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Shifting Home Healthcare Digital Marketing Strategies During A Crisis

Forbes Communications Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Karina Tama-Rutigliano

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Whenever there is a change in the need for services, there is a need to change up your business strategy. This remains true even in times of crisis.

Working as a digital marketer for my clients in the senior care industry, I’m observing changes in visiting protocols and in roles and priorities for home healthcare providers due to the impacts of COVID-19.

As clients move further down the sales funnel, it’s sometimes more productive for a salesperson to either meet the prospect in person or for the prospect to make a visit to the office. During this time, however, most facilities have needed to close their doors due to social distancing and for the safety of those they care for.

With salespeople and administrators now working from home, they should consider new communications strategies and prioritize marketing for referrals. Here are several steps to take to adjust your marketing and communications to meet the needs of your prospective clients during this difficult time.

Reassess Your Audience

With the changes in home healthcare service delivery, I suggest considering two segments of your marketing audience: patients who have been discharged from the hospital, and seniors who need to be admitted to an acute-care setting but might not be able to due to the impacts of COVID-19 leaving fewer open hospital beds.

The latter segment includes people who you may have gotten referrals for in the past. You likely also have a list of dropped referrals for people who weren’t interested in the past, but this may have changed under the current circumstances. For the sake of productivity, it’s a good idea to review your list of dropped referrals weekly, if not daily. This is also a critical time to keep in close contact with your referral partners such as families, patients and other healthcare providers.

Provide Information On A Variety Of Channels

In rethinking your marketing strategy around the changing times, it’s important to change your messaging in a way that calls each audience segment’s attention to how you can provide specialized care for the people who need it. I’ve found success communicating this type of message on a combination of the following platforms: local media outlets, social media, videos, webinars.

More than ever, people are looking online for new information on the virus. Blog articles that cite reputable sources of information can inform people on what they want to know, and if you post them daily, you can educate your prospects and build trust in your referral base.

Be Visible And Available In Your Community

During times of crisis, it’s important to meet the needs of your community. In the home healthcare industry, I’m seeing a need to help communities deal with the range of emotions that people are experiencing because of this crisis. It has generated a host of fears over jobs, food supplies, healthcare, the economy and more. In addition, now and in the future, there is a need to help people deal with issues related to trauma and bereavement.

Now is the time to put your social workers and care management counselors to work doing what they do best. And in your marketing communications materials, it’s important to communicate the services you have available that can help your clients and prospective clients during this difficult time. Just be sure you’re coming from a place of genuinely wanting to offer value so that consumers don’t get the sense you’re looking to benefit from the crisis.

Stay Current By Researching National Trends

The crisis is peaking in various parts of the country at different times. To stay up to date and informed, follow the national trends, and learn what’s working and what’s not in different geographical areas.

Industry organizations, such as the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) provide a wealth of information to keep you updated. These are excellent resources to help inform your content strategy so you can communicate the proper information with your audiences.

Prepare For Staffing Needs

Strong marketing strategies could fill your sales funnel. Are you adequately staffed to take on the need for this new demographic of clients?

Based on what I’m seeing, quality home caregivers are in higher demand more than ever before. In addition to reaching prospective clients who need you most and ensuring your organization is communicating the ways it’s able to help people get through this difficult time, your digital marketing strategy can also help with caregiver recruitment efforts to fill your organization’s staffing needs. For example, now might be the time to offer bonuses for caregiver referrals and continued employment.

This is a difficult time for many, and especially in the home healthcare industry, a sensitive approach and the ability to provide the information and services that can help your prospective clients should be at the forefront of your digital marketing and communications efforts.

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