The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) which assists citizens who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits, aims to offer comprehensive medical and social services. Its primary objective is to enable enrolled individuals to continue living in their communities than having to relocate to a nursing home.
As a government program, some regulations govern how PACE providers can promote the program to clients. In this article, we will outline these rules. Provide tips on marketing the PACE program to seniors in your area while ensuring compliance with the CMS guidelines.
Rules & Guidelines For Marketing PACE
The rules for marketing PACE may seem complicated because of their length. However, here are some points you should be aware of. For details, it is always advisable to refer to the guidance provided on their website.
- When creating marketing materials, you can include statistical data or refer to academic studies. However, it is crucial that you provide a footnote indicating the source of information and disclose any relationship you may have with that source. Avoid making claims.
- Printed materials must utilize fonts like Times New Roman with a size of 12 points. Web content should adhere to sizes and styles for accessibility purposes.
- It is important to establish and adhere to a footnote style, whether it is at the bottom of each page or the end of the document. Please refrain from stating or implying that your organization has been recommended, endorsed, or approved by CMS, Medicare, or Medicaid. Additionally, avoid using their names or logos without obtaining permission.
- You may not say that your organization has been recommended by DHHS, CMS, Medicare, or Medicaid or use these names or logos associated with them in a way that implies you have been endorsed or recommended by them.
- You may not say that your organization is approved by Medicare or Medicaid or use superlatives to imply that your organization is “the best” PACE option.
- Testimonials from a PACE participant must mention your organization's name, and you must get written permission to use any patient testimonial.
- All marketing materials that mention your website must link to your home page. (Such as printables, brochures, etc)
- Social media posts are considered marketing material and must adhere to the marketing guidelines.
The primary objective behind these rules is to ensure that your PACE marketing materials are accurate, easily understandable, compliant with regulations, and genuinely helpful for recipients. It is advisable to refer to the complete CMS guidance for further guidance and updates.
All PACE marketing materials should undergo approval from CMS before they can be used. To assist you with this process, we have provided a checklist summarizing requirements that should be reviewed thoroughly before finalizing any materials.
| Yes | No | |
| Utilizes permitted fonts and font sizes | ||
| Contains only properly cited statistics and data | ||
| Does not imply endorsement from CMS, Medicare or Medicaid | ||
| It avoids unsubstantiated superlatives and claims | ||
| Uses testimonials only with written consent | ||
| Links to website home page if mentioned | ||
| Adheres to all CMS and HHS PACE guidelines | ||
| Has been legally reviewed for accuracy | ||
| Received approval from CMS before publication |
Using Google Ads Grants to Market PACE to Seniors
One option that non-profit organizations can use to market PACE is the Google Ads Grant, which allows $10,000 to be used for promotion purposes. You can learn about Google for Nonprofits eligibility requirements here.
To market PACE using Google Ads, you’ll need to create a Google Ads account and configure it according to Google’s specifications. You should keep in mind that there are limitations on the keywords you can use to market a non-profit organization on Google. General keywords may not be used.
Examples of 'broad keywords' that you can't use may include:
- Healthcare
- Home healthcare
- Senior care
- Transportation options for seniors
Instead, you must use branded keywords. In this case, that means keywords specific to your organization's services and programs. The downside of this requirement is that it limits the number of impressions you can expect because users will need to search for your branded keyword for your ad to display on the SERP (search engine results page).
The upside is that when people search for your organization, they’re more likely to find you because you’ll be using keywords that will help them do so.
One of the trickier requirements is maintaining a 5% click-through rate. It’s important to research your target audience and choose the best keywords and ad groups to connect with them. One way to do that is to combine branded keywords with locational keywords. Seniors are most likely to search for PACE-approved providers near their homes.
For these reasons, it’s essential to be thorough in your keyword research and selection. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your Google Ads:
- Research and select tightly-targeted keywords that are geo-specific to your service areas.
- When you set up your ad, choose the right ad groups (you must choose at least two).
- Use compelling images and clear, concise ad text tailored to your audience.
- Continuously test and optimize ads and keywords for maximum relevance.
- Closely track clicks, conversions, and costs. Adjust campaigns based on results.
- Maintain at least a 5% click-through rate to avoid losing the grant.
Thorough keyword research and selection are key to succeeding with Ad Grants. Combine your brand terms and program names (PACE, your organization name) with geographic modifiers (city, county, etc) to reach local seniors searching for your services. Testing will ensure you don’t continue pouring money into an ad campaign that isn’t delivering the desired results.
Website Optimization for PACE Marketing
Since Ad Grant keywords are restricted, web visibility in organic search is crucial. Follow these on-page and technical SEO best practices:
- Use targeted keywords in page titles, content, URLs and meta descriptions. Avoid over-optimization.
- Ensure easy site navigation and page transitions for seniors.
- Build quality backlinks from relevant healthcare and senior services sites.
- Add internal links throughout your site as appropriate (it helps the search engines better understand your website)
- Create useful, engaging content focused on your audience - seniors and families. Answer common questions and address concerns.
- Use images of your facilities and services. Avoid generic stock photos.
Keep in mind that Google’s search algorithm is designed to prioritize websites that are relevant and useful. Keyword density is far less important than the quality of your content. That means that when you’re creating the content for your website, you should focus on:
- Educating website visitors about the PACE program, who is eligible for it, and how it works
- Providing answers to the most frequently asked questions about PACE
- Linking your most important keywords to authority sites that provide useful information and resources to your readers
- Making it easy for visitors to find other relevant pages and links on your site
Don’t make the mistake of overusing keywords at the expense of making your content relevant. Google's algorithm's are very complex and are able to detect when you are writing for the search engines and providing little value to the visitor.
You should also choose images that are relevant to the PACE program. The best images are ones that are unique to your organization. Stock photos can be effective if you choose carefully, but they lack the authenticity you’ll get if you have photographs of your facilities and employees.
SEO is essential because it is your best chance of generating organic traffic to your site. The more specific your content caters to the people in your target audience, the more likely your site will climb to the top of Google’s SERP.
Facebook Paid Ads for PACE Programs
Facebook advertising offers significant advantages for reaching seniors and educating them about PACE. One of the most important requirements of PACE marketing is that your content must clarify what PACE can and can’t. Social media content is an excellent way to accomplish that task.
At Titan Web Agency, we create compelling ads that will get noticed. Here are some of the things we recommend:
- Grab attention with emotionally compelling ad headlines targeted to retirees.
- Select detailed targeting options by location, age bracket, interests and demographics.
- Create lookalike audiences modeled on your current patients and clients.
- Use your brand personality - tell real stories and make connections.
- Include a clear call-to-action driving to your site, phone or Facebook page.
- Schedule ads during weekdays and daytime hours when seniors are most active.
Your Facebook business page should provide helpful content on PACE eligibility, coverage and services. Use ads to direct people to relevant pages and articles. Study Facebook analytics to optimize based on engagement and clicks.
Our pay-per-click service can help refine your targeting and get the biggest possible response for your Facebook advertising budget.
Call and Lead Tracking for PACE Marketing
After you have optimized your website and started marketing your organization’s PACE-related services, the next step is tracking the calls and leads you get as a result of your marketing campaign.
Call tracking can be accomplished by creating unique telephone numbers for each ad or campaign you create. The calls can be routed to the same place, but having them come in to a dedicated number will ensure you know which ad campaign generated the lead.
Even a simple comparison of the hard numbers (meaning how many calls come in from each ad campaign you’re running) can help you understand which campaigns are working and which aren’t.
It may take several contacts with a lead before the lead is ready to enroll in your program. For that reason, we recommend scoring each lead as it comes in. That way, your sales staff can follow up appropriately. You can do this manually by entering each lead into your CRM. Alternatively, you may want to use call tracking that integrates with your CRM.
The same method can be applied to leads via your website or Facebook page. You can use Google Analytics tools to track your traffic and determine which ad campaigns are performing well and which need to be tweaked.
Titan Web Agency offers a call tracking service that can help you evaluate, record, and analyze the calls you receive every day. Tracking your calls is the best way to ensure that your campaigns bring in highly qualified leads that will likely turn into paying clients.
By using lead tracking with one of the PACE programs we help market, we were able to grow their incoming leads each year (take out 2020-Covid, which was an anomaly)
Do you want results like these? Do you want your incoming leads growing Year Over Year for your PACE Program? Contact us today for a consultation.
In summary, to assess effectiveness, implement lead tracking and lead monitoring. Monitoring performance helps you double down on what works and cut ineffective campaigns. Pay close attention to call and lead quality as well as volumes.
- Use unique phone numbers per campaign and advertising channel.
- Log each call with source, lead info, and any notes. Score leads.
- Track website leads via forms, downloads, etc.
- Map leads back to campaigns using UTM tags and traffic sources.
- Use a CRM system or templates to organize lead data.
Improving PACE Marketing Over Time
No campaign is perfect out of the gate. Set up processes to continuously test and refine every aspect of your advertising and marketing:
- A/B test ad creative (headlines, images, calls-to-action, etc.)
- Experiment with keywords and ad placements.
- Analyze website traffic and engagement metrics.
- Review social media analytics and tweak content approaches.
- Evaluate lead quality indicators (engagement, conversions, etc.)
You can use Google Analytics to track visitor activity on your website. If you notice that one of your PACE-related pages has a high bounce rate, you should rethink the content and make it more relevant for the people you’re trying to reach.
The same is true of social media advertising. Facebook provides some analytics that will show you how many people your ad reaches and the engagement it gets. You may opt for a paid analytics service to give you in-depth analytics. Paying attention to which posts and ads get the most engagement and clicks can help you plan your future campaigns.
Any campaign that fails to deliver the desired results should be reworked and tested until you get the qualified leads you need.
Test Each Element of Your Campaign
Split testing, or A/B testing, is a way for you to gradually improve the performance of your ads over time so that you get the highest possible number of leads from each campaign you run.
The key to effective split testing is testing one element of your ad at a time. If you think that your headline may not be good enough, for example, follow these steps:
- Come up with one or more alternative headlines. Leave all other elements of your ad alone for now.
- Run the original ad plus the alternatives using a testing service that will split your traffic between the options.
- Keep the test running until you have a statistically-significant sample. In most cases, it’s best to run each test for at least a week to account for daily fluctuations in traffic.
- Choose the headline that performs the best and move on to the next test.
Split testing can be time-consuming, but it’s also a proven way to improve your click-through and conversion rates. Done properly, it can help you fine-tune every element of your PACE marketing campaigns.
Healthcare Marketing Compliance for PACE
As a regulated senior healthcare program, PACE marketing must adhere to federal and state regulations surrounding content, claims, and advertising channels. Healthcare marketers should:
- Comply with CMS and HHS guidelines for PACE programs.
- Ensure state licensing for insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid product marketing.
- Undergo regular compliance training for healthcare advertising laws.
- Have a thorough legal review of all marketing materials, especially direct mail and telemarketing.
- Maintain strict accuracy in claims and representations of services.
Marketing PACE to seniors can be challenging because of the limitations of the marketing methods and tools you can use. Using the information we’ve included here can help you maximize the impact of your marketing budgets and attract new patients.
About the Author
Tyson Downs, the owner of Titan Web Agency, has years of experience working with small businesses and helping them meet their revenue goals. Prior to starting Titan Web Agency, he freelanced in SEO and Web Design while working in the corporate world. Tyson is a graduate of Brigham Young University, the father of 5, and enjoys spending time with his family. Particularly on the baseball field.
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