Our times are promoting a carefree lifestyle, yet everyone is worried about the state of their health. Hitting the desired notes in order to attract a client to your healthcare service can be a tricky task indeed. Still, to this day, most of your clients choose you due to word of mouth. Attracting eyes and mind on your product is costly and tricky. A lot of healthcare businesses fail to recognize the trends in other markets and use them to their advantage. Here are a couple ways you can think about your healthcare marketing plan.
You’re treating people after all
Banging your head against the wall, juggling cash flows and workforce optimization may grant you limited success, but remember this industry has a core product, and that is the patient. Also, people have a different mindset when it comes to their health. They seek care, compassion, security. While pandering may seem patronizing, in this business it’s more than welcome. Consider the services you’re offering and the ailments you are treating. Think about the demographics of the potential patients affected and how they enjoy being treated and taken care of. Are there more conditions associated with your demographic and can you begin treating it? These are the questions you should be asking yourself. Ultimately it boils down to, “How can you help?” Each patient is unique in a way, with expectations and standards. It is illusory to cater to every individual that walks through your door, but having leeway for a personal touch is a detail that will indeed tip you ahead of the competition. Making your clinic feel more like a spa then a hospital is the way to go.
Everything’s digital now
For healthcare companies, developing a healthcare marketing plan is a dialogue between the R&D department, showcasing their research, and the marketing team understanding the presented possibilities and molding them into the wants of the consumer. Most elusively, of course, you must have a lead with the drive, vigilance, vision, and taste to combine all those ideas into one. A product for the future. What better way to look at that then by going digital? Modern marketing strategies rarely take patient’s user experience into consideration. How can you grant more clarity to your patient, and make his trip to and from your clinic a joy rather than a bother? An answer to such a question may come from a brief explanation of the Dubai Health Authority application that digitized a huge part of their patient-doctor relations. Patients using the app could get favorable appointments, find quick routes to desirable locations within hospitals, using an app with their doctor to understand the full scope of their illness. While to some such an app may seem intrusive, I have to stress again that clarity is the most important give you can give to your patient, apart from health of course. With that in mind, question yourself – How can my processes become efficient in regards to the patient? If you are still thinking, do it quickly. Big players like Amazon are coming soon to the healthcare game. This is potentially groundbreaking for the industry. Amazon has a perception within the consumers as a cheap and accommodative service, while the brands it will fight are literally associated with death.
Know your community
Trust is a low-yielding fruit and must be patiently attended to. Get to know your demographic. If it’s a suburban neighborhood try getting yourself involved. For example, nothing builds a family culture around your business more than such a related activity. Having a bike race for kids is a good idea, you just have to check in with the local authorities to make sure you are not in violation of any laws and you meet all the requirements. In urban areas, there are even easier ways to attract a demographic. Providing information and preventive care is a great way of building up your brand. Handing out condoms or fliers informing the public on the importance of healthcare and preventative medicine will make your business stand out as one that is taking the welfare of the public into consideration as well. Local authorities don’t shy away from healthcare, it is always good for their public image. Get involved with the authorities. Help shelters, law enforcement, and other public workers, enforce your brand.
Conclusion
The angles of interest are patients, digital presentation, and the community. All these parts are entwined and closely reflect one another. With poor presentation, your patient will get lost. A lost patient ends up not getting treated in an efficient and effective way, becomes flustered, goes home and affects the community. The community is the deciding factor on the output your company will make, getting ostracized is a certain nail in the coffin in this industry.