With the holiday season upon us, here’s an incredibly useful gift idea for doctors, hospitals and healthcare professionals. What’s more, the cost couldn’t be better. Offer a subscription to the Healthcare Success Marketing Advisor to your friends, colleagues, physicians, administrators and staff. You'll be giving them the gift of success that is packed with valuable, practical, […]
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.
I don’t know anyone who isn’t occasionally guilty of using “medical-ese.” It's the verbal shorthand, technical talk, healthcare jargon, slang or hospital lingo that spells trouble. Doctors, nurses, hospital marketing executives, and practice administrators are all experts, but our audience is not. And we kill our well-intended message quicker than you can say "hyperlipidemia." The […]
Here’s an early heads-up about Google’s brand new “social recommendation” product. If you haven’t heard about this, you might want to start tracking. In time, it’s certain to have an impact on healthcare marketing, Internet advertising and healthcare search engine optimization (SEO). Google, the giant gorilla of all search engines, calls it “the +1 button,” […]
On December 21, 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau announced the results of Census 2010—the resident population of the United States is now 308,745,538. But Census 2010 data isn’t just about counting noses. You may be surprised to learn that there’s a “new majority” in town, and there’s an important paradigm shift underway for healthcare marketing […]
gold·en goose • n. a continuing source of wealth or profit that may be exhausted if it is misused. Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English You’ve probably heard the “golden goose” story. It’s been around since about the 5th century and there are several versions of the fable. Unfortunately, there’s a healthcare marketing version that’s […]
The deal-of-the-day coupon phenomenon is new, but it very much looks like it’s here to stay…at least in the retail/merchant sector. For healthcare, however, some cautionary tales have emerged. Our previous post pointed to Groupon as the leading poster boy for a dozen or more “try-it-you’ll-like-it” deal sites. And more importantly, the fact that the […]
It’s like being a driving instructor. Part of our job is to keep clients steering their healthcare marketing and advertising bus on the right course and away from the potholes. But all too often we’ll see an accident…someone has veered headlong through the good-sense guide rail and their advertising dollars have gone up in flames. […]
We launched our new series of marketing articles at ImagingBiz this week with a short lesson in branding. We’re pleased to contribute to the ImagingBiz educational and informational portal on a regular basis. It's for decision-makers in medical imaging in both the outpatient and hospital environments. And although our initial article is directed primarily to […]
We think Jennifer Robison, Senior Editor for the Gallup Management Journal, hit a timely hot button with both marketing professionals and business administrators when she wrote about healthcare organizations missing the “patient experience” target. Her focus was primarily hospitals, but her words are just as vital to other healthcare organizations, marketing, advertising and PR executives […]
The problem with “common wisdom” is that it is often a myth cleverly disguised as the truth. And it’s easy to buy into these notions, especially when you hear something frequently or from a well-meaning source. For example, consider the common wisdom (and debunkments, if that’s a word) from WebMD: Drink at least eight glasses […]
So you think you’ve arrived. Solo practitioner or group medical practice…hospital or health system…you’re at the top of your marketing game by whatever measure you want to use. You have the first Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking, or you’re the undisputed leader in brand awareness. And now that you’ve arrived, you can sit back and […]
For healthcare marketing, there’s value in knowing people’s preferences and the medical gateways that are important to consumers. It’s important insight for healthcare providers, hospitals and other medical and patient-facing organizations. People--healthcare consumers and prospective patients, that is--tell researchers they want tests that predict if certain serious diseases are likely to be part of their […]
Creative new ideas are the fuel of healthcare marketing success, and in all modesty, we come up with new ideas all the time. It’s our business. What’s more, our clients—physicians, hospitals, dentists, medical groups, pharma/device executives, surgeons and healthcare providers and organizations—tend to be leaders in their field and pretty smart people. Typical of these […]
Wait! Don’t change that channel. Advertising’s long-form—the 30-minute video format—is not always about home exercise equipment, kitchen knives or Chia Pets. In fact the sometimes-misunderstood “infomercial” can be a highly professional (reputation enhancing) communications tool, and an excellent healthcare marketing, advertising and public relations workhorse. What’s more, advances in technology have pushed down the cost […]
Every day we see a sign for “Oral Surgery” or read a healthcare advertising headline that is mainly the physician’s or hospital’s name. Unfortunately for the marketing budget, it’s not advertising…it’s a failure to communicate. Whatever the intent, the medical marketing message missed its mark. The fundamental truth here is that no one goes shopping […]
These two little questions, which seem perilously close to being disrespectful, can save you from wasting precious healthcare advertising dollars. In fact, they can help lead you to a higher Return-on-Investment (ROI). Let’s say you or your staff is planning a new advertisement. Use these questions as the first challenge to the prospective advertising message. […]
Take a quiet two minutes for a demographic reality check. Trust me, this isn’t an academic exercise. Private practices, physician groups, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and virtually all healthcare organizations should take note. Census data reveals some disruptive trends at work in the US population, researchers say. And, we would observe, if your healthcare marketing plan […]
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 […]
Did you blink? New online healthcare marketing and advertising tools burst onto the scene faster than you can reboot your iPad. Take the business rocket Groupon for example. It’s well worth considering in elective healthcare sectors. Here’s why… Barely two years ago there was no Groupon. But less than a fortnight ago, the online deal-of-the-day […]
If you haven’t seen the FDA’s proposed graphic new health warnings for cigarette packages and advertisements, here's your first look. You'll likely see a lot more of them. But BE ADVISED that these graphics are well beyond the current, words-only advisory, and there’s nothing subtle about them. The FDA proposed a total of 36 warning […]
Everyone wants to be at the top of the results list when a prospective patient (or anyone) does a Google search for "Dentist in Des Moines," but only seven listings are going to make the "local business listings." Many hospitals, urgent care centers, dental offices, and other medical healthcare providers have picked-up on geo-specific advertising […]
It's safe to think of Doc Gurley as web-and-tech-savvy. She's the only Harvard-trained and Board-certified practicing Internist that we know of who has a website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, blog...and a column at sfgate.com. That's not your every-doc CV, so we thought this was a well-qualified observer who posted an exceptional (and detailed) recap of […]
Here’s a worthwhile idea that we can all get behind. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released its National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. It’s aimed at making health information and services easier to understand and use. The plan calls for improving the jargon-filled language, dense writing, and complex explanations that […]
The iconic, Spielberg science fiction film Minority Report set us up for this one nearly a decade ago. But right now, a new billboard technology is being tested in Japan that recognizes who’s looking at it and delivers a personalized message that’s suitable to the reader. OK, it’s not the film’s iris recognition of year […]
The “Microhoo” Challenger to Google in Online Search and Internet Advertising If the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance news has fallen off your radar, here’s an update that’s important to SEO / Search Engine Optimization for healthcare marketing & advertising. Microsoft’s Bing is now powering organic search results on Yahoo! Search for the English language […]
Dermatologists may need to team with psychologists; patient education isn’t enough. It seems that indoor tanning may be an addiction among college students participating in a study published in Archives of Dermatology and supported by the National Cancer Institute. The results also suggest a relation to anxiety, depression, and substance use among the participants. There […]
Speaking of attention-getting dental marketing and advertising, here’s a clever idea that caught our eye in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. (Getting attention is a good first step.) Yep, we know…this isn’t for everyone... but worth sharing. The dentists at Riverstone Dental Care told us that this unique bit of mobile dental advertising generates new patients and […]
Once upon a time ... as some stories begin...the care and feeding of a profitable ambulatory surgery center seemed blessed with a seamless, predictable and uninterrupted patient flow. At least that was the idea. Unfortunately, reality intrudes and things change. Today, there’s nothing easy or automatic. ASCs—both large and small—are challenged to constantly align capacity […]
If you had any doubt, this week’s launch of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media illustrates how the Internet—and social media in particular—is now a dominant force in healthcare marketing, advertising, public relations and essential communications. Historically, hospitals, healthcare organizations and providers have been considered slow to adopt new marketing approaches. But we’ve been watching […]
If your hospital isn’t on this list, it should be. At this writing, the HSNL accounts for well over 750 hospitals with YouTube Channels, Facebook pages, Twitter Accounts, and/or Blogs. Here are the top-line numbers:Anyone (meaning everyone) working in hospital marketing or hospital public relations should check out the Hospital Social Network List (HSNL). It’s […]
The number of "born losers" in healthcare practice marketing, advertising and promotion is roughly the same as the head-count of ants at a summer picnic-and just as welcome. These include putting your name, logo or ad on or in:
