet. It is not like a phone book that is segmented by city. A competitor could be anywhere in the world, and trying to get attention from someone in your market.

So, how does social media tie in with this, and how can it help you get clients? Social media is one way that people of like minds and like thoughts can get together. Social media helps with authority, and authority is one of the things that Google considers when ranking a website. Posting information about issues that relate to home care, will be of interest to those who are seeking care information. Those people seeking care information are also seeking care, at some point either today or in the future.

And, there are lots of people using Facebook. In fact, 149 billion active users are on Facebook today.

And, are those users looking for and/or being influenced regarding care needs?

According to the latest information, more than 40 percent of consumers say that information found via social media affects the way they deal with their health. From a recent study, 54 percent of patients are very comfortable with their providers seeking advice from online communities to better treat their conditions. Thirty-one percent of healthcare professionals use social media for professional networking. Thirty percent of adults are likely to share information about their health on social media sites with other patients, 47 percent with physicians, 43 percent with hospitals, 38 percent with a health insurance company and 32 percent with a drug company. .

When someone is searching for home care, they start that search online, and they look at social media, medical sites, and then go to websites and see if they can gain more insight into how to solve their problems. Using social media, and addressing the needs of those seeking care, while showcasing your agency as a quality provider, will help those seeking home care find you.

My fabulous team at corecubed can set up social media accounts, create a strategy for success, and implement everything! We can keep your social media active, write blogs for your website, and use a strategy that gets proven results.

Inquire as to how we can help  you.

Plan Ahead: Home Care Marketing for the Holidays

Regardless of the situation, the holidays are trying times. This is especially so for all who work in in-home care. Because of increased holiday duties or more travel, clients and families request more care. And, because caregivers are usually giving and not receiving, the holidays are a time that more caregivers want time off to be with family. So, not only is the agency filling new requests, and trying to start new clients, but also having to fill regular schedules that usually do not need extra staff. So, you might ask yourself, why would an agency WANT to market over the holidays?

#1 Reason: The holidays provide an opportunity to help those adult children who are surprised by the condition in which their parents are living. So, in addition to being unusually stressful, the holidays are also the perfect time to engage the family about care needs that are just now being discovered. The family comes to visit and cannot help but notice the changes in Mom or Dad. Perhaps the mail has not been opened, and bills not paid. Or, the front lawn may need cutting and there are limbs down all over the place that have not been removed. Or, there is a noticeable weight loss and a quick survey of the pantry shows it bare. Perhaps the ability to live alone is coming into question.

Whatever the issue, upon discovering there are some care needs, or that more care is needed, the opportunity is ripe for adding in home care so the family can feel some peace of mind when returning to home in a distant place. The key to turning a hectic time of the year into a golden opportunity to increase your business is to plan ahead, both in marketing for home care clients and for new staff to cover the needs.

First, let’s discuss having the services to sell. You really have to start ramping up for staffing for the holidays in October. Consider it takes 4-6 weeks to orient, train, and test out new caregivers. Staffing specifically for the holidays needs to provide adequate staff to cover all existing clients, and to pick up some new clients when their holiday care plans fall through.

Secondly, you need a plan so that workflow can continue uninterrupted during this most stressful time. That plan would be to start now and execute a holiday marketing and communications plan. Creating a branded theme and using it across all communication possibilities for a visual impact, will bring you lots of results for not much money. Your normal communication should include blogging, an eNewsletter and social media, so, creating a design that incorporates your logo, your messaging and your look and feel you can have the same design repurposed to cover all your usual channels and then some. A personalized, branded holiday card is especially appreciated over the holidays.

Use the media! Take advantage of the media’s need to know how to best serve seniors who are homebound when the season is merry. This is a great example of getting started early so you get coverage. Issues that arise over the holidays warrant good media coverage on how to cope, such as:

  • Activities to create a feeling of worthiness in the holiday festivities
  • Depression amongst the elderly who have lost loved ones, which is cause for concern, and exacerbated over the holidays.
  • How to include a frail senior in family activities.
  • Lists of gifts that are appropriate for seniors or those who are frail.

The media also LOVES visuals, so think about those marketing moments that lend themselves to a visual. Is your agency sponsoring any baskets for the needy, or working on any homebound projects? Remember to take photos and upload to social media. Use that visual and follow-up on a press release and add in those photos.

Another media opportunity is to tout the training that you have created to train your caregivers on ways to make the holidays special for your clients. Some ideas include:

  • Get them to find family recipes that they and the client can make together.
  • Have them help the client shop (online or in stores) for gifts for the family, and get all the ribbon and paper ready so gifts can be wrapped and ready.
  • Put on their listening ears to be a good recipient of stories from holidays past.

The very best way to get more clients from within is to provide a great service. This can best be accomplished by being prepared for the holidays, benefitting your clients as well as your caregivers. Taking advantage of the special times that surround the holidays by increasing your marketing efforts and targeting those who may need your services will make your holidays brighter as well.

Want branding, content writing or SEO for your website? Contact us at corecubed and we will be glad to help you get started in quality marketing. The holidays might be a good place to start!

Need a resource for marketing that is unlike any other in the industry, and that has all the components mentioned above? Check out corecubed’s MOST program, a turnkey marketing program specifically for home care that is affordable, remarkable, and works. Join us on September 11th as we talk more about holiday marketing and how it is not too soon to start!

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Making the MOST of Power Partners

Yesterday at corecubed we were busy on the phones taking in new inquiries, and like all savvy marketers should, finding out how they heard about our services. We were delighted to learn that several of the callers were reaching out to us because they attended the Hurricane Marketing Boot Camp in Washington, DC last week with home care sales training coach Steve Weiss and his team. Having sponsored the last boot camp, we at corecubed know that participants leave feeling energized and equipped with a solid sales strategy.

Steve, also a trained minister, preaches to home care agency owners and salespeople about a concept he calls creating “Power Partners” – a way to get referrals from those within the industry. The key is a cross-referral mechanism. But, how do you get their attention? That’s where corecubed comes in, as we have the power to implement a marketing strategy, branded to the agency with the agency’s own messaging as a component of our offerings. As the health care delivery system matures, and more people are vying for attention to provide services, offering information and education on how an agency can help in a variety of scenarios is the crucial to winning business and getting attention.

So, I Googled “Power Partners” this morning and came up with the following: “Partnership is defined as a voluntary collaborative agreement between two or more parties in which all participants agree to work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake a specific task and to share risks, responsibilities, resources, competencies and benefits.”

The fact that we received several serious inquiries who are ready to implement speaks to the “power” aspect of Power Partners, as working with referral sources clearly enhances a business’s ability to reach a broader audience, whether that business is a marketing firm or a home care agency. And, we have been targeting specific referral sources since we started marketing, with the inception of corecubed in 1998.

You see, my background in starting, growing and running an agency gives us that advantage of 17 years of experience actually practicing what we preach. Has marketing changed in the past 17 years? Absolutely. The addition of technology and digital marketing has changed how and when people get information they need to make decisions about care. However, what has NOT changed is the information that people are searching for in order to make a care decision.

The competition has also changed, as in grown. There is simply much more competition from other agencies, from the underground economy, from the larger health care delivery system that is now integrating home care into many other facets of their operations.

However, what has NOT changed? Again, it is the information sought when decisions are made.

Having the best sales force will, no doubt, bring in sales and some new referral sources. However, meeting the needs of those seeking care will increase those numbers exponentially, and, meeting those needs online will only allow more people seeking care to find their answer in the agency that educates, meets the customer or referral source where they are in the buying process, and acts immediately to secure a spot in the searcher’s list.

So, thanks to those in the home care industry who understand that partnering is good. Competition keeps us all on our toes. And those seeking care for someone at home have a lot of learning to do in order to make the right decision.

Call us, email us, visit our website and think “partner” when you work with us, as we do bring “power” to the relationship, and help you grow your business.

 

A business selling to aging care and home businesses needs industry knowledge for success

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The Dynamics of Selling INTO the Aging Care Market

A business selling to aging care and home businesses needs industry knowledge for success
Business to Business selling in the home care market takes industry knowledge to be successful

The dollars spent in the aging care and home care industry should make any remotely related business stand up and take notice. If you have a product or service that sells to those who provide aging care services or home care, using a marketing firm that understands this industry puts you way ahead of the competition.

Let’s look at some statistics. Although five years old now, the latest figures from a 2010 report by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice state, “Approximately 12 million individuals currently receive care from more than 33,000 providers,” and, “In 2009, annual expenditures for home health care were projected to be $72.2 billion.”

Just three years later, those provider numbers nearly doubled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Long-Term Care Services in the United States: 2013 Overview.” From the report’s Executive Summary:

“In 2012, about 58,500 paid, regulated long-term care services providers served about 8 million people in the United States. Long-term care services were provided by 4,800 adult day services centers, 12,200 home health agencies, 3,700 hospices, 15,700 nursing homes, and 22,200 assisted living and similar residential care communities. Each day in 2012, there were 273,200 participants enrolled in adult day services centers, 1,383,700 residents in nursing homes, and 713,300 residents in residential care communities; in 2011, about 4,742,500 patients received services from home health agencies, and 1,244,500 patients received services from hospices.”

Caring for our aging population isn’t one-size fits all, as evidenced by the list of various providers cited in the CDC report. In addition, each of these markets gets paid through various means, from a client’s personal funds, to long-term care insurance, to Medicare and Medicaid.

The CDC report goes into greater detail about the following differences (which you should take the time to read through), differences which corecubed comprehends and navigates on a daily basis when it comes to B2B (and B2C) marketing.

  • “Provider sectors differed in ownership, and average size and supply varied by region.”
  • “Provider sectors differed in their nursing staffing levels, use of social workers, and variety of services offered.”
  • “Rates of use of long-term care services varied by sector and state.”
  • “Users of long-term care services varied by sector in their demographic and health characteristics and functional status.”

So whether your business sells software, telehealth products, nutritional therapy, medical equipment, residential services, or any other product or service that makes sense to run a successful business in general, or a home care business in particular, you’ll need a aging care and home care marketing expert on your side to effectively and efficiently tap into this market.

Unlike other industries your business or product may target, selling into the aging care and home care market requires an understanding of the industry, how they buy, what is important to them, and how they receive information. Vendors hoping to sell into this potentially lucrative market oftentimes do not understand the dynamics of the home care market specifically, the stress of the job, and the budgeting woes.

Also, the home care and home health care market is fragmented into further niche markets. So, vendors hoping to sell into this market also need to know the differences between the kinds of care provided, who provides the care, and how those businesses get reimbursed for care, and who makes decisions, or the vendor might miss the entire opportunity.

corecubed works directly with home care agencies, and because of that, our home care marketing experts have a unique and in-depth understanding of how these niche businesses operate. As the go-between agency, corecubed is the logical choice for vendors who want to sell B2B into the home care and the home health care market. Contact us today to find out how we can better help you understand and reach this dynamic and growing market.

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