Home care agency referrals are hard to come by, but the right email marketing strategy will keep them coming in regularly. If there’s any doubt about the benefits of email marketing campaigns, take a look at this research by Statista:

·   There were 3.9 billion email users in 2019.

·   Email users are projected to increase to 4.3 billion users in 2023. (half the world’s population)

Email marketing is a low-cost way to connect with referrals in a targeted manner. A home care referral program is something that’s sure to attract the attention of quality caregivers and help you build a team of providers to be rivaled by other providers.

Here are a few more statistics that give you an idea of the importance of continually recruiting a strong pipeline of home caregivers:

·   Employment for home care providers is projected to grow by 34% by 2029. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

·   34.2 million adults in the U.S. are caregivers to an adult over the age of 50 (AARP)

·   Recruiting caregivers edges out caregiver turnover as a top concern for home care agencies (2018 Home Care Benchmarking Study)

Getting Referrals from Your Employees

In the home care business, your reputation depends on finding and recruiting the very best caregivers. The challenge is, where do you find them? When you implement an email marketing campaign you won’t lose sleep over finding caregivers to serve your clients.

You might be surprised to learn that the best source of referral comes directly from your existing caregivers. Why not tap into their network of peers and friends? A strategy that’s highly effective for is senior care referrals is building a caregiver referral program that offers rewards.

All you need to do is set up an email marketing workflow to inform your caregivers about your home care referral program and set an amount to offer as a reward.

Here are some tips for a successful referral marketing program:

·   Set a reasonable and affordable reward amount. Home care agencies typically offer around $100.

·   Establish a timeframe for how long your caregivers have to submit referrals. It’s common to limit the campaign to between 1-3 months for hiring.

·   Log your referral activity and track the candidates. Keep your referring caregivers in the loop regarding the status of hiring.

·   Work to get strong visibility for your referral campaign.

Here’s Why Email Marketing Solutions Work

Social media campaigns work well, but email marketing campaigns for home health care referrals can work even better.

Here are three reasons why:

1. Facebook sets limits on the number of times your post appears in the news feed. They do this because they want to drive brands to buy paid ads. As a result, only 2% of your Facebook fans will see your posts in their news feed. With an email marketing campaign, 90% of your messages will be delivered to the intended inbox.

2. Your email subscribers have not opted out of your email campaign. Most people are aware of the laws and regulations around SPAM emails. If they’re still getting your emails it’s because they are interested in reading them.

3. An email marketing campaign is a marketing strategy that gives you a return on investment over the long term.

The primary purpose of social networks is to communicate online with friends and family members. By contrast, most people tend to view email as a more professional type of communication. In general, people tend to look for information about products and services in their email messages and that means there’s a good chance they’ll open your emails.

Imagine your caregivers’ joy and surprise when they read about your home care referral program and learn about an opportunity to earn some extra cash.

Referral marketing is a win-win situation for you and your caregivers. It helps you find quality caregivers without digging too much into your budget, and your caregivers get to make some extra money along the way.

Communicate Your Home Care Referral Program with Caregivers

As a home care agency business owner, your days are jam-packed with important tasks and activities. Due to the nature of home caregiving, and the fact that your caregivers are working variable shifts, it’s not generally possible for you to have regular in-person meetings with all of your caregivers at once. With an email marketing campaign, you can communicate your home care referral program with your caregivers, and they can read it at their convenience.

In any industry, professionals network with people in similar industries. Caregivers are no exception. They become acquainted with other caregivers during educational and training classes. Often, they touch base with other caregivers as they start or end a shift. Naturally, they’ll be talking about the companies they work for. Happy caregivers will be happy to share the news that your home care agency is hiring. A reward program will motivate them to tell other caregivers about the positive experiences they’ve had serving the clients within your agency.

As a word of caution, it can be a bit of a double-edged sword. When caregivers aren’t happy, it can harm your reputation. It’s vital to engage with your caregivers and support them so they can be successful. They’re the lifeblood of your agency and you want to make sure they feel that way.

Here are some tips for how to get your caregivers involved in your home care referral program:

·   Verify that you have accurate contact information for every caregiver Including their preferred email address.

·   Ask them to register for company emails and updates by text.

·   Ask them to follow your social media platforms.

It goes without saying that the more quality caregivers you can employ, the more cases you can take on, and the more profitable your home care agency will be.

Utilize all your communication channels to promote your email marketing campaign including emails, texts, and social media postings.

Creating a Winning Senior Care Referrals Program

Once you set up your email marketing workflow, you need to set up a plan to fulfill your promise to deliver the reward to your caregivers. Set up an email marketing workflow that insurers your caregivers will remain motivated to keep preferring quality caregivers.

The following five steps will ensure a successful home care referral program:

1. Emphasize that you are only looking for the most qualified caregivers.

2. Offer an initial bonus at the initial hiring for caregiver referrals that work more than 35 hours per week.

3. Offer a second bonus when the referred caregiver remains in your employment for a specified period of time, perhaps a year.

4. Incentivize your caregivers a bit more when they refer three or more high-quality caregivers. It can be a monetary reward or some other gift such as a shirt with the company logo or other promotional item along with a sincere thank you note.

5. Pay your rewards to your caregivers in a timely manner. They’re going to the trouble of referring caregivers to your agency and by paying them promptly, your caregivers are building trust in you as their employer.  

Your caregivers care about their job and they’ll likely refer other caregivers within their circle of peers that they consider to be high quality. A home care referral program gives you an opportunity to reward them for helping you find the best caregivers within your community.

Establishing Your Email Marketing Workflow

An email marketing platform will help you set up a sequence of emails for caregivers and set timeframes for delivery.

Here is a list of some of the more popular email marketing platforms:

·   Mailchimp

·   Constant Contact

·   AWeber

·   GoDaddy

·   Sendinblue

Here’s a step-by-step plan to start your email marketing campaign:

1. Create a list and label it “Home Care Referral Program”.

2. Create various segments for active referrals and inactive referrals.

3. Enter your caregiver emails and set up an opt-in request so they have to accept it to receive emails.

4. Create some eye-catching template designs.

5. Write a sequence of emails to promote your referral program.

As for the content of your emails, explain how the program works, and clearly spell out who is eligible to participate in the program. Explain how the rewards work and be clear about the timeframe they have to work with.

You might also consider using text messages to promote your campaign. Your caregivers may forward them to other caregivers they know. Post information about the reward program on your social media platforms. When the opportunity permits, take advantage of the chance to talk to your caregivers about the program in person.

Do your best to build excitement about your home care referral program. Get a little buzz going by sharing referral success stories and recognizing employees that have earned rewards. SeniorCareClicks knows that it can be difficult to set up an email marketing campaign for senior care referrals, but you don’t have to do it on your own. We have access to the right tools and platforms to make the process easy and cost-effective for you. Call us today!