How to bring maximum benefit to your twice-yearly marketing update.
How to bring maximum benefit to your twice-yearly marketing update.
Somewhere in everyone’s job description—expressed or implied—is the need to be creative. And we know from experience in that it’s doubly challenging to be creative on demand. Surprisingly, a little coaching can help the process of generating good ideas for better healthcare marketing and advertising. Here are some secrets about being creative from, of all […]
The business partnership between a medical advertising agency and a healthcare client should be an enduring, win-win relationship. But the reality is that most would-be associations are non-starters, while some strategic alliances last for decades. Admittedly, there are a lot of moving parts in any client-agency "marriage." The client wants to tap into the "ideal" […]
Everything you need to know about healthcare marketing jingles but were too busy singing to ask. Healthcare marketing and advertising gets a boost in effectiveness and greater response using broadcast commercials that include musical jingles. And they're more affordable than in the past. Here are the four basic components and six ways to use healthcare […]
We frequently address professional audiences around the nation, and this month is no exception. HSS Founding Partner Stewart Gandolf will speak at the 2012 American Association of Orthopaedic Executives (AAOE) Annual Conference in New Orleans. Calendar Note: Stewart’s presentation, Importance of Marketing in Building a Physician Referral Network, will be on Tuesday, May 22nd, beginning […]
How to organize the tasks and responsibilities that will get you where you want to go. A marketing or business goal is not clearly defined without establishing what's needed to achieve it. Organizing the broad concepts and specific action steps that support the goal are the fundamental tools necessary to success in healthcare marketing. Here's […]
There's a five-step process that makes for best practice success. Healthcare marketing is very much like drilling for oil. Success requires a proven system not a shovel. Here's an analogy that I presented to a client recently. Suppose you want to drill for oil. You can begin making random holes in your backyard, or you […]
Quick-check questions that reveal make-it or break-it problems before launch The difference between big-time winning vs. downright disaster in healthcare direct response depends on a million variables. A single, simple oversight can cost you the ballgame. Ask yourself these seven questions to find and fix fundamental problems before you rollout any direct response program.
In the healthcare advertising agency industry, we’ve found that clients who are open to advice and guidance are those individuals who understand that there is a best practices approach to doctor marketing and advertising. Sometimes wisdom comes from making mistakes, but the wiser approach is to listen to and learn from the experience of others. […]
By definition, your healthcare advertising agency is a partnership arrangement. Choose this business associate carefully; it's not an ordinary vendor or supplier resource. You're not buying latex gloves or file folders here. You're hiring a trusted professional colleague that understands your business and your growth goals. If you are buying "creative services" or "website design" […]
Here’s another way to use video in your online healthcare SEO marketing and advertising. Regular readers appreciate that we often write about using video on your website and in other medical marketing applications. Video is a useful, versatile and cost effective method to carry your marketing message or make your advertising point.
There’s another timely and thought-provoking post by Stewart over at his blog, Gandolf’s Marketing Magic, titled The First Step To Dealing With Our “New Normal” Is Acceptance. Drawing on several authoritative sources—including candid insight from his personal and business experience—the portrait of the nation’s economic “New Normal” is, at best, troubling. It’s also likely to […]
A quick survey of 4 communications cornerstones and 24 basic ideas that might belong in your marketing plan. This is a "forest-for-the-trees" kind of thing. Or maybe it's a "nose-on-your-face" deal. In any event, overlooking an obvious opportunity is definitely common, and even somewhat understandable. Hospitals, practices and healthcare organizations are busy places and marketing […]
How to take a fresh and fast survey of your own backyard. For a whole lot of reasons, nearly all all healthcare organizations, hospitals and practices are doing business differently from what you might think. Especially in marketing terms, the previous 12 months are not a good guide to how your competition will be navigating […]
Don't start without at least one of these or your "Medi-Spa" may go down the drain. The cross-over blending of a medical practice and a day spa continues to grow in popularity. The public finds value and authority in medically directed services to improve personal appearance, and many physicians recognize how a "medi-spa" can add […]
The medical marketing environment is constantly changing but the core reasons are the same for most. Priorities and situations will vary widely as healthcare reform reshapes the competitive environment, but providers—including hospitals, medical groups, and others—market for only a few reasons. Nearly everyone can relate to one or more of this short list. You'd think […]
The New Normal for Medical Marketing, Healthcare Marketing, and Hospital Marketing in Challenging Socioeconomic Times Healthcare Marketing and advertising can appear to be complex, confusing and daunting. But the first steps on the road to success are grounded in only six fundamental building blocks. We think of it as an "ah-ha moment." It's that highly […]
Print advertising remains a cost-effective option when you test, track and adjust. External Communications plans for healthcare marketing can still include magazines and newspapers to produce successful results. But print ads are may not be right for everyone, and only if you do it right from the start. The formula for winning with print involves […]
Editor's Note: This material is adapted from an article that we authored for THE Aesthetic Guide, a national publication serving readership in aesthetic medical practices. Many of the marketing concepts discussed in this article apply to other professional, medical and healthcare marketing situations. There are positive signs on the horizon that the nation's economic climate […]
7 Criteria You MUST Consider When Looking For Health Care Marketing Talent (And how to avoid falling victim to "Marketing Malpractice") Doctors often tell us about their difficulties with finding and evaluating healthcare marketing talent. So we thought we'd give you a "cheat sheet" to help you. Before we do that, however, let's set the […]
How to take advantage of new opportunities to include TV ads in your marketing plan It is possible to control television production and media costs and still deliver a professional-quality message with strong results. TV may not be right for every healthcare marketing plan, but it's no longer out of reach. New media options, friendly […]
Like so many other business processes, marketing implementation is far more successful when a practice executes a solid marketing plan with the support of a structured system. Marketing Plan "If you fail to plan, plan to fail." Everyone's heard this saying, yet so few healthcare practices follow this sound advice when it comes to marketing.
The first four diagnostic questions to ask before you take a marketing leap... Imagine this happening in your office... A new patient presents himself and announces that he needs a broad-spectrum antibiotic. How's that again? Yes -- could you please write the prescription so he can be on his way? And thank you very much. […]
Marketing is defined from various sources as a process, as a set of strategies and activities, as a series of communications, and more. There are many good and accurate definitions of marketing. Here are a few.
Strategic marketing planning and analysis is an ongoing process. As part of almost every "Marketing 101" course, students are taught a basic marketing analysis principle, most often called the "marketing mix." The marketing mix was originally defined as the "4 Ps" - Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. For service businesses, a fifth "P" - People […]
