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In this article I am going to help you answer possibly the most important question of all in marketing your care home. You may think that it is 'how do I find new clients?' and that is of course important. But first you must take it back even further and ask yourself this fundamental question:
Who is my ideal Client?
To be effective it is essential to be able to match your advertising and promotion as closely as possible to the person you want to attract. You must try to enter the conversation they are having in their head about their care requirements and to do this you really need to know your ideal client very well.
Let me give you an example. Say you specialise in Dementia Care. Anyone who is not looking for dementia care is of no interest to you whatsoever. Yet you would not believe the number of these homes that advertise or have web sites that say some thing like the following:
Headline: XYZ Residential Care Home
Text: Welcome to xzy residential home. We are a family run home who have been in business 20 years and are situated in the village of Pleasantville. Xyz is a registered home and complies with all regulations under the Care Standards Act 2000 and the inspectorate body CSCI
The home is run by Mr Jollyman, the proprietor and has a full time Registered Manager. We have 25 beds, 6 with ensuite…etc., etc. You get the idea.
I will come back to this type of advert/brochure/web site in future ramblings because it is so dreadful there are many lessons to be learned. But firstly can you spot the glaring omission?
There is no mention that you specialise in dementia care. The whole thing should be written around the needs, wants and fears of someone looking for a specialist in dementia care. As it stands it is too general and would attract all manner of residential clients, who are of course no interest to you as a dementia care specialist.
The whole idea was summed up beautifully by one of the most successful advertising experts ever Claude Hopkins. He said "Your message should single out your prospect like a bell-boy paging a man in a crowded hotel lobby"
Who is your real client?
In the example above, the real client is not the person with dementia who lives in your care home, but the person who makes the decision about which home the dementia sufferer lives in. This is the person your marketing should be aimed at. This is your real client.
So take some time to define your ideal client in great detail. Who are they? What sex are they? What age? Where do they live? What publications do they read? Where do they get their information from? Who are they making the decision on behalf of?
A great way to find answer to these questions is to look at your existing residents. Who were their decision makers? Chances are the people you need to attract will be a lot like them.
Now check your own promotional material with your newly focussed eye and ask yourself the following searching questions:
1. Does it specifically state the type of clients you want to attract?
2. Does it talk to the wants, needs and fears of the real decision maker?
3. Are you getting it in front of the real decision maker so they know who you are?
If not, you are wasting your money and missing valuable opportunities to fill your home with profitable clients.
Please give some serious thought to this issue. Get this right and you are well on your way to never having to worry about getting clients again. With future tips I'll show you how to effortlessly attract new clients almost at will.
However, get it wrong by aiming at the wrong people and you are making life very hard for yourself indeed.
As the old Chinese proverb says 'The pathway is clear. Why do you throw rocks before you' (damn useful those fortune cookies)
Bye For Now,
Simon Beck
CareHomeMarkeingExpert
Need Someone To Do Your Marketing For You? CLICK HERE
If you found this useful or if you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to add them below.
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