How To Market Healthcare Effectively

By Hazel A. Perry


Promoting the products and services included under the health-care umbrella is a challenge. They include new medications and personal products, as well as medical specialties, hospitals, services, and even insurance. Each segment is an independent and unique slice of a vast industry. For many of these businesses, learning how to market healthcare effectively is the key to survival.

Developing a well-regarded brand is an important first step. Branding is more than designing a company logo. It also includes creating a good product or corporate image through positive interactions with consumers. Reinforcing that awareness via advertising requires careful and specific planning, and rarely is fully successful without thoroughly assessing current promotional strategies.

To reach the targeted audience, that brand must appear on the Internet. In the past, some corporations were reluctant to adopt digital ad techniques, but ignoring the numbers of people searching daily for health advice and products is a mistake. Companies skilled in the nuance of search engine optimization and placement of key words have an instant advantage.

Some promotions are already visually prominent. On cable television, ads for new medications repeat endlessly, and through that excessive exposure create public awareness of a product. This very basic mode of external advertising touches nearly everyone, and often targets specific group demographics, such as senior citizens. Although irritating, this method creates demand and builds recognition.

Public relations can also play an important role in the form of carefully timed press releases, or articles written to create exposure. This information not only attracts and informs a general audience, but can present new products to a very specific group of consumers. Good public relations expertise also requires a working knowledge of current social media outlets.

When a strong Internet presence combines with a well-branded product, the result is a better business reputation. In an age of personal networks, good word of mouth does not take long to become widespread, and can be the most cost-effective method of advertising. Whether expressed by physicians or patients, good customer perceptions achieve more than advertising campaigns alone.

Whether the goal is to increase referrals or to simply put a new product or idea on display, health-care product and service promotion can be an easier task with the help of an experienced and recognized consulting firm. From beginning analysis to the final bottom line, good guidance can help avoid common hazards that can derail even the best marketing plans.




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