By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    UV damage to eyes
    Warning Signs of Long-Term UV Damage to Your Eyes
    December 9, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    The Ultimate Healthcare Recruiting and Staffing Guidebook
    March 21, 2022
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    nursing program
    7 Tips to Picking the Best Nursing Program
    February 5, 2018
    Health Care: A Modern-Day Blade Runner?
    December 10, 2014
    Occupational Therapy Assistant | Medical Assistant | Home Health Aide
    In-Demand Healthcare Support Jobs
    April 16, 2016
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Why Healthcare Needs to Be Communicated in 6 Words or Less
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Why Healthcare Needs to Be Communicated in 6 Words or Less
BusinesseHealthHealth Reform

Why Healthcare Needs to Be Communicated in 6 Words or Less

toddwolfenbarger
Last updated: April 29, 2014 8:00 am
toddwolfenbarger
Share
7 Min Read
healthcare marketing
SHARE

“This is now up to me.” 

healthcare marketingThey’re only six words. Yet those six words sum up the new era of healthcare marketing. With the advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Americans are moving from healthcare participants to healthcare consumers, with the onus of responsibility and decision-making falling more and more on the individual.

“This is now up to me.” 

healthcare marketingThey’re only six words. Yet those six words sum up the new era of healthcare marketing. With the advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Americans are moving from healthcare participants to healthcare consumers, with the onus of responsibility and decision-making falling more and more on the individual.

More Read

Mitchell Poll Reveals that Boomers will Purchase Health Care Apps
Doctor Wes Speaks on on Doctor Privacy
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Final Accountable Care Organization Regulations!
Communication and Engagement Helped Minn. Hospitals Cut Avoidable Readmissions
How Technology is Driving Jobs in the Healthcare Industry

Although medicine and technology are advancing at a rapid pace, healthcare marketing needs to take a step back. By simplifying marketing through focused development and precise communication, companies will reach more consumers and deliver a stronger, more direct message than ever before.

And because of what will soon become the “new normal,” I’m proposing a much-needed challenge to the healthcare industry.

The ‘Six Words or Less’ Challenge 

Using just six words or less to define a product or service, convince a consumer, or tell a story sounds challenging, but it has the potential to transform a healthcare marketing campaign from wordy, divisive, and heavy-handed to motivating and highly personal. 

Using Dan Campbell’s book, “Six Word Memoirs,” as inspiration, I challenged myself and my colleagues to write our own six-word memoirs to help us understand the power that just six words can have.

I’ll admit it was tough. Selecting the right six words proved harder than I thought. But, in the end, we found that summing ourselves up in six words did not oversimplify our lives or our stories; it highlighted what was truly important.

This led me to think about how this strategy could — and should — be applied to healthcare. 

Healthcare marketing has understandably become complex. In fact, it’s become too complex for the new “consumers” it will need to sell its services to. Companies have desperately tried to set themselves, their services, or their products apart from the rest by dumping a mountain of information into every flyer, brochure, and ad spot. Potential customers are so overwhelmed by the jargon, statistics, and benefits lists that it’s easier to do nothing — take no action — than to make sense of it all.

With a shorter, clearer marketing message, consumers get more concise, specific information from the company. They see how a product or service can benefit them personally. In return, the company gets consumers who are more willing to take action and make smart healthcare decisions.

Discovering Your Six Words

To find the right six words for your marketing campaign, it’s important to apply four values to your process. These values will help you narrow your campaign and give it purpose and direction:

  • Segmentation
    Marketers have historically lumped consumers into large groups, specified only by vague characteristics like gender or age. Or, worse, they’ve relied on mass marketing — the equivalent of casting a net into the marketplace and hoping to catch something. In contrast, the most successful marketing campaigns target specific audiences. The Internet has given marketers a rich supply of customer profile information and real-time analytics that allow marketers to define and refine messaging, rather than resort to shouting their message at the masses.
  • Specificity
    In a narrative, specificity is what makes a story pop off the page and come to life for the reader. It fleshes out an object or idea into something real, tangible, and relatable. It’s the difference between writing “the two consumers” and writing “Jack and Jane.” The latter turns a vague description into two real people. In healthcare marketing, using specific words and phrases always pays off.
  • Clarity
    In the healthcare marketing field, communicating to make consumers understand should be your primary goal. An overreliance on jargon or complex ideas makes most marketing messages too difficult to understand. And when consumers know they’ll have to work hard to understand something, they give up trying. To gauge clarity, ask yourself if the average person on the street would be able to understand what you’re writing within 30 seconds.
  • Benefit-Proof
    Too often in healthcare, marketers focus on fantastic technological advancements or the many innovative features of a healthcare plan. They spend so much time evangelizing all the ways their service or product is better than their competitors’ that they often lose sight of the one or two true reasons consumers would actually benefit.

As more people — not corporations — begin purchasing healthcare, companies need to dramatically alter their marketing messages to reach individual consumers. The companies that figure out how to do this will become the winners in healthcare marketing. 

Healthcare marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. As consumers gain more control over their healthcare and medical decisions, they’ll connect more with companies that speak to them in a clear, relatable way. If you develop strong messages for your consumers using six words or less, what you say will be much more powerful and ultimately reach more consumers.

(Succinct healthcare marketing / shutterstock)

TAGGED:healthcare marketing
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

debt relief for hospitals
BusinessFinanceHospital AdministrationPolicy & LawPublic Health

Should We Bail Out Hospitals for Their Bad Debt?

January 2, 2014

Entitlements and Estate Taxes: the Medicare Connection

July 26, 2011

The Challenges of Health Care Cost Control

June 3, 2011

What’s Next for Healthcare Information Technology Innovation

May 5, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?