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External Marketing: Reaching Out to Get Clients and Referrals
Hoosier Homecare & Hospice Conference
May 12, 2010
facebook.com/merrily.orsinifacebook.com/corecubed
@MerrilyO
Merrily Orsini, MSSWManaging Directorcorecubed
Strategic Marketing Questions for Planning
► Before you set out on a marketing/PR campaign, it is imperative to understand who your customer is, and what messages they should be getting about your business.
Strategic Marketing Questions
► What do you want customers to “think” about you?
► What subject matter is of greatest interest to them?
Strategic Marketing Questions
► What is your sales model? How are you “selling”your services now?
► What sales methods are effective? ► Do sales methods vary by targeted customer or
service?
Strategic Marketing Questions
► What message is of the greatest interest to your customers?
► Does that message vary by customer segment or service?
► To what kind of information are they most receptive?
Strategic Marketing Questions
► To what mediums are they most receptive? (direct mail, seminars, ads on radio, social media, etc.)
► Which of your messages has the greatest potential to impact beliefs?
► Are their seasonal opportunities?► What MUST your potential customers know about
you?
Strategic Marketing Questions
► What do you think you know about your target markets?
► In the past, what campaign(s) have you done and how successful have the effort(s) been?
Strategic Marketing Questions
► What major opportunities will you face in the next 6 months? 12 months? Over the next 2–3 years?
► What major problems/barriers to success exist or do you anticipate in the next 6–12 months? In the next 2–3 years?
Basic Promotion Strategies for In-Home Care
THE NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK
Understanding how small your target really is
Your target client?
So what is the strategy?
► Go to those who have the potential to refer clients► Look for joint venture opportunities► Always be looking ahead for places to market that
might have the potential to refer
Who are the best referral targets?► Trust officers for those with
uninvolved or no families
► Estate and trust attorneys
► Elder law attorneys
► Guardianship organizations and individual guardians
► Long-term care insurance agents
► Physicians with elderly patients (affluent clients are key to the private pay market)
► Discharge planners
► Nursing case managers
► Pharmacists
► Dentists
► Rehabilitation centers
► Medicare agencies (those who do not offer private duty) for when Medicare is exhausted
► Funeral home directors
► CPAs
► Real estate agents
► All chronic disease associations
How do you reach the referral market?
► Web site, cross links and offering resource downloads
► Direct personalized mail with a growing list as you identify more targets
► Educational seminars or presentations► Short informative emails► Social media► Get articles and mentions in the media
What messages work?
► Think what interests each audience.► Physicians – what do they need to know?► Churches, clergy – what would help them the
most in their counsel with frail elderly?► Geriatric care managers – what tools could you
provide them that would interest them in referring to you?
► Medicare agencies who do not have private pay – can you educate them about private duty?
► Funeral home directors – a secure referral when there is a spouse in dire need of care.
Educational seminars or presentations as public relations
► That inform about subjects relating to aging or options for long-term care or home care
► That offer helpful tools to solve aging and long-term care problems
► That are listed and offered on your Web site in case someone is browsing and is interested for their community group or conference
Increasing types and numbers of referrals will increase business
► Ask every inquiry, “Where did you hear about us?”
► Track who is referring► Get their name, address, phone and email
addresses► Follow up with them when a referral becomes a
client► Thank them for the referral
Branding is in the Mind
“A product is made in a factory; a brand is made
in the mind.”
— Walter Landor
Branding Thought Process
ImplementImplement
Who are we? Who do we want to be? How do we get there?
INTERNALINTERNALANALYSISANALYSIS
EXTERNALEXTERNALANALYSISANALYSIS
ASSUMPTIONSASSUMPTIONS
PositioningPositioning
DifferentiationDifferentiation
FocusFocus
MKTMKTPlanPlan
VISION
Why is BRANDING
important for my agency?
How BRANDINGplays a role in
EFFECTIVE MARKETING
Recognition and Reinforcement
► Research in psychology has shown that recognition alone creates more positive feelings than nearly anything.
► Consumers instinctively prefer something that they’ve previously seen to something that is new to them.
Marketing Materials:► Logo► Web site► Brochure(s)► Business identity materials ► Press releases► Email correspondence► Blogs► Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Marketing Touches:► Agency Office► Caregivers
► Logo wear
► Operational► Agency consent forms► Information left in patients’ homes
The Agency Web Site: Purpose► Attracting, educating and recruiting customers
and referral sources► A media resource► A road map as to services provided and locations
served► Attracting, educating and recruiting employees
The Agency Web Site
► Serves as a help to those seeking to refer for care
► Serves as another way to educate referral sources and the public
► Serves as a way to get customers, referrals► Who designs, builds and maintains the site
makes the difference in professional, user-friendly and a referral generator or NOT
Web Site
► They have to either know about you and be seeking you, or
► They have to be searching for a solution in your geographic area
► You can offer resourceful downloads► Have a sign-up for the short, informational emails► Post media hits and interesting articles► Offer educational seminars or presentations
Social Media► Two-way communication► Personal► Makes rankings better for SEO► New and unexplored tactic for marketing► Allows consumers to weigh in on services
Media Relations► Why media relations is the most effective tactic► The value of good press► Implementing media relations► Finding a story► Building media relationships► The big pitch
Basic Components of Strategic Branding►Research►Plan►Implement
Research
1. Know your competition and where you fit.2. Know yourself.
► Preferred client base.► Referral sources, current and potential.
Plan
3. Schedule something regularly.4. Vary activities across media, events, personal
contacts.5. Base plan on a set % of revenue and do as much
as you can within that budget.6. Understand your staff is your “face” to the public.
Implement
7. Make your marketing tasks a priority.8. Follow all leads, record them and follow up.
Implement
9. Revisit the plan quarterly and► Keep the research current.► Revise the plan as necessary,
based on what is most effective.► Make your staff a part of the process.
Failure to serve your right customer only leads
to frustration and dissatisfaction
Putting the Pieces Together
► Demystifying a strategic plan for your agency► Bringing in the team. Who does what?► Measuring results and ROI
Define your ACTION STEPS today for SUCCESS TOMORROW
For More Information
On Merrily Orsini:800.370.6580 x5
facebook.com/merrily.orsini
@MerrilyO
On Our Products/Services:corecubed: Monthly Marketing Communications, Design and PR corecubed.com
Monthly Marketing Communications Specific to In-Home Care MOST4YourMarketing.com
Home Care: Design and Products for the Home Care Provider MarketHomeCare.com
Blog — Reaching a Mature Market MerrilyOrsini.com
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