Does Your Home Care Have an Online Personality?
When it comes to any type of relationship, personality counts. For home care agencies looking to boost referrals, increase client load, and be seen as the expert in the area, building relationships is especially crucial. However, most home care agencies skip the most important part of building a relationship with online browsers and internet searchers (who could be their next client): having an engaging online personality.
As you look over your website, social media pages, online resource library, electronic newsletter, and other parts of your agency’s digital footprint, do you feel engaged or a little bored? Today’s consumers, whether they are looking for home care services for a loved one or a new book to read, begin their search online. A well curated digital footprint, along with posts that reinforce an engaging personality, can help potential clients form a relationship with your agency long before they pick up the phone and schedule that consultation.
Here’s how to do it.
Social Media Matters
Running a social media page for your home care agency can feel cumbersome at times. Posting a few times per week is one more thing to add to your long to-do list and it can be difficult to know what to post. Add in low engagement or low reach, and it can feel like social media isn’t worth it. But it is.
Make sure your are posting regularly on one or two social media platforms. You don’t have to have a presence on every platform. Instead, focus on choosing a platform or two where your potential clients are most active. In many markets, Facebook and Instagram is where it’s at.
Then, challenge yourself to post at least 2 times per week. Make the content original, including graphics that are branded.
Create a Relationship with Your Audience
Online engagement increases as the community begins to form a relationship with the agency who is posting. One great way to start that relationship is to create touchpoints that your readers can expect and look forward to. Try posting a family caregiver affirmation each Thursday on social media or add a Staff Quote section to your monthly newsletter.
Eventually, you can form “inside jokes” or IYKYK moments with your community. This boosts the chances of them coming back to your content, wherever it is located, again and again.
Have a Face, Not Just a Voice
In marketing, we talk a lot about a company’s voice. However, we don’t talk enough about a company’s face. Most home care agencies I work with have a website full of stock photos. After we work together on copywriting, I usually suggest swapping out stock photos for pictures of real team members, especially those who lead the organization. A four-hour photo session with caregivers and leaders can leave you with hundreds of photos of the people who make your agency unique and special; it’s well worth it.
In addition to using photos of real team members on your website, consider having regular appearances of team members on your social media, video resource library, and newsletter as well. Adding this human touch will help readers become connected to your agency even more quickly.
Have a team who doesn’t want to get in front of the camera too often? Consider using the agency’s pet dog to post fun, intriguing content. Who doesn’t love a good dog pic and story?
Use Video
It can seem intimidating at first, but getting online in a video format can engage your audience quickly and get them to trust you even sooner. Try going live to answer a few questions once a month on social media or create quick videos that recap the information in your monthly blog post.
Keep It Professional
Having an engaging online personality doesn’t mean you have to stop being professional. Instead, keep a professional tone and language, but lighten it up a bit, especially when posting on social media.
Let Me Help
Starting a targeted focus on creating an online personality and engaging digital footprint can feel overwhelming at first. But don’t worry: I can help! I would love to get to know more about your agency and provide you with a customized calendar that will keep you on task without adding too much to your workload. Let’s chat about it!
Here’s to working on creating an online personality that matches the one you already have in real life!
