The care home market is experiencing a significant surge in competition, transforming marketing from a desirable luxury into an essential tool for business survival. Traditional ‘hard-sell’ marketing tactics are largely ineffective in this emotive sector, leaving many care homes struggling to differentiate themselves in a saturated market.
So just how should a care home market itself? Whilst care home owners and managers navigate regulations, budgetary constraints and credibility and trust, it can be tricky to keep on top of authentic PR and marketing. Care homes must build relationships and reassure families that their loved ones will receive high-quality care – as well as communicate the basics such as costs and facilities. A phased approach to marketing and PR ensures consistency – supporting sustainable growth and effective reputation management.
What are the 7 stages of care home marketing?
Stage 1: Understanding your market and brand
This is probably one of the most important stages, because if you don’t get this right from the start, or don’t understand who you are, your target audience will notice. What you say about your brand should be authentic. If your marketing showcases a luxury home with five-star facilities, or you boast about a family-run home with excellent dementia care, people will expect this when they visit.
Think about who you are, what makes you stand out and live and breathe it! Communicate this vision with your staff and recruit based on values so everything you aim to be actually resonates within the home.
Once you have established your vision and values, think about your target audience. Are you seeking private pay or local authority-funded clients? Where does your ideal client live? Who is it that will be searching for care? Consider both consumer and professional target markets and identify them.
Stage 2: Building and refining your website and local search
Now that you have a clear understanding of who you are, what you do and who you need to talk to, it’s time to look at your online presence. Your care home’s online presence is vital for attracting new residents and connecting with families.
Beyond a technically sound website that clearly communicates your services and values, it’s crucial to ensure this digital asset reflects the authentic warmth and quality of your care. Your website should perform well technically, but also communicate key messages to your audience. Think about whether your website’s look and feel truly matches the atmosphere of your home.
Prioritise Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to ensure that when families search for care homes like yours, they can find you organically. Your website is a powerful tool for outreach and engagement.
Although your home page/landing page is the most important, build the whole of your website with rich content and visual storytelling, ensuring your photos and videos are genuine and of good quality. Consider putting a spotlight on your staff and showcasing your testimonials.Don’t forget about accessibility and responsiveness, with links to your social media, and CQC and carehome.co.uk profiles.
Stage 3: Using content to establish your brand and expertise
To truly connect with your audience and establish your care home’s brand, you need to educate, engage with and build trust through authentic content. Don’t passively wait for families to discover your home – proactively push out compelling content that showcases who you are and what you offer.
Consider all your marketing collateral; from brochures and flyers to leaflets and merchandise. These materials are crucial for delivering your message, whether through paid distribution channels or organic reach with your community. It’s vital that all your collateral consistently portrays your care home in the same light as your website. This consistency ensures that all your messaging is clear and unified, and reinforces your brand identity across every touchpoint, building recognition and reliability.
Beyond physical materials, leverage your website’s written content with regularly updated blogs that provide valuable information for those looking for care. Case studies will also offer powerful real-life examples of how your care home positively impacts residents and families.
Stage 4: Engage with your audience and community and manage your reputation
It’s likely that you will be seeing some positive results from your marketing efforts as your audience discovers your home. In today’s fast-paced digital world, it’s now even more important to actively engage with your audience, and not just reach them. Consider the speed and tone of your responses to comments and messages on social media. Prompt and thoughtful replies demonstrate attentiveness and care. Similarly, monitor your online reviews closely; thanking your community for their support and addressing any feedback gracefully shows you value their input and are committed to improvements and quality care.
Beyond your digital space, make an effort to engage directly with your local community. Encourage your staff to form partnerships and get your residents involved. Supporting local groups and schools not only strengthens community ties but also significantly boosts word-of-mouth referrals. By actively being present and contributing, you’ll ensure people know your care home is a vital and caring part of the community.
Even with your strong organic efforts and community engagement, there’s a limit to how far your message can spread naturally. This is where paid advertising becomes a valuable marketing tool. It allows you to significantly broaden your reach and place your care home directly in front of highly targeted audiences who are actively searching for care solutions or who fit the demographic profile of your target audience.
The importance of paid advertising, such as Google Ads and social media campaigns, lies in its ability to deliver immediate visibility and highly targeted exposure. Your organic efforts can take time to deliver results, but your paid ads can put your care home at the top of search results or directly into the social feeds of your target audiences. This rapid reach can be critical in a competitive market, especially when you urgently need to fill bed spaces or recruit care workers.
Another benefit of paid advertising is the ability to control and measure. You can use many analytical tools to assess your digital marketing efforts. The care home sector is competitive – so be cautious with your budget and seek advice when setting up paid advertising.
Stage 6: Growth through networks and partnerships
While community engagement is crucial for word-of-mouth referrals, sustained growth for your care home also relies on your partnerships and networks. These direct relationships are fundamental to building heightened awareness and establishing your care home as a trusted solution within the broader care system. They create vital referral pathways and amplify your reputation through respected channels.
The key to this stage lies in actively engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders within the health and social care sectors. This includes establishing strong relationships with local GPs, hospitals, sheltered accommodation providers and retirement living communities. These organisations frequently encounter individuals and families in need of care services, making them invaluable sources of referrals and trusted advocates for your home.
Engagement with these critical partners should be a proactive effort, ideally led by the care home manager or owner (or CRMs for larger care groups). Direct, personal connections foster trust and provide an opportunity to showcase your expertise to these professionals about your unique services, the quality of your care and your specific offerings – perhaps specialised dementia care, respite, or rehabilitation support.
By nurturing these professional networks, your care home can unlock significant growth potential. Referrals from GPs, hospital discharge teams and other care providers often come with a high degree of trust already established, leading to warmer leads and a higher conversion rate. These partnerships will not only support your occupancy but also embed your care home more deeply into the local health and social care landscape.
Stage 7: Monitor your performance, adapt and improve
The nature of the social care sector and the digital landscape means that marketing for your care home is not a one-off task, but a continuous cycle of monitoring, adaptation and improvement. Always review your marketing efforts, how your brand is perceived, whether your core values are still true, and if you are still effectively reaching your target audience.
A critical part of this stage involves assessing what’s working and what isn’t across all your marketing channels. Are your paid ads delivering a good return on investment? Are specific blog posts driving more visits to your website than others? Is your community engagement leading to referrals? Data-driven insights are invaluable here, helping you understand where to allocate resources effectively and where adjustments are needed.
Based on these insights and the evolving landscape, you must be prepared to adapt. This could mean refining your ad targeting, updating your website content, shifting your social media focus, or even adjusting your visions and values. This process of monitoring, analysing and adjusting ensures your marketing and PR remains effective, your brand stays strong and your care home continues to attract the families who need your compassionate, high-quality care.