“Assisted Living and skilled nursing providers feel they don’t need to pay attention to digital marketing. Their census is controlled by the direct referrals they receive from the hospitals so there is no need for any investment in their online brand.”
This was a comment that an audience member shared with me after my recent presentation; The 4 A’s of Inbound Digital Marketing: Assess, Align, Automate & Analyze to the Maine Health Care Association annual assisted living conference. Surprised? You should be because your online brand does influence your census.
Proof of Brand Quality
What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.
–Mark Twain
I was fortunate enough during this conference to listen to Lindsay B. Schwartz, Ph. D., from the National Center for Assisted Living give an update on emerging industry trends. Aside from changing payment models, state and federal regulatory developments and quality initiatives that will help assisted living organizations be successful in the future, Dr. Schwartz also voiced the need for providers to ensure they reflected their positive brand attributes online.
Why? Because you have two sets of customers researching your brand online; 1) Adult children searching for answers to help with aging parents and 2) Referral sources such as ACO’s, provider groups and community based services researching quality services to align with.
If you think your online brand isn’t important to your census, consider this research:
- 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (imFORZA.com)
- 41% of patients said social media would affect their choice of a specific hospital, medical facility or doctor (2012 Google Compete Hospital Study)
- 59% of caregivers with internet access use online resources to help them provide care and support for a family member (Pew Research 2013)
- 70% of consumers trust the word of family and friends first, online reviews second (PrWeb)
- Online reviews impact 67.7% of online decisions (Moz)
- 90% of surveyed respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86% said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews (Dimensional Research)
What to Consider for Your Online Brand
Dr. Schwartz pointed out a number of avenues that providers should use. Mainly, because their prospective patients, family and collaborative partners are. Regardless of whether a referral source is directing patients or residents to a provider, these individuals still have the right to make the best decision for themselves.
The internet is the easiest and fastest means for them to research and learn about your brand and services. Areas to focus your online marketing efforts should be:
- Website user experience and content that demonstrates your quality results
- Social channels like Facebook and LinkedIn
- Directories such as Yelp and Google My Business (Review sites)
Investing in a measurable inbound digital marketing program is an essential ingredient for preventing potential new admissions and move-ins from choosing your competitor over you due to your online brand.
Final Thoughts
Remember perception is reality. You may deliver exceptional service, however if potential leads can’t find you online or your brand image delivers a poor user experience or reputation, then you lost the opportunity to reach your census or occupancy goals. You invest in every other area of your business to ensure staff of the equipment and resources to deliver quality services -Wouldn’t marketing and sales be as high or higher priority since it’s responsible for keeping your pipeline full of leads and closing admissions and move-ins?
Maybe it’s time to take a look at your online inbound digital marketing strategy.
