As part of our on-going effort to help our senior living and home care partners develop content marketing strategies that connect and engage, we routinely feature industry leaders on our blog. We know real world examples of care providers who successfully utilize content marketing and social media are helpful to others who are just getting started or are struggling to find their voice.
This month I asked one of our home care clients Jarod Karns, the Director of Digital Marketing for Griswold Home Care, to join us. He graciously agreed.
Tips for Home Care Content Marketing Success
Shelley: What makes home care content successful?
Jarod: Not all home care content is successful. There is a lot of ‘fluff’ in the industry. Content should be considered ‘successful’ only if the information provided is specifically answering a question or speaking to the pain points of those in need of home care. Often, content is being created simply for keyword ranking and search engine optimization, and although those things are important for the creators of the content, the audience’s perspective must be taken into account. If the creator of the content is only regurgitating information found elsewhere, or jamming the content full of keywords just for ranking’s sake, individuals reading the content will notice. Make sure when producing new content to ask yourself “Would somebody find this information useful?” If the answer is “No” then dig a little deeper to provide some true value.
Shelley: What do you think has made Griswold so successful in your content marketing efforts?
Jarod: We’ve spent a lot of time discussing topics of interest for those in need of home care and trying to identify the specific pain points. We focus on specific disease states and other life events where home care may play a significant role in increasing one’s quality of life. Often times those in need are not even aware that non-medical home care exists or what it can do to help them with their activities of daily living. There is an element of educating the marketplace on the benefits of home care and what it brings to the table, and our content directly focuses on providing resources and educational information for those that could use a hand at home.
Shelley: For a small agency with a limited staff and tight budget, what would you recommend as their first step in to content marketing?
Jarod: You don’t necessarily need a large budget for content marketing. Simply creating a blog and continuously posting on a reoccurring basis can work wonders. I’d suggest not posting any less than once per week in order to keep your audience engaged. You don’t have to be a professional writer or literary scholar either. Sometimes the more engaging content is written by those that don’t sound overly academic. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes at the expense of providing value. If you have an idea or information that you want your audience to know, get it out there.
Shelley: How do you manage your editorial calendar?
Jarod: We have a pretty thorough process in place that involves several team members including marketing specialists, writers, editors, and even designers. There’s a lot of moving pieces and coordinating the content can be a fairly large task. However, creating content doesn’t need to be so complex. We started small and grew over time as we decided to get into different types of content (downloadable assets, infographics, webinars, etc.) and incorporate some different perspectives from great writers. If you have one writer (or you, yourself are the writer), managing the content can be a piece of cake. If and when you decide to branch out into some different areas, managing the content can start to become somewhat overwhelming. Assigning an individual to focus on managing the process is probably your best bet.
Shelley: What percent of your leads originate online?
This is really difficult to determine. It’s still my belief that this industry is predominantly a referral business. Creating relationships with medical professionals, social workers, discharge planners, and others treating those that are in need of home care is still the best place to tap into potential clients. However, today there is definitely more independent research being done online by families that have a loved one in need. As those that are more technology competent age, and their parents also age, a migration to online search is inevitable. There may come a day where online home care leads are more on a level playing field with the referral source market, but the industry is not there yet. Referral source marketing will never be fully replaced. Building relationships in your community and providing excellent service to become a preferred home care provider for referral sources will always be a core marketing strategy for non-medical home care companies.
Shelley: Which type of content generates the most interest — evergreen topics or trending ones?
Jarod: A healthy mix of both is needed. For instance, there will always be families looking for help with Alzheimer ’s disease and dementia care, so creating ‘evergreen’ content on this subject is a necessity. However, riding a viral wave such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 can really generate some interest as well. It’s really difficult to predict viral content, in fact, it’s basically impossible. As content marketers, it’s best to focus on the topics that large volumes of individuals are searching for information on, while still keep your ear to the ground for current events and newsworthy topics. Better yet, focusing on the off-beat niches within a topic of major interest can really turn some eyeballs to your content.
Shelley: If you could offer one piece of advice to senior care providers who haven’t yet dipped their toe in to content marketing, what would that be?
Jarod: I have two equally important suggestions.
- Provide your own perspective, or at least a different perspective than everything else that is out there. At Griswold Home Care we recognize those that are really providing value in the industry, as well as those that are creating content just to do it. Don’t be the latter. Only create content if the goal is to help those that are in need of home care. If your content is just clogging the airways and taking up consumers’ time as they navigate through the clutter, your efforts won’t be worth the return. When you start hearing people talk about your content online and offline in a positive way, you’ll know that you are doing the right thing.
- Make the decision to engage in content marketing for the long term. It can take a long time (months or years) to really start to see results. A lot of marketers make the mistake of setting high expectations for the near term. Though ambitious, these expectations are probably not realistic. It takes time to really build a reputation through content marketing. You might write 100 blog posts before you notice an increase in traffic to your site or see any real engagement with your content. This is to be expected. It only takes a few pieces of content to really take off and get you or your company noticed. Stick with it. Stay focused on the quality of the content you provide, and you will eventually see the benefits of your hard work.
Shelley: We’ll wrap up by offering our thanks to Jarod for sharing his expertise and insight. I’m sure these tips will be helpful to small home care agencies struggling to get started in content marketing.
As always, we invite you to shoot us a note if you would like help developing your home care content strategy or with writing quality-focused, unique and relevant content…
Griswold Home Care is one of the nation’s oldest non-medical home care companies referring caregivers to seniors, the elderly & disabled adults since 1982. The CaringTimes Blog is the nation’s #1 home care blog, and provides information on aging issues and the benefits of non-medical home care.