For home care, home health, and hospice providers, diversity in marketing isn’t about politics—it’s about performance. Businesses that reflect the full diversity of their communities in their advertising materials consistently reach more people, earn more trust, and close more sales.
The Data Speaks
In Brazzell Marketing Agency controlled ad testing, ads featuring both a Black and a white model generated 30% more engagement than ads featuring white models alone—even in areas with relatively small Black populations. The increased engagement was consistent across different geographies and audience segments. The reason is simple: people are more likely to pay attention to materials when they see themselves reflected.
Published studies have gone further, connecting marketing imagery directly to health service usage. For example, research has shown that hospice services have lower uptake in some populations due, in part, to the perception that such services “aren’t for people like me.” That perception often starts with the visuals: brochures, websites, and ads that exclusively show one demographic group.
It’s About Inclusion—and Visibility
When potential patients or clients don’t see anyone who looks like them in your materials, they may hesitate. They may wonder if your staff understands their needs or if your organization has experience serving people like them. This is especially true in healthcare, where trust and cultural sensitivity are critical to acceptance.
Consider these examples:
- Latinx patients have reported not being sure whether certain healthcare services were intended for them, based purely on the imagery used in ads and brochures.
- LGBTQ+ individuals often scrutinize provider materials for signs of acceptance before reaching out.
- Asian and South Asian communities, while rarely the focus of local marketing campaigns, are core populations in many cities—and quick to notice when they’re never included.
Diversity in marketing isn’t just about race. It includes ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, and more. If your agency serves the full community, your marketing should say so—visually and clearly.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
One of the most frequent missteps is treating diversity as a Black-and-white issue—literally. While adding a Black model to your materials is a strong start in many markets, it’s not the whole picture. Representation should reflect the actual mix of your community and your patient or client base.
Another mistake is assuming diversity in messaging is optional. It’s not. If your competitor is using inclusive, welcoming marketing, and you’re not, they may win the trust—and the business—of entire segments of your market that you never knew you were missing.
Practical Steps You Can Take
- Review your website, brochures, and ads to see who’s represented.
- Use photography libraries that include racial, cultural, and orientation diversity. Brazzell Marketing Agency can help source appropriate images.
- Keep inclusivity in mind when designing new materials. Representation should be purposeful, not an afterthought.
- Balance representation. Avoid tokenism by reflecting multiple types of people across your marketing—not just once per brochure. For your photographs, be cognizant of diversity both in people who are providing services and those who are receiving services.
Inclusive marketing isn’t a trend. It’s a proven business strategy.
Brazzell Marketing Agency helps healthcare providers create materials that are both visually inclusive and professionally polished—materials that perform. Contact us to review your current outreach and identify easy wins to improve your connection with the full community you serve.