With more than 15,500 online searches being made per hour for senior care and senior living, how can you ensure your company stands out to those seeking care?

Note: This article was originally published in the 2024 Activated Insights Benchmarking Report.

Online reviews play an incredibly important role when seniors and their families are researching and selecting in-home care agencies. There are more than 15,500 online searches per hour for senior care and senior living, and online reviews are highly sought by care seekers. Last year, 98% of Americans read online reviews when researching local companies, with healthcare and service business reviews among the most important.

To help agencies seize this opportunity, and in celebration of Activated Insights’ 15th Annual Benchmarking Report, here are 15 ways to boost sales and marketing through online reviews:

1. Increase Agency Visibility and Reach

Given their popularity, reviews contribute to improved rankings on search engines and local directories. Agencies with greater review volume appear higher and more prominently, increasing their visibility and reach to potential clients.

Caring.com data analysts have studied the minimum volume of reviews that senior care agencies need for care seekers’ online attention and inquiries. At least seven reviews are required for optimizing digital marketing success, with reviews thereafter continuing to add value.

2. Differentiate Agencies From Competitors

In a crowded market, reviews highlighting unique selling points and detailing client experiences help agencies stand out from competitors and attract new clients.

As a care seeker considering several agencies with similar services and prices: are you more inclined to choose the agency with few reviews, no recent feedback, and a low overall rating, or the one with many high quality reviews, recent feedback, and a great overall rating?

3. Attract Prospective Clients

The influence of reviews is clear:

If your agency isn’t getting enough leads or callbacks, you may need more or better reviews.

4. Enhance Credibility and Trust

Online reviews are now trusted as much as personal recommendations—especially when researching care for a loved one in another state or without local contacts. While some review sites are more trustworthy than others (such as those proactively protecting against fake reviews and conflicts of interest), online reviews can convey service quality and support trust in marketing. Reviews make the pitch more believable.

5. Build Service Reputation

Having an exceptional online reputation requires a culture that sincerely values and actively seeks customer feedback. It’s not a one-off task; it’s an
ongoing endeavor.

Make it easy for satisfied clients to share their experiences in online reviews without feeling pressured or burdened. Provide a link to the review submission form or the number for the reviews-by-phone service. And don’t be afraid to send a few friendly reminders to less proactive clients.

“Having an exceptional online reputation requires a culture that sincerely values and actively seeks customer feedback. It’s not a one-off task; it’s an ongoing endeavor.”

6. Provide “Social Proof” for Closing Sales

Online reviews provide authentic, relatable content conveying the real-world impact of an agency’s services. Having positive review snippets in agency handouts, social media posts, and email signatures provides compelling testimonials, especially when linked and viewable on a third-party site.

This “social proof” increases prospects’ likelihood to convert. When done well, sharing reviews and client experience narratives evokes positive emotions and resonates in ways that drive sales.

7. Identify Brand Advocates and Bolster Referrals

Satisfied clients who’ve posted online reviews can be effective brand advocates for agencies. Nurturing these relationships and acknowledging client feedback can foster long-term loyalty and advocacy to attract more great customers. Thank clients who post positive online reviews. Online reviews also show those making word-of-mouth referrals that what they’re saying is a perspective shared by others.

8. Enhance or Improve Services

Online reviews illuminate what’s working well in existing services and operations, inspire ideas for enhancing or expanding the offering, and identify improvement opportunities. Agencies can use the constructive feedback to explore and address service deficiencies, improving the quality of the companionship and care provided. The business changes made from monitoring and learning from online reputation can help to better market and grow the agency.

9. Demonstrate a Commitment to Excellence

Review responses foster trust and transparency, showing the agency is listening and cares. Responding to reviews can also increase ratings and review volume thereafter.

To demonstrate client satisfaction commitment: stay professional and empathetic; be grateful; and avoid being defensive, combative, or dismissive. Never disclose private details, especially protected health information. Have a growth mindset and leave a positive impression with potential clients.

No business is flawless. Having a few negative reviews can provide a balanced perspective and support positive review credibility.

10. Protect Agency Reputation

Implementing tools and processes to monitor online reviews enables agencies to promptly address feedback or concerns. Proactive reputation management is essential for mitigating potential damage to agency reputation and preserving client trust.

And in the rare event of an unfortunate PR crisis: having positive reviews on multiple review websites can help establish and defend your agency’s reputation or serve as counterbalance to public critique (such as in negative news media coverage).

“Proactive reputation management is essential for mitigating potential damage to agency reputation and preserving client trust.”

11. Earn Agency Awards

Great reviews can lead to service excellence awards. Activated Insights’ (formerly Home Care Pulse’s) “Best of Home Care” awards, or the Caring Stars award from Caring.com, recognize agencies for review volume, recent feedback, and high ratings. These awards enhance sales and marketing when displayed on websites, social media profiles, and printed materials — providing tangible evidence of quality services and customer satisfaction. This valuable marketing can help attract prospects and drive sales—connecting customer feedback, industry recognition, and business success.

12. Celebrate and Attract Top Talent

Positive online reviews can motivate staff, by highlighting the importance of their efforts. Incorporating positive client feedback into staff training and company meetings can boost morale and reinforce a culture of excellence. Positive reviews can also attract talented candidates in high demand, seeking to work for the best agencies. Building and fostering a great team of happy caregivers ultimately leads to quality service in clients’ homes and more satisfied customers.

13. Strengthen Marketing

By monitoring and analyzing reviews, marketers can extract insights to evaluate reputation strategies and tactics. How often is the agency getting reviews? Are senior clients adding more five-star reviews or higher quality reviews than their families? How do the agency’s reviews compare to those of local competitors? Which review-ask campaign drove the highest volume? The answers can help identify the best potential reviewers, times for asking, methods for asking, and additional insights to drive success.

14. Inform Content Strategy

Online reviews can inspire marketing content creation. By analyzing topics and themes in reviews, agencies can identify common concerns, questions, and interests among seniors and their families. This can lead to blog posts, social media posts, and newsletter articles that uphold the agency as a senior care expert. This content can nurture potential clients, keeping them engaged before they’re ready to hire the agency.

15. Generate More Reviews

A good volume of online reviews, when hosted on trusted websites and promoted across marketing channels, can inspire more people to share their feedback. A happy customer seeing an undeserved negative review may then give a 5-star review.

As the saying goes, “the crowd attracts the crowd,” stemming from a desire for community involvement and belonging. Each customer’s perspective is unique and valuable, and online reviews provide a platform for individuals to express opinions and experiences and feel heard and valued.

This interconnected process underscores the pivotal role of customer reviews in shaping perceptions and driving sales success in competitive market landscapes.

About the Author

Denise Graab is Director of Reviews and Marketing at Caring.com, a leading senior care referral service and top site for consumer reviews. She has three decades of marketing communications experience, with a focus on social media and online reviews for the past 17 years. Since joining Caring in 2010, she’s helped establish and manage the longest-running, highest-integrity senior care reviews program on the web, and oversees the Caring Stars award.

To receive more online reputation guidance from her, and grow your reviews profile on Caring.com: please contact reviews@caring.com or (650) 762-8190.