3 Proven Ways to Market Your Hospice Services

When it comes to how people view hospice providers and services, there is a lot of confusion, frustration, and a lack of understanding.

Although there has been a recent shift in perspective, now, more than ever, it’s important to correct these misconceptions and to promote your organization as a reliable, trustworthy and care-oriented organization.

But how do you do that?

There are several things your hospice could be doing to market your services, and to ultimately grow your referral network and help more people.

How to Market Your Hospice Services

Hospice marketing isn’t much different than marketing for other healthcare providers. Some areas in which healthcare marketers are successful with their marketing includes:

• Email marketing
• Blog writing
• PPC ads

We’ll walk you through the benefits of each one of these marketing tactics, and give you some ideas to help you get started.

Marketing Your Hospice Services Through Blogging

Content marketing via blogging, is a simple way to set your website up for success. It’s a vital part of any marketing plan. Without a blog, you’re missing out on primary avenues for education and getting attention, which in turn lead to more community outreach and referrals.

There are many different avenues in which someone searching for hospice services may come across your website. Publishing new content via a blog can increase your chances of being seen on Google or other search engines.

Having a blog establishes you as a reliable source of valuable information. It sets you apart from your competitors, and makes you an authority on the services you offer.

A medical blog with quality, detailed posts is a great way to get helpful information out to your community, potential patients and loved ones looking for your services.

Some ideas for blog topics may include:

• When Is It Time to Discuss Hospice Care?
• The Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care
• When Hospice Care May be Right For You

Email Marketing for Your Hospice Services

What is one of the best marketing tools at your disposal? Email marketing.

Not only is email a way to reach your audience with one single message, but it also has a proven record of having a high return on investment or ROI. According to HubSpot, for every dollar you spend on email it has consistently produced anywhere from a $40-$44 return. This makes email marketing pretty tempting.

When setting up your marketing plan, an email strategy should be a top priority. This provides an opportunity to reach future patients and their loved ones. Email marketing gives you a way to connect, educate, and help your community feel involved in the care you are providing.

One valuable way to keep the attention of those who are researching Advanced Care Planning for a loved one and have reached out to your facility is through a drip campaign, or a series of emails sent out over a certain time frame.

When you set up an email drip campaign, keep in mind that the information of your emails is just as important as the order in which you send them. We’ve written previously about email drip campaigns for hospices and their benefits.

Unsure of when it may be appropriate to send an email as a hospice provider? Here are our suggestions:

• When someone has reached out for more information about your Advanced Care services for a loved one.
• When you are introducing any new additions to your facility or services you provide.
• When sharing information regarding your support groups or other facility events.
• After you receive a referral.

Email marketing also provides an opportunity to educate your audience about hospice care by sharing your recent blogs in a monthly newsletter.

Make Pay-Per-Click Advertising Work For You

Pay-per-click advertising, or PPC, is another valuable tool that can be integrated into most marketing campaigns if you want to drive measurable results.

Paid digital advertising allows you to only pay when someone clicks on your ad. There are a number of benefits PPC provides that makes this type of advertising an easy addition for hospices to use in their marketing mix.

PPC ads let you pay to be seen at the top of Google and across a multitude of websites. You may also try retargeting ads.

Remember that jacket you were looking at online? Now you are seeing it in ads across all your media channels. You are being “served” these ads due to that company’s retargeting campaign.

PPC also increases your brand awareness. Research shows that even if someone doesn’t click on your ad, just seeing it gives them more confidence in your brand which increases clicks on your organic (not paid) listings in Google or Bing.

“Think of your hospice marketing plan as a healthy human body – PPC is the arm and hand waving visitors and potential patients over to your website,” says PPC expert, Chrissy Holleman.

Now you may be wondering: is PPC hard to implement?

Paid digital advertising is not a “set it and forget it” type of marketing service; it’s both an art and a science. You would be wise to hire someone with expertise in paid digital advertising to set up and manage PPC for your hospice.

Not Sure if You’re Up For The Challenge?

Thinking this sounds like a lot of work? Or that you don’t have the time to manage an email marketing campaign or don’t understand how PPC works?

Whether you need assistance with all three aspects of this marketing plan, or just one, we would love to help drive traffic to your website.

We have proven success when it comes to building a referral network for hospice providers and a whole team of marketing experts here for you.

Contact Us today if you would like to discuss your marketing needs and learn more about how we can be a smart investment for your business.