As we come to the end of June, it’s time to take a look back at our healthcare marketing series and review the most important lessons. From crafting a strategic plan to analyzing the data you collect and using it to optimize your campaigns, here are five best practices for healthcare marketing.
1. Use the new marketing value chain to guide strategic planning
Do you remember the new marketing value chain? If you could use a refresher, revisit our white paper or recent blog post recapping the process. In today’s digital marketing landscape, we believe that the new marketing value chain is the best guide for getting your marketing on track and keeping it there. As you create a strategic plan to guide your healthcare marketing, employ the new value chain’s three links: application of insight, application of strategy and application of rules and tools.
2. Carefully consider your tone
If you’re experienced in B2B marketing, you likely know plenty about conveying expertise and speaking to decision-makers in the language of their own specialties. When marketing to an audience that includes medical professionals, it’s particularly important to include high-level, medically-accurate information in your marketing. Pair this information with your usual attention to crafting compelling copy that will intrigue and offer value for an engaging marketing campaign.
3. Work with an experienced marketing partner
While healthcare marketing shares much with B2B and B2C marketing, depending on your target market, there are critical aspects that are unique to healthcare. Healthcare marketing isn’t the only marketing space in which policy, privacy and sensitivity in messaging each play a role, but they are particularly prominent when dealing with health and medicine. An experienced partner firm can help your organization navigate each of these topics, and help shape your strategic plan with them in mind.
Consumer healthcare decisions are often influenced by many people, rather than made by a lone individual. If your marketing focuses too narrowly on the direct users of your health services, you’ll be missing the chance to influence others, like the family and friends of those who need your services. Considering your audience broadly is also important in marketing that seeks to reach healthcare professionals and organizations. Remember that your messaging should work to reach both decision-makers and the end-users of your product or service. In all circumstances, segment your audience and tailor messaging to have the greatest possible impact.
In healthcare marketing as in all digital marketing, the data you collect provide invaluable insights into your audiences and how they respond to your messaging. From your first work on a strategic plan all the way through your campaigns, data should be central. In order to accurately and usefully collect and analyze healthcare marketing data, make certain that you are:
Remember to work within applicable privacy laws where protected medical data is concerned.
For more lessons on how to optimize your healthcare marketing, read our blog post on Mercy Health.
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