9 Hospice Marketing Ideas that Get Customers

Hospice Marketing Ideas

Hospice is a very unique business wherein a provider cannot count on repeat business. While a patient may survive for a few months, every person put on hospice will be terminally ill. This means that eventually, they will no longer be clients. However, there are a few ways to continually market hospice services so that there are always patients that need to be cared for adequately.

Health Conventions

Health conventions are a great marketing method because someone in the audience will find hospice services to be a better alternative to hospital care for clients. By explaining the benefits that hospice provides and offering solid advice, it will be possible to boost leads greatly through health conventions.

Elderly Homes

While unfortunate, going to a target audience is easy with elderly homes. As a person gets older, the chances of needing your services will grow greatly. Elderly patients and their families can be approached to offer a better alternative to hospital care. Instead, promote the fact that the ill patient will be able to be treated at their own home and will be much more comfortable as a result. Putting on a presentation or handing out fliers at these facilities is another great avenue of promotion.

Provide Cheaper Alternatives to Hospital Care

Marketing hospice as a cheaper alternative to hospital care is a great approach. Clients and their families do not want to worry about insurance covering their medical bills and since hospice is cheaper, it only makes sense to promote the fact.

Remember Past Client’s Families

There are always special clients that will stick in a person’s mind. By remembering these clients, it is also possible to remind families about the service provided. This can be done immediately after a patient passes with a simple condolences card or it can be done months later. Either way, this is a sincere way to remind the family of past clients just how well their loved ones were cared for.

Sponsor a Family

By sponsoring a family, it will be possible to help the local community and promote your hospice services at the same time. This can be done by visiting a hospital and picking one family to sponsor for free. The press will usually pick up on these offerings and will be able to help enhance your public image and market yourself further. One act of kindness can boost sales dramatically.

Signage

Current clients may allow you to place a sign in their yard advertising your services. This is normally done with a small discount, but it is not always a necessity. If a neighborhood is particularly busy, this can help to boost sales dramatically. Surrounding neighbors will also be more susceptible to using your services since this is a form of referral that was seen right in their front yard.

Market in Elderly Publications

There are a plethora of magazines and periodicals that are aimed at the elderly. It is never too early for a person to inquire about hospice care even when they are currently healthy. If an ad is taken out in one of these publications, it will provide a seed in the reader’s mind that could develop into a future client. Advertising using publications is often preferred with hospice as the normal client base is not as computer savvy as younger generations.

Classifieds and Yellow Pages

The clients that need hospice will need a way to find your services easily. Local classified ads as well as the yellow pages offer advertisement spots. Purchase one of these locations to ensure that your ad has the visibility it needs to stand out amongst the competition. Do not forget to add your listing to online classifieds as well as directories. These are two great outlets that can be used to further boost exposure and marketing efforts.

Network with Doctors

When a patient has been diagnosed as terminally ill, they will have received this diagnosis from a medical professional. Networking with local doctors will provide a great base for referrals. Friendly doctors will offer referrals for free and will simply be happy that their patients can rest peacefully at home. Other doctors will request a referral fee which will usually be provided as a way to entice a doctor into providing referrals your way. Since this referral system will likely only work in one direction, a new referral fee will definitely help boost the number of willing doctors.

Hospice is a very unique industry where customers will not likely result in referrals. However, a little bit of effort and the right hospice marketing ideas can turn a slow season into one that is filled with patients that need the proper care during their final days or weeks. Through the use of various marketing outlets, it will be possible to enhance the image of a hospice provider and draw in continual clients.