The guide
Yes, but not all of it, and not all at once. A care home needs to be accurate, findable and convincing in the places families already look online, because families research before they ring. Beyond that foundation, further digital activity is a choice about how early you want to reach families, not a requirement.
Updated October 2026
Digital marketing for a care home is smaller and more practical than it sounds. In brief:
The numbers
The reason is behaviour, not fashion. In the 2026 Care England and Log my Care survey of 1,000 people arranging care, carried out by Sapio Research, 55% used directories, 40% used online search and 38% relied on word of mouth.
97% said arranging care was difficult. Families are doing a hard job, and doing much of it on a screen.
A care home does not need every digital channel. It does need to be accurate, findable and convincing in the places families already look.
What it means
It is four things, and the first three are the foundation.
The layer on top
Reaching families before they start searching, usually through social media advertising and video that lets the home speak for itself.
Notice what is not on the list: a dozen social accounts, a blog, or a content calendar. Those can help, but none is needed to be found and trusted. Most homes already have part of the foundation in place without calling it marketing.
Traditional and digital
Traditional methods still work. Word of mouth, relationships with hospital discharge teams and local referrers, and a presence in the community remain among the most trusted routes into a home, and nothing here replaces them.
Digital sits alongside them, because even a family that has been recommended a home will usually check it online before ringing. We cover whether traditional methods still work in its own guide.
Side by side
Each way of being found does something real, and each has a ceiling. This is a fair comparison, not a case against any of them.
| Approach | What it does well | Its ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| Word of mouth and local referrals | Highest trust, no direct cost, reaches families at the moment of need | Cannot be scaled on demand, and families still check you online |
| Directories and Google profile | Reaches families already searching, and they are widely used | Families compare you side by side with every other home, and you control little of the story |
| Your own website | The one place you control the whole picture | Only works if families can find it and it answers their questions |
| Social advertising and video | Reaches the family member before they search, with the home speaking for itself | Needs honest, well-made content and a ready website to land on |
The quiet research
Because the research now happens before the phone call. Mediahawk's spring 2026 care home trends report, discussed by Care England, found calls and website visits to care homes both up 9% year on year, while the visitor-to-call ratio fell 7.5%.
In plain terms, more people are visiting before they pick up the phone, and fewer of those visits turn into a call. What a family finds in that visit matters more than it used to. This is the gap we explore in why families are not finding a home online.
Where to start
Start with the cheapest step with the widest effect: the Google Business Profile. Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey ranks Google Business Profile signals among the most heavily weighted factors in local map results. Then take the rest in order.
Claim and complete the Google profile and the directory listings, with recent photos and every field filled in.
From how fees conversations work to daily life and how to arrange a visit.
Reply to every one, warmly and specifically, and ask happy families for the story behind the score.
To reach families earlier, once there is a good page waiting for them.
Cost and pace
The cost depends on the model, not a standard price. Foundation work is mostly time, and can be done in-house over a few weeks. Advertising and film are usually priced in one of three ways:
Ask what you are paying for and what you keep. Specifics are best walked through on a call.
Results from the foundation tend to show as better-quality enquiries within weeks. Advertising usually needs a few months of consistent running before you can judge it.
Who needs it
Homes with unexplained empty rooms, or a resident mix they want to shift, need it soonest. A home that is full, with a waiting list built on strong local referrals, can keep the foundation tidy and wait.
A good test is simple: ask your last five families how they first heard of you and what they checked before ringing. If most of them looked online, the foundation is not optional.
Heritage Care Partners works with older people's care homes on the part that reaches families early: honest family-story film, and Meta advertising that puts it in front of the relative who is quietly carrying the decision. It sits on top of a sound foundation and does not replace one. To see how the pieces fit together, read what actually raises occupancy.
Common questions
Yes, because families research online before they ring. In the 2026 Care England and Log my Care survey of 1,000 people arranging care, 55% used directories and 40% used online search. A care home does not need every digital channel, but it does need to be accurate, visible and convincing in the places families already look.
Four things: a website that answers families' questions, accurate profiles on Google and the care directories, reviews and the response to them, and reaching families before they search, usually through social media advertising and video. The first three make a home findable and credible, the fourth reaches families earlier.
Some homes do, and word of mouth stays one of the most trusted routes, at 38% in the 2026 Care England and Log my Care survey. The ceiling is that it cannot be scaled on demand, and families who hear a recommendation still check the home online before they ring.
Claim and complete the Google Business Profile and the directory listings, then make sure the website answers the questions families ask. These are the cheapest steps and everything else builds on them. Advertising and video work best once the basics are in place.
Keep reading
What word of mouth and referrals still do well, and where they stop.
Why families are not finding you onlineThe common reasons a good home is hard to find, and what to fix.
Do Facebook and Meta ads work?How social advertising reaches families before they start searching.
