A team approach to elder care marketing is a very effective avenue to expand and maintain your client base. Clearly, strength exists in numbers. A group of elder care professionals working together can reach more candidates and referrals than one marketer working alone. The baby boomers are aging; elder care needs in the senior industry are rising and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. An elder care marketing team is essential to meet the demands of the growing senior population. Building a team to assist in marketing creates opportunities. Let’s get started.
Headhunters need not apply – utilize resources already in place. The marketing team approach is not just about amassing a group. The goal is to combine talent, skill and commitment. The best strategy in assembling your elder care team is to utilize the resources you already have in place. Each individual employed at your company possesses specific skills and knowledge in the world of elder care. Hiring additional marketers is not always necessary when some of the best and most committed spokespersons to connect with potential clients/referral sources are already working with you. Consider inviting them to be part of the elder marketing care team.
Cover your bases and create a diverse team of elder care experts. Examine your list of personnel. If you work in a community setting, it is full with experts in administration, nursing, rehabilitation, activities and other areas of elder care. Think outside the traditional marketing box and include departments such as maintenance, housekeeping and food service. They assist in ensuring that the community is well maintained – a key component of marketing. There is value in incorporating the receptionist who greets guests as they enter the building – first impressions are important. Quite simply, everyone who is employed at the facility is a potential member of the marketing team. They each have their own professional contacts and expertise. Also, they interact with guests, service professionals, family members and potential clients on a daily basis.
Combine efforts and talents for better results. It is working smart to create a diverse team. The elder care marketer has a broad base of product and industry knowledge. However, it is simply not attainable for the single marketer to know more about nursing than a nurse or more about rehabilitation than someone who is degreed in the field. Each potential client has different needs. A client or their family may focus on rehabilitative services while another client may be more concerned about staff personality. The intake person can call on a team member to discuss specific needs with the client. It is about pulling together expertise. Marketing opportunities exist every day – all day. Team members can be educated to incorporate marketing into their daily activities and to always wear their marketing hats! Request each team member to commit two marketing hours per week – which collectively translates into an additional 15 to 20 hours of marketing in the same time frame. Together, the team can reach more and perhaps better contacts for referral sources in a shorter period of time.
Create your elder care marketing team and build a strong census, a strong organization and team camaraderie. You’ll be happy you did!
Marla Levie, BSW, MA, President and Founder of Focus on Aging, has successfully been providing marketing consulting, social media and recruiting services to the elder care market and to other service-related professions in the Chicago area for over 20 years. Use the contact tab to email Marla for additional information about her services.
