Did you know over a half million Australians with disability receive disability-related support? The number is growing every year as more people with disabilities are aware that support is available for them when they need it. The NDIS scheme was legalised in 2013 but took seven years to operate fully. Looking at the data from NDIS, Autism is among the major disabilities in Australia among 18 other primary disabilities. NDIS participants rely on NDIS providers for care and support, while the government provides funding.
Since the number of NDIS participants is increasing, the number of NDIS providers is also growing. That’s why it’s important to utilise effective digital marketing strategies to market and grow your NDIS business. If you are a newly registered provider, make sure you utilise all possible paid or organic channels to reach NDIS participants or their guardians to promote your service. Before we jump into NDIS digital marketing strategies, let’s understand what NDIS is. If you are an established provider, you may skip to the next section, where we discuss digital marketing for NDIS providers.
What is NDIS?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZOjPBJiBPg The National Disability Insurance Scheme (a complete form of NDIS) provides its participants with a better life for thousands of Australians battling permanent disability that impacts their capacity to participate in their daily activities. The government is mildly introducing the scheme to progressively support all Australians with a reason to gain peace of mind through adequate support to ensure they live a meaningful and regular life. It is important to note that NDIS is not a welfare scheme but a program designed to give people enough space to improve their skills and independence with time. Now, that’s where most service providers come in with their digital marketing plan for NDIS. Utilising effective digital marketing strategies is vital for NDIS business growth. Whether you want to grow your NDIS business by building an in-house team or hiring an NDIS marketing agency, it’s best to have a solid marketing plan with clear performance goals.
Digital Marketing for NDIS Providers: Building the Right Foundation
If you are starting an NDIS business, the first thing you need to do is to make a marketing plan. The plan should cover the following.
- Identify core brand values
- Identify the top 3 competitors
- Create client personas
- Map customer journey
- Identify key metrics to measure the success of your marketing efforts
- Determine your monthly budget
- Identify marketing channels
- Make a monthly action plan
- Determine marketing focus (acquiring customers is the most popular one)
That’s all you need to make a marketing plan. Your marketing plan is your foundation for NDIS business success. Some businesses make 15-20 page marketing plans; you really don’t need it. A practical and applicable 1-page marketing plan is more powerful than a 20-page, long, useless plan full of fluffy and jargon words. Regarding the budget, you’ll need at least a $3000-$6000 monthly budget to start with. Once you see good results, you can increase your marketing budget to attract more NDIS participants. Initially, it feels like you are not getting many returns from your marketing, but when you are able to attract and retain customers on a consistent basis, then you will see your marketing is paying back. Here are the 7 most effective digital marketing strategies for NDIS providers:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is by far the most effective digital marketing strategy for NDIS businesses. People who come to your website through SEO are the ones who are highly interested in your service cause they are already searching for providers. It means they already know what they are searching for. With organic traffic, you have a high chance of converting traffic into leads. If you are new to digital marketing, you might wonder what exactly SEO is. Let us explain it. In plain language, it’s a process of driving organic traffic to your website from search engines. If you are investing in SEO, it’s important that you optimise your website on the right keywords. You can conduct keyword research to identify what keywords are popular in your city. 
SEO takes time; however, it’s definitely worth investing in as this helps you to attract customers in the long run. A great SEO strategy will help you improve the quantity and quality of traffic to your site. As an NDIS provider, you’ll need SEO to increase your ranking in search results for commonly used phrases or keywords like “NDIS provider,” “NDIS community participation”, and “Registered NDIS provider in New South Wales.” While some, if not all, of these keywords and phrases, have different intentions, they target your NDIS audience. Thanks to targeting, you are encouraging more traffic to your site from users that matter to your service.
Why is NDIS SEO Important?
It is hard to find an industry that doesn’t require a great EO strategy. Optimizing your business for more prominence will increase its accessibility. Here are some of the perks of NDIS SEO services:
- The right SEO can help build trust and credibility – hence attracting more prospective clients
- It increases your NDIS service search result. Remember, that’s your site’s primary source of traffic.
- Having a local SEO such as “NDIS service provider in Adelaide” will ultimately increase your site’s engagement, traffic, and of course, conversions too.
- Excellent user experience often comes with having the right SEO strategy
- The right SEO strategy will positively impact your brand’s value
- If you aren’t visible on the first page of the search engine, you won’t have the potential visitors and clients you crave.
2. Social Media Advertising
Another marketing strategy for growing your business is social media advertising or marketing. It focuses more on helping you build your brand awareness while increasing conversions. With the right campaign, you can feature some of the social media platforms, though it all depends on your target audience and their platform preferences. Some popular platforms for this internet marketing strategy include LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. The primary goal of social media advertising is to increase your brand’s visibility and conversions while also building and maintaining your company’s reputation. That’s why social media ads focus more on creating promotional and informational content while interacting with users on various social media platforms. Your ads should target clients who need personal care and individuals who need help transporting themselves around. Or just companionship because when you’re physically disabled, you need all the help you can get, and that’s the space you’ll be filling when you advertise your businesses online. Why Do I Need Social Media Ads for my NDIS Services? Most of your clients are on social media right now. There are billions of people on various social media platforms. Interestingly, some NDIS providers aren’t venturing into this space, and that’s the space you get to fill – building a clear path between you and users online who are interested in the services your brand is providing. You can make this path by posting ads on Facebook or Instagram. It could be in the form of promotional videos or banners. NDIS should be about putting humans at the forefront of your activities, ensuring that your plans and idea are consumer-led and culturally rich.
3. NDIS Website Design
The main objective of a website is to attract potential clients. A lead generation website will help you capture qualified leads for your NDIS services. You can use various marketing tools such as HubSpot, DeskMoz, Point Clear, AeroLeads, Traffic Generation Café, Convince, and Convert to capture leads from your website. Don’t just design a website that will inform the clients about NDIS services like Transport, Professional Cleaning or Gardening, Out and About, Support Coordination, Personal or In-Home Care, Support Coordination, and Companionship. You need to design a lead generation website that converts more visitors into leads. The primary purpose of these unique sites is to convert your clients from regular website users to a lead and maximize your chances of securing that prospective client custom going forward. How to Create a Lead Generation Website? It would be best if you defined your target before building a lead generation website for your brand. That means you need to understand who you are selling to in this context; that would be physically disabled individuals who need help getting by with their daily activities. You should know the segment-specific or persona specifics of the people you sell your services to. Your website’s infrastructure and navigation should be tailored to your target visitors. There has to be a human touch to your site. Your primary goal is to support your clients and help them live happy and independent life. It’s also a good idea to hire an agency that specialises in NDIS website design.
4. Social Media Management
Analyzing your social media audiences while also developing a strategy that suits them is all part of what is referred to as social media management. For example, create content like photos and videos and upload them to your different social media accounts to attract more interactions from your target audience. Social media management is next to social marketing, and these two are intertwined. Speaking of creating a positive narrative for your brand, this is your chance to do just that. Upload photos of clients you’ve worked with or currently working with. The goal is to show the world the human touch that exists in your brand. Upload amazing photos to your Facebook or Instagram.
5. Google Map Listing
Can prospective clients find your services on Google without directly reaching you through your website or social media pages? If your answer is not, then you need to do something about that right now. It won’t cost you a dime to tick this option off your digital marketing to-do lists. The Google feature is free of charge and convenient at that. Google Map Listings will house relevant information about your business, including your office’s physical address and the services you render. That way, clients who need companionship or assistance moving around and completing their daily tasks can quickly reach you through Google’s map listing and find you fast. How Can a Google Maps Listing Benefit Your NDIS Business? The Explore tab on this feature makes it possible for users to search for your business, see if you’re nearby, view the different options you provide, and make an instant decision on whether or not they would want to reach out to you. The listing displays information like:
- Click for direction
- Ratings and reviews
- Links to your website
- Clicks to call button
- Posts and Updates
Benefits of Google Map Listings for your NDIS Services What are the perks of using Google Map Listing for your NDIS services? these perks include:
- It helps people find your business
- People can quickly contact you with your business details on Google’s SERPs.
- Offers credibility through existing reviews
- It encourages people to visit your location or go directly to your website via the linked site URL
- It creates a positive impression
- Accurate search result information
- It enhances your client’s analytics
6. Google PPC Ads
Google’s pay-per-click ads are a cost-effective and powerful digital marketing strategy. It is a type of ad that relies solely on an auction-based system. With PPC Ads, you’ll get to bid on keywords that you wish your ads to show up for when your prospective clients surf the internet for such commonly used phrases or keywords. Such ads will appear at the top of search results, right above the organic listings. But, of course, you’ll have to pay for these ads as users click on them. It’s just as the term implies; you pay for the clicks. As a scheme created by the Australian government, it is easy to channel your ads to the regions within the country. If you are starting digital marketing, Google PPC Ads is a proficient and cost-effective marketing strategy. It would ultimately propel your website to the top of relevant search results, thus, helping your NDIS company’s organic search ranking.
7. Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management is when you consistently monitor mentions of your NDIS brand on social media and websites to curb or address negative comments or narratives that might derail your brand’s online reputation. And yes, online reputation management is quite different from PR; the main difference lies in how they handle the unique crisis. Why Do I Need to Manage My Online Reputation? Remember, you are dealing in a delicate industry that thrives on positivity, and things could go south for your brand with false accusations, reviews, and negative narratives. You want to ensure that you have a human touch to your dealings online, and when your brand takes multiple hits online, it could derail your brand. Online Reputation Management Strategies that’ll suit your NDIS business
- Answer with empathy and be prompt about it
- Address all negative reviews and comments upfront
- Take responsibility for your actions (mistakes) – yes, own it.
- Stay on top of your industry’s search results – be consistent about it
- Automate your online reputation management – a perfect tool would be Google’s Alerts