11 Creative Ideas to Fill Care Home Beds

Owning and operating a care home presents many challenges. At the forefront of these is the necessity to consistently fill care home beds, ensuring your facility’s long-term viability and success. With competition in the care home market intensifying, a compelling marketing strategy is critical. Let’s explore practical, creative, and unconventional approaches to fill care home beds.

Tried and Tested Techniques to Fill Care Home Beds

Foster Relationships with Local Healthcare Providers

Developing solid relationships with local healthcare providers is one of the most effective methods to ensure steady referrals. Hospitals, GP surgeries, and rehabilitation centres often need to recommend care homes for patients. By regularly engaging with these providers, you can ensure your care home is top of mind.

Harness the Power of Social Media

In today’s digital age, social media is for more than just the younger generation. An increasing number of older adults and their families use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and even TikTok! These platforms offer an opportunity to showcase your care home’s facilities, staff, and the quality of care you provide. Get posting content to help fill care home beds!

Check out our Social Media Services.

Fill Care Home Beds faster through Google Reviews

Google Business allows you to upload images of your care home and add contact details and opening times (for show rounds) – but the most fantastic free feature is to secure positive reviews through Google. Ask family members, residents, local community members, and staff to post positive thoughts on the care home. The more reviews, the higher you will rank on search. Try it!

Outside-the-box strategies

Work experience with local businesses

We all know that variety is the spice of life and that many residents in care settings love to help out still, graft, and put time into things that matter. Why not work with local businesses or non-profits that need support – your residents may want to help out somehow.

This approach gives your residents a feeling of pride and that they still matter – and your care home gets to talk directly with local business owners of your community, which will be influential and optimistic about your work.

Volunteer on a local radio station

Local community radio stations include programming wholly focused on the local community. Why not present or sponsor a show (your local radio community radio station will be glad of the support) that you know older generations engage with? If you have a strong Irish community local to you, sponsor the Irish Music show etc.

By presenting your show, you could have residents choosing their favourite music, which means something to them – sharing stories about the local community – this could be a real win-win for your care home and residents.

A community magazine from your care home

Your home should be one of the central pillars of the community, alongside the Church, School and Village Hall. Your focus as a care home is ensuring local, elderly and vulnerable people are healthy and happy. Why not write about how people (of all ages) can stay active, stay informed, eat well and live well?

It doesn’t need to be a massive publication, just advice, tips and guidance on staying healthy and active – as well as news from the care home. (If you build an email list of subscribers through your website, you could also email it monthly to reduce costs).

Virtual Reality Tours

In an era where in-person visits might be challenging, why not offer a virtual reality (VR) tour of your care home? Prospective residents and their families can get an immersive experience of your facility from the comfort of their own homes. This innovative approach will help you stand out in a crowded market and help fill care home beds. Add to it interviews with residents and staff – and you have a lovely piece of content to help you stand out massively from the competition.

Engage with Influential Bloggers

Reach out to influential bloggers in the healthcare and eldercare industry. You can get your care home featured in their content by offering them a tour of your facility or an interview with your staff. This can help increase your visibility, credibility and fill care home beds.

Share the joyous news from your care home with your local paper.

Your local paper is an excellent opportunity to share the positive and heartwarming stories that take place every day in your care home.

From milestone birthdays to care home compliance awards to staff being promoted. You will have lots of stories all year round. Connect with your local paper, find your community journalist and send them press releases at least once a quarter. People love reading positive news in an age when much of the news seems to be full of dread! *Examples of stories*.

Implementing SEO Strategies

SEO Optimised Website to fill care home beds

When you search ‘Care Home Birmingham’ (or whatever Town or City your care home is in), what page are you on Google Search? If page 3, the chance of the person searching for care calling you and your care home is next to zero.

Ensure your website is SEO-optimised and contains all the information needed for family members or those looking for care themselves. This includes clear descriptions of your care services, testimonials, and a user-friendly booking system.

Keyword Optimisation

One of the essential aspects of SEO is keyword optimisation. An example is the crucial phrase ‘Care Home Birmingham’, which should be used strategically in your content. This could help your website rank higher in search engine results, increasing your visibility to potential residents.

Key Takeaways:

• Establish relationships with local healthcare providers
• Leverage social media platforms
• Get involved in your community
• Offer VR tours of your care home
• Collaborate with influential bloggers
• Ensure your care home website is SEO-optimised.

In conclusion, filling care home beds requires a dynamic marketing strategy that combines traditional methods with innovative, creative ideas. By implementing these techniques, you can boost your occupancy rates and secure the future of your care home.