If you’ve recently purchased a home care franchise, you might be wondering how to best attract new clients. Luckily, when you purchase a franchise, you don’t have to take the time to build a brand and reputation. You're franchisor already has an established brand presence and has likely outlined specific marketing tactics for you to follow. But it's up to you to execute a marketing plan.
Here are some tips on how to market your franchise business.
Know the Types of Home Care Marketing
The home care industry focuses on two types of marketing: consumer and referral. To make your home care assistance franchise a success, you should understand the difference between the two.
- Consumer Marketing: Consumer marketing efforts are aimed directly at potential clients or their family members. The goal is to let the world know you exist and to bring in new customers.
- Referral Marketing: Referral marketing efforts are aimed at current clients, doctor’s offices, and other referral sources. The goal is to get these businesses and organizations to refer their patients to you.
Understanding the nuances between these types of marketing can help you develop a successful strategy. For example, referral marketing in your area may rely more on networking while consumer marketing may leverage digital marketing strategies. Your franchisor will have market research and tips to help you with messaging for each type of marketing.
Take Advantage of Marketing Resources
Your franchisor has been in the industry and has a lot of existing tools in place to reach your target market. Some of these marketing materials could include the following:
- Local accounts for social media platforms
- Branded collateral pieces and swag items
- Tools for social posting, website editing, and other digital marketing activities
- A CRM, or software to help you keep track of your contacts
Each franchise will have a different arsenal of marketing and advertising materials and tools. So, it's important that you start asking what is available to you. Learn how to use each one effectively, and leverage them to the fullest.
Be Ready to Learn
Marketing isn't something you know how to do because you become a business owner. It's takes time along with trial and error to master. And marketing tactics are always changing, especially when it comes to a digital marketing strategy. But you have a franchisor on your side to teach you the best practices.
Your franchise has just as much invested in your success as you do. So, follow the advice from your franchisor when marketing. If they offer marketing courses online, take them. If they have a marketing team standing by for phone calls, make them.
You can also reach out to other franchise owners to discover how they reach out to their potential customers and have been successful in promoting their products and services. An open mind and willingness to learn will help you improve your marketing strategy in the long-term.
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Embrace Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth advertising is one of the most powerful forms of marketing. It refers to your existing clients sharing positive experiences with you with their friends and loved ones. A fantastic care experience can hold a lot of weight and convince new customers to give your caregivers a chance.
However, if you don't encourage word of mouth advertising, your clients might not even think about it. For example, when was the last time you told a friend about a good experience with a brand? As people, our natural instinct is to share the bad, and we may forget to highlight the good.
Try asking your clients and their family members to share their experience through reviews on Facebook or Google. Encourage them to share their experiences with their friends, especially those who might benefit from home care. This greatly increases brand awareness.
Establish an Online Presence
Just because you are working with seniors doesn't mean you should shy away from digital marketing. More and more seniors are utilizing technology, and your caregivers are certainly online. So, having an online presence is a crucial part of your overall marketing strategy.
When it comes to an online presence, there are several different avenues to consider. Some of them may be covered by your franchisor, but you may need to take ownership of others. Here are some digital marketing aspects to consider:
- Localized website: You should have a website for your local office that features your address, contact information, and other local information. Many people want to learn about a brand and the local owners before reaching out, so make sure there is information specific to you and your team.
- Blog: A blog can be a great way to personalize your marketing efforts. You can tell your story, educate your community, attract caregivers, and more. Blog posts are a great way to publish information and drive traffic to your website.
- Social media channels: There are nearly 5 billion social media users worldwide. So, it's crucial that your business stands out from the noise and is able to get in front of as many potential caregivers and clients as possible. Look to social media to share birthdays, events, client anniversaries, and more. This helps show the personality and professionalism of your office.
- Influencer marketing: You can also partner with influencers to help increase brand visibility. You don't need to partner with an A-list celebrity to be heard. There are plenty of microinfluencers, or people with influence in your local community, that can help you get more brand exposure.
- Search engine marketing: Paid ads are another important aspect of your online presence. You can run search ads on Google for just a few dollars a day. These ads can help your businesses show up at the top of search results for keywords like "home care" or "hiring caregivers."
Always Be Marketing — Even in Your Personal Life
Many business owners stop their marketing efforts when they are off the clock. But, as a business owner, your business is your life, so don't hide it. There are plenty of natural ways to bring up your business and what you do day-to-day in everyday conversations.
For example, if someone from your personal circle asks you what you've been up to, share some of your accomplishments about work. When you meet new people, share that you are a business owner dedicated to helping seniors remain independent at home.
There are plenty of opportunities to educate and share about your business and home care if you are willing to look for them. By taking advantage of these opportunities organically, you can push your business forward without being pushy.
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Don't Give Up
Marketing isn't easy, especially in the home care industry. You may find more success through relationship building or referrals from existing customers — not necessarily through outreach directly to your potential customer base. But it can be hard to be told "no" during your networking efforts.
However, do not give up! The day you stop putting effort into your marketing efforts is the day your business will die. Marketing in the home care industry requires constant relationship building and a strong online marketing strategy.
Just because you don't see results now doesn't mean you should give up. Instead, try shifting some of your tactics. For example, try targeting different types of referral sources when networking. Or, give social media ads a shot.
How Caring Senior Service Supports Franchise Owners
At Caring Senior Service, we support our franchise owners in their marketing activities from day 1. We provide marketing training for both consumer and referral marketing. Plus, we have an extensive library of customizable collateral templates, so you can pick and choose marketing materials you need. Our Marketing Team also gets you started by providing inventory of brochures and business cards from the beginning.
Throughout the year, we host several conferences, where marketing training is a key part of the agenda. We even built our own home care software, complete with a marketing section to help you organize and keep track of marketing efforts. And our team is always here to answer questions!
To learn more about Caring Senior Service, reach out to our team today.
