Marketing/Advertising home care
services
Marketing home
services is the new support industry for the decade
ahead. Since home care and home
healthcare are and will be two of the biggest growth industries
during the coming decade ('02-'12), it is anticipated that a host
of new entrants will come into the marketplace, vying for their
position and using specialized home-services marketing techniques
to displace competitors.
According to the U.S.
Dept of Labor's Fastest Growing Occupations, the number of
home health aides will increase 249,000 (48%) and personal home
care will increase 246,000 (40%). Most of this is obviously
attributable to the the vast increase in Baby-Boomers that will be
hitting the senior age and requiring services.
Because of low
barriers to entry, these areas of service are one of the few
fast-growth industries that are available to new
entrepreneurs. Already, many businesses that were started as
a part-time endeavor have become enormous companies that employ
hundreds or thousands. Yet the field is still not even close
to being full.
Currently, the
demand for home care services is still growing and will for the
next 10 years or so. But as with any field where there is an
excessive demand, the vacuum will be filled with small
businesses. There comes a point where the market is
saturated with suppliers and those who have never seen marketing
as a necessity, will either change their ways or be leveraged out
by those who have expansion in mind.
Marketing is
how new industry entrants will obtain their position in the
marketplace. While there will always be a place for mom and
pop businesses, these will increasingly find themselves under
market pressure.
Why Marketing?
Marketing
takes a different turn with home care businesses. With
many businesses, an owner can expect to see a substantial
performance based on name recognition or
"branding". Though marketing the home care
services business does involve some branding, there are several
big differences between these and other business types.
Marketing
home care services becomes especially critical because there is
little attention paid to this business type by the consumers until
it actually appeals to their lifestyle. Adult children often
don't even start to consider such services until something happens
where the services become necessary.
Even then, which
business name will they choose? Home Care This (Company A),
Home Care That (Company B), Elder Care Something (Company C), and
Elder Care Something Else (Company D) are all names that sound
vaguely familiar but with which nobody has had any level of
experience.
Marketing such
companies requires a high degree of discipline, an understanding
that marketing and branding don't just happen, and a dedication
aimed at differentiation.
Marketing is all
about distinguishing yourself from the hordes of businesses that
perform remarkably similar services. Marketing is about
being where the people are, with the message they want to hear,
having the products, pricing, and customer service that show you
mean business. But most of all marketing means differentiating
yourself in a way that when the time comes, your company name
rises to the top as the first choice on the list of who to do
business with.
