Aged Care & Disability Services (NDIS) marketing benchmarks

Aged Care and Disability Services composite sits 55th of 70 industries. For a sector experiencing rapid growth through NDIS expansion and an ageing population, the marketing capability hasn't kept pace with the opportunity.

Compare aged care to Allied Health. Similar scores, similar challenges. Both serve vulnerable populations, both involve complex buying decisions and both have historically under-invested in marketing. But the providers pulling ahead in both sectors are the ones treating marketing as client acquisition, not just brand awareness.

Retention is the bright spot. Once a family chooses a provider, switching is disruptive and emotional. This gives providers a natural retention advantage. But retention without acquisition leads to slow decline. The providers growing are the ones who have figured out digital acquisition without compromising the empathetic brand that aged care requires.

The NDIS has created a more competitive market than aged care has ever experienced. Participants have choice and control over their provider. The providers that make it easy to find them, understand their services and engage with them, those are the ones winning plan management referrals and growing their participant base.

Data and Tracking is the structural weakness. Most aged care providers can tell you their occupancy rate but not their marketing cost per admission. When NDIS funding models are tightening and competition for participants is increasing, understanding your acquisition economics is no longer optional.

Retention at 30% dominates because the cost of losing a participant is enormous. NDIS plans are annual. Residential aged care placements last years. The provider who retains well has a predictable revenue base. Acquisition (25%) and Conversion (25%) together carry 50% because the buying process is complex and emotional. Families research extensively before committing.

Brand at just 7% reflects the local nature of care decisions. Families choose based on proximity, availability and peer recommendations, not national brand campaigns. Data and Tracking at 3% is the lowest weight in any industry, which is honest about the sector capability but not aspirational.

Acquisition is holding you back. Families looking for aged care or NDIS providers start with Google. If your website doesn't appear, you don't exist. Local SEO, Google Business Profile optimisation and clear service descriptions are not optional. They're how you get found.

Conversion suggests your website is losing prospects. For aged care, conversion means turning a concerned family member's enquiry into a tour or consultation. The barriers are usually unclear pricing, missing availability information and no easy way to make contact. Fix these and conversion improves immediately.

Data and Tracking means most providers can't tell you which marketing channel produces the most admissions. Start simple: ask every new enquiry how they found you. Track it. Within three months, you'll know where to spend.