As we move through 2025, home care agencies face a challenging but promising landscape. The cost to acquire new clients has risen significantly, making it more important than ever to invest wisely in marketing and operations. However, the lifetime value of a home care client remains strong, and agencies that adapt to today’s realities can still see excellent returns on investment.
In today’s environment, the fundamentals have not changed: strong referral relationships and local community engagement remain the foundation for growth. However, success also requires understanding how to leverage digital tools to supplement — not replace — these offline strategies. When used thoughtfully, online marketing can enhance your offline reputation, build additional trust, and convert more inquiries into billable hours.
In this article, I’ll share the strategies currently working best to help home care agencies grow billable hours based on real-world results across the country.
Client Acquisition Costs Are Up — But Opportunity Remains
The average cost to acquire a new home care client has climbed to approximately $800. While this is a significant increase, the long-term revenue generated from each client still justifies the investment.
However, it’s critical that agencies maximize every opportunity. Staff answering the phones must be trained to nurture inquiries and guide families through their decision-making process, ensuring that marketing dollars truly convert into billable hours.
Multi-Channel Marketing: Offline Still Leads
Today, marketing success requires a multi-channel approach that combines both offline and online strategies — with offline efforts continuing to be the cornerstone.
Building relationships with healthcare providers, community organizations, and local referral partners remains the most effective and sustainable way to grow a home care agency. Personal trust, reputation, and word-of-mouth continue to drive the majority of high-quality leads.
That said, offline efforts must be supported by a credible online presence. Families almost always conduct additional research before making decisions. An outdated website or weak online reputation can undermine even the strongest referral.
Online marketing should be seen as a supplement — a way to strengthen and support offline efforts — not a replacement. To thrive in 2025, agencies must lead with offline relationship-building while using online tools to reinforce credibility and nurture warm leads.
Focus on “Problem-Aware” Families
Agencies should prioritize reaching “problem-aware” families — those actively seeking help. These families behave much like someone with an urgent home repair: they go straight to search engines to find a solution.
Your online presence, particularly your website, must be engineered to convert these visitors into callers. Clear messaging about who you are, what you do, and why you’re different is essential, as is making it easy to call with click-to-call buttons and visible contact information.
The Smart Marketing Funnel
A smart marketing strategy focuses first on families who are ready to engage. Warm leads offer the highest return on investment and should be prioritized.
Once these warmer channels are optimized, agencies can expand into colder audience building — creating brand awareness among families who may need services in the future. This two-step approach ensures marketing budgets are used efficiently.
Key Online Strategies for 2025
While offline remains the foundation, several online strategies are proving highly effective when used to support and amplify offline efforts.
Google Ads (PPC)
Google Ads allow agencies to target by zip code, city, or specific radius, ensuring marketing spend is concentrated where it matters most. As new agencies open and competition increases, protecting market share through smart advertising is critical.
Google Business Profile (GBP)
Your Google Business Profile acts as a mini-website and is often the first impression families get online. A complete, active profile — with accurate information, high-quality photos, and regular updates — earns more visibility and trust.
SEO (Organic Search Rankings)
Although SEO takes time, agencies that invest in original, helpful, locally relevant content will gradually rise in rankings. Duplicated content or thin websites struggle, especially as Google’s algorithms continue to prioritize authority and relevance.
Website Optimization
A fast, mobile-friendly website with a clear call-to-action can make the difference between a lead calling you or moving on. Streaming real-time Google, Yelp, and Facebook reviews onto your site further builds trust at critical decision points.
Online Reviews
Consistent review generation remains one of the most powerful ways to build credibility. Agencies should have a structured process for asking families for reviews and responding promptly to feedback — both positive and negative. A higher review count than your local competitors can be a significant advantage.
Remarketing
Not every website visitor will be ready to engage immediately. Remarketing keeps your agency top-of-mind by gently following previous visitors with reminder ads across the internet. It is highly cost-effective and helps capture interest when families are ready to make decisions.
Social Media Boosting
Organic reach on platforms like Facebook continues to decline. Boosting posts to your existing followers for a modest $5 to $7 ensures that more of your community actually sees your content. This nurturing helps maintain top-of-mind awareness without excessive costs.
Small Wins Add Up
Some of the most effective improvements are low-cost or even free. Training your team to convert more phone inquiries, improving your website’s user experience, asking for reviews, and strengthening community ties can all drive significant growth without major investments.
By focusing on these fundamentals first, agencies can ensure every marketing dollar — offline and online — is working harder for them.
Final Thoughts
Growing a home care agency in 2025 requires a balanced approach: leading with offline relationship-building, supported by smart, strategic online marketing.
Agencies that master this balance — staying consistent with proven offline efforts while enhancing their digital credibility — will not only weather today’s challenges but emerge as leaders in their local markets.
Free Resource
If you would like to dive deeper into effective marketing strategies for home care agencies, I invite you to request a free physical copy of my book, Home Care Marketing 2.0. I’m Welton Hong, CEO of Senior Care Marketing Max, and this book shares additional insights on growing billable hours, building brand authority, and attracting high-quality clients. I’ll ship you a complimentary copy — no cost to you. You can request it here: https://get.seniorcaremarketingmax.com/lm-home-care-marketing-pg.
Article by: Welton Hong
CEO of Senior Care Marketing Max
