Recently I was looking for a new school for one of my daughters. In that process, I phoned one of the prospective organizations—a modern school with a good reputation and a progressive-sounding name. The individual who answered the phone was immediately helpful; even on the phone her obviously winning personality and positive demeanor came through […]
“Stop already,” you say…you’ve heard them all before. Some (hopefully, only a few) patients gripe and complain about all the usual stuff. We’re not talking about the assorted medical or health complaint. It’s those issues—large or small, serious or trivial, real or imaginary—that bubble up in the course of dozens of patient visits to a […]
Medical practices—especially specialty practices that need to be assertive in their marketing efforts—generally have three resource options for marketing talent. Depending on the complexity and goals of the marketing effort, the size of the practice and budget, and other considerations, a medical practice will need to draw upon all three options: Healthcare Advertising Agency – […]
The term of art—Level of Care—is familiar throughout healthcare. The words have variations in meaning depending on the context and application—the health insurance world vs. the medical provider world, for example. But generally the words relate to “the intensity of medical care being provided by the physician or health care facility.” [McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern […]
One business tip—something your health care competition may not know—is that email is a highly effective secret weapon for physician marketing. When some reports suggested otherwise, Gigaom Research told us that, among digital marketers, “Email marketing is the digital workhorse, deemed the most effective (relative to other digital tactics) for building awareness, acquisition, retention and […]
From time to time, the subject of television advertising comes up in our work with healthcare providers. What follows, typically, is a little three-act cycle of “rejection,” to “reluctant testing,” to “enthusiastic surprise.” Right up front, I need to say that broadcast television advertising isn’t right for every client situation. There are production and media […]
Fear. Risk. Rationalization. It’s likely that we have not heard all the reasons that doctors DO NOT advertise. Perhaps only a million or so. For one thing, the list of "not doing marketing" is nearly endless. Secondly, the doctors and healthcare professionals who we talk to most often have left that old-school thinking behind and have squared-off […]
Marketing in any industry is a tricky endeavor. When it comes to your own practice or an independent clinic where gaining and maintaining a customer’s trust is paramount, the task is especially challenging. And when we’re talking about the marketing of content, that challenging task becomes even more difficult, due not only to the ongoing need […]
When youthful enchantment with “rat tats,” tribal geometry and dolphin tattoos fades, it fuels a marketing gateway for hospitals, dermatologists and other removal providers. Somewhere around one in five Americans have tattoos, but as the population grows older (and perhaps wiser), “tattoo regret” begins to set in for many people. Typically, about 10 to 15 […]
The idiom, “Don’t put the cart before the horse,” might have originated a couple thousand years ago. And roughly 500 years ago, the expression was a common figure of speech during the Renaissance. But as recently as last week, the age-old problem of putting things in the wrong order is, quite unfortunately, still alive and well...and […]
OK, I realize that professional football’s Super Bowl is behind us, and baseball's spring training remains a distant vision of warmer weather. But here’s a useful bit of insight about competition that applies to winning in healthcare marketing. Faithful followers of the Great American Pastime will recognize the term “Defensive Indifference.” It’s a slightly obscure tactic […]
About the only thing that’s certain in healthcare delivery is that constant change will continue. And that, unfortunately, makes everyone’s marketing assumptions suspect. Keeping pace with a shifting landscape makes it more challenging to market a medical practice. Here are a few important-but-independent observations, factoids and tips that crossed our radar. Consider how each item—maybe all of […]
Clear trends in physician reviews and consumer purchase decision patterns have emerged for healthcare marketing professionals. A physician’s online presence may soon become a necessity to attract and retain patients, according to practice management research group Software Advice's 2014 survey of over 4,600 US healthcare consumers. But, compared to the previous year’s survey, the trend […]
The Internet is video-rich. By some estimates, half of all the traffic online is in video format. And, healthcare marketing is increasingly embracing video as a means to effectively and efficiently tell its story. At nearly every point along the medical delivery continuum, hospitals, service lines and doctors’ offices can take advantage of the proliferation […]
Healthcare’s new breed of informed consumer—today’s prospective patient—is making important decisions about choosing a provider long before your office phone rings for an appointment. Physicians and marketing professionals understand that the early competitive battleground for attracting new patients has gone digital, where online reputation is more important to consumers than your 12-page Curriculum Vitae. Internet […]
Healthcare marketing professionals know what the retail-world textbook says about customers. Substitute “patient” for “customer” or “consumer” to realize how healthcare’s new swing from provider-centric to patient-centric is much more significant than a smile and warm welcome. Your relationship with healthcare’s new empowered consumer is vital element in revenue and profitability. Acquiring a new customer […]
Perhaps the idea of promoting “flu shots” isn’t particularly “glamorous” in healthcare marketing. Some doctor’s offices, healthcare providers (and marketing professionals) consider vaccinations and immunizations as ordinary and routine as remembering to turning off the lights at night. Nobody gives it much thought. Preventative care and patient wellbeing are at the top of the list, […]
For the sake of a convenient label, let’s call it the Nordstrom Syndrome. Doctors of various professional disciplines come to me, with some regularity, exhibiting symptoms of this (marketing) condition, and they want my business advice. It’s the first of two valuable marketing lessons that doctors can learn from retail stalwart Nordstrom. Lesson One… Physicians […]
Physicians, as a rule, tend to be risk adverse. The science base of healthcare, combined with training, continuing education, and experience in practice, can make medical risk manageable. Doctors—who are also owners, entrepreneurs, and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)—tend to be especially risk adverse on the business side of healthcare. Success in marketing and advertising, […]
Baby pictures have a nearly universal “human touch” appeal. On the social media scale of cuteness, engagement and share-ability, babies, kids and grandkids are right up there in popularity with images of “grumpy cat,” playful puppy dogs, and ice bucket videos. But evidently “cute” has its limits when baby pictures are publically posted—as they commonly […]
Doctors and patients have adopted new roles for themselves in the healthcare delivery system in the wake of healthcare reform. The “new normal” for patients includes a stronger and more proactive participation in personal health matters. More than ever, the role of the patient is that of an informed consumer. And as patient-centered care has become the […]
“Almost every culture has its own metaphor about what happens to people who are judged by their peers to be overreaching,” according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. “In Australia, it’s tall poppies—the tallest one gets its head whacked off. In Japan, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” There’s a delicate […]
There’s a troublesome disconnect between how the nation’s medical system defines the quality of healthcare providers and how patients and prospective patients judge a “good doctor.” “Doctors who listen are important, but ‘some of the nicest doctors are the least competent,’ cautioned Dr. Elliott Fisher of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice” […]
Only five years ago, what doctors recognized as the business of “being in practice,” is quite different from how things are today. For nearly everyone in the spectrum of care, healthcare delivery is, and will continue to change. Marketing decisions will be shaped in a new way. Patients are informed and empowered; wearable technology is […]
I’d like to tell you a story about two insightful, and mirror opposite, conversations that I had with doctors. These two informal chats revealed how basic attitudes can quickly define success or failure in healthcare marketing. In the first of my true stories, a mutual friend asked me to provide some "pro bono" advice to […]
