You searched for | Page 38 of 43

Is the Cost of Healthcare Insurance a Throttle or an Accelerator?

There’s no doubt that Americans are going to the doctor less frequently than they did a few years ago. The downtrend in patient visits is well documented…there’s plenty of empirical as well as anecdotal evidence. We hear about it routinely from our clients in primary care practices, which is not surprising. But it’s a bit […]

The Free "Performance Dashboard" For Your Healthcare Marketing Website

Demystifying Web Analytics brings more patients through your digital doorway. Think of Website Analytics as your most important management tool to understand how your website is performing (or not performing). Free tools are available to track visitor activity and guide changes that improve performance and website results for your practice, hospital or healthcare organization. There's […]

Psst…Don’t Tell Your Competition: Mystery Marketing Hero Revealed.

First, do the hardball math. When the phone rings in your office, you are probably losing more new business than you’re winning. Close to 70 percent of new patient calls produce no revenue because the caller never comes into the office. That means your practice is seeing only three out of ten of these callers.

Doximity is Not the New LinkedIn. Two Important Digital Tools that Every Physician Can Use

Physicians are both public and private individuals. There’s the inner circle of peers and colleagues, and there’s the outer circle of public and (prospective) patients. And for each of these, there’s a free digital tool that every physician can use to boost productivity, professionally present your “who-you-are-and-what-you-do” message, enhance your reputation and help your career […]

Health Care Marketing: How Are Things Different For Health Care Organizations?

In many respects, marketing a health care organization or practice is not substantially different from marketing a small business in other industries. Basic business marketing principles that apply in other industries - including market and competitive research, strategic planning, budgeting, positioning, branding, marketing strategies, tactics, media options, public relations opportunities, implementation processes, tracking processes - […]

The “General Market” Illusion: The New Majority in Healthcare Marketing

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 […]

A Doctor's World is Changing: Is Your Marketing Message Keeping Up with You?

A doctor’s world was, at one time, relatively stable. Certainly not easy, but generally steady and secure. As recently as a generation ago, being a physician was less complicated than facing the rapid-fire changes that are still occurring in our nation’s healthcare delivery system. “For decades, medicine has been dominated by fiercely independent doctors who […]

A Broken Guitar, Unhappy Musician, Indifferent Airline and Viral Video. The Imperfect Customer Service Storm.

Sometimes we think that Stewart Gandolf has way too much fun over at his blog, Gandolf’s Marketing Magic. I submit as evidence, and for your consideration, Stewart’s recent post that begins with the story about how a customer complaint became a YouTube music-and-video saga (in three parts) titled United Breaks Guitars. As a quick disclosure, […]

Golden Goose Demise: A Doctor Marketing Lesson for All Professions

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 […]

How to Irritate an Editor, and THE Essential Key to a Successful Healthcare PR News Release

From time to time everyone in healthcare marketing and public relations will write a news release…and then hope that it navigates the tricky course from your desk to the eyes and mind of the intended reader. Individual practices may do this occasionally while big hospitals and other healthcare organizations may do it daily. The secrets […]

Does Botox Belong in the Dentist’s Office? It Depends on Who You Ask.

Back in the uncomplicated good old days of healthcare marketing, the many and various medical professions, specialties and subspecialties were neatly organized by basic anatomy. Podiatrists, for example, worked on stuff “below the knee.” A patient with a snoring problem might be referred to an “ear-nose-throat” specialist. And dentists cared for your teeth and gums. […]

How Bottom-Line Success is Really About Creating Top-Line Relationships in Healthcare

How the patient experience is increasingly vital to financial success in our changing healthcare delivery system. From large health systems to hospitals, to medical practices, relationships and satisfaction connect directly to the bottom line. Professional practices, hospitals and virtually all healthcare providers of any size are increasingly aware that, like the retail business down the […]

Digital Deal-A-Day Coupons Hold Cautions for Healthcare Marketing

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 […]

Live From the OR: Do Patients REALLY Want to Watch Open Heart Surgery?

For some time now, we have championed the benefits of video content as a powerful, and often underutilized, tool in healthcare marketing. No pun intended, but here are two cutting-edge video examples of surgery—direct and graphic from the OR. Viewer Discretion Advised. These video examples of actual surgery include graphic content. Online video broadcasts (and […]

Doctors Aren’t Passively Resisting Social Media. Some Are Candidly Bitter About Something

Do doctors see social media in their practice future? Have you (or patients) ever wondered why a particular doctor isn’t using social networks? Some doctor comments are harsh. Of course many healthcare providers actively use social media routinely and effectively. Patients look online for health and healthcare info, and at least a few thoroughly professional […]

Advertising Art isn’t Art, It’s Advertising. The “Pretty Poison” That’s Sure to Kill Your Healthcare Marketing Message

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. […]

3 Shortcuts to Sabotage: "Ignoring Customer Service in Healthcare"

We wish we had written that compelling headline because it drew us into an insightful post (that we also wish we had written). Author and business coach Micah Solomon is hitting us with a triple (facetious) dose of ways healthcare providers—particularly hospitals—can avoid service excellence. There must be thousands of ways to fail at customer […]

search engine optimization and marketing word collage

Google’s New Search Rules of the Road: An Opportunity for Healthcare Sites to Improve

Try “Googling” search terms for your practice or hospital. Your healthcare site page ranking may have moved (or may move soon). The world’s biggest search engine has changed the secret formula that it uses to index all that is cyber. And different rules are now producing different results.

Doctors: How to Choose between Internal Marketing or External Advertising?

What's on First? What's most important and where to begin? Here's a terrific marketing question that popped up again recently: "What's on First? Which is more important, INTERNAL Marketing or EXTERNAL Marketing...and which comes first?" It's a great question that we hear from time to time, especially as practitioners become more comfortable about marketing and want […]

The Right Media Buying Service Stretches Your Marketing Budget by up to 50 Percent

There's no extra cost to have professionals handle your media placement work. As your external advertising budget grows, eventually you'll want—make that, need—professional help in setting and managing the entire media placement and buying process. Let's say your your healthcare organization has an advertising plan that covers several broadcast media, with scheduled flights starting and […]

The "Robot Dance" and Six Other Video Clips that Leverage Your Healthcare Content

Video content in healthcare marketing is increasingly affordable and useful for many reasons, but to our budget-stretching mindset, but using “leverage” is the best part of the equation. We talk about leverage in our popular instructional series about the many uses of video. (All six video segments are on this page.) But the compelling value idea […]

Brand v. Bland: The Top Seven Reasons Healthcare Branding Means Business

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 […]

When We Say “Your Brand,” You Should Be Thinking “Professional Reputation”

Just recently Stewart was the guest speaker for a large group of healthcare professionals. (It was a dental society meeting, but the issue he encountered that evening applies to other professions, practices, medical groups and even hospitals. Please read on.) Nearly all of the attendees in the audience were doing some degree of marketing, and […]

Even More Excellent Examples of Engaging Healthcare Social Media at Work

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a few others are the recognizable names in the social media phenomenon. Frankly we’ve lost count of the online social media tools that have emerged, and disappeared, recently. There are dozens of wanna-be, also-ran social sites, all chasing the few popularity pacesetters. But the big names get bigger. The “public awareness” […]

The Chicken or the Egg: Balancing Growth Considerations in Your Healthcare Organization

One of the most common dilemmas facing healthcare practice owners is negotiating the delicate balance of priorities and timing required to successfully create and manage the growth of the business. Marketing consultants often refer to this as the "Chicken or the Egg" question because, as a business owner, you have to determine whether you focus […]

The Elusive Patient Experience: Are You Wasting Money Trying to Hit the Wrong Target?

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 […]

Why “Common Wisdom” is Commonly Wrong in Healthcare Marketing and What to Do Instead

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 […]

Dueling ERs: Cross-town Rivals Use Videos and T-shirts to Compete for Patients at Hospitals’ New Front Door

Two Central Illinois hospitals are pulling out the stops in a hospital marketing and advertising tug-of-war. Springfield’s St. John’s Hospital and cross-town rival Memorial Medical Center see the emergency department as the new front door of their hospitals. Perhaps that's not entirely new, but emergency care is a primary access point for patients needing immediate […]

Why Doctors Aren’t Buying Into Social Media (Yet) and What Needs to Change

There’s little doubt that information is now the new third party in the exam room. We’ve been tracking the surveys that track online and social media use, and individually or collectively, they say patients are increasingly looking online for healthcare information. No surprise there. But what’s new is that their principal resource is social media. […]

Medical Spa Marketing: 5 Essential Promotional Strategies

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 […]

Delivering an Exceptional Patient Experience: Sometimes Leadership Rolls Uphill

by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant A recent consultation with a client in the Midwest revealed that the physician partners only gave lip service to customer service. Oh, they want each patient to have a good experience, of course, but that's as far as their involvement goes. Unfortunately, that put my office manager contact, […]

Healthcare Marketing Danger: Be Careful What You Do When You’re Number One

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 […]

Why You Need a Branded YouTube Channel and How-To Tips That Attract Viewers

Having a branded YouTube channel is like having a second website specifically to showcase your video content. And once you’ve produced several healthcare marketing videos, creating your own YouTube channel is an inexpensive way to expand online visibility, use your video materials in multiple locations and attract additional online visitors for your medical practice, hospital, […]

Business people standing with question mark on boards

The Value of Knowing: Most People Want and Are Willing to Pay For Predictive Tests

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 […]

How Do They Do That? Marketing High-Touch Primary Care That's Less Than the Cost of a Weekly Latte

What’s not to like about personalized healthcare service? Same day and on time appointments, email access to scheduling and to your doctor, physicians who are not in a hurry and have the time to listen to patients—these are the patient benefits of a concierge practice without the typical (premium) concierge fee schedule. An article in […]

Creating an Annuity Instead of an Embarrassing Disaster with Coupons and Flyers

How to avoid classic direct marketing mistakes and what to do instead Promotional flyers and coupons are growing in usage, and have been increasingly popular with the public for more than a century. On the plus-side, done right, they often work well in the healthcare marketing mix, but it's easy to make mistakes. Here are […]

Signpost for 'Fresh Ideas' against a blue cloudy sky

Great Ideas: The Systematic Road from Inspiration to Reward for Healthcare Marketing & Advertising

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 […]

How Educational Classes for Patients Enhance Reputation, Promote Healthy Living and Grow New Business

Part of the job of every healthcare provider is to be an effective educator—informing, teaching and sometimes persuading patients about getting healthy and staying healthy. We’re talking about what you do, or can do, that's above and beyond the traditional “informed consent” and elementary “patient education.” Take this instructional idea a step further: Hold classes […]

In Only One Word: What’s Your Edge?

This little exercise in healthcare marketing and branding is harder than it seems. Try this: In one word, and only one word, what is your competitive edge? What is your practice, hospital or healthcare organization all about, and what makes you different and better than the competition? Your unique value proposition is about what you […]

An "Infomercial" Is Probably Not What You Think It Is. (And Why Video Belongs in Your Healthcare Marketing Toolbox).

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 […]

The Classic Dilemma: Equipment Expense or Marketing Investment?

So…there I was chatting with a physician-client who had budgeted a five-figure allowance for a piece of new equipment. He was rather excited about the sophisticated medical gear, much like some people look forward to the next-gen iPad or next year’s flashy sports car. He was equally excited about the new Marketing Plan that I […]

Budget Basics: Big Enough to Matter

Two different practitioners called us recently. Let’s just describe them as smart and experienced dentists, in different parts of the country, and on different ends of the promotional spectrum. They both were experiencing “aha moments” of personal insight and needed help pronto. They didn't know how to get started with budget planning. Both are real situations, […]

16 Reasons: The Short List of Why Healthcare Providers Market

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 […]

Flat Tire and Exceeding Expectations: How Empowerment Paves the Road of Patient Satisfaction

by Steve Smith, Healthcare Success Senior Consultant Recently, I told you about the negative impact of five cents worth of coffee. That story was really about how a missed opportunity can be costly. Today, I am pleased to tell you about the opposite, about how a few cents worth of product and labor can make […]

Are the Really Nice People Who Answer Your Phone Secretly Killing Your Business?

A physician called us last week for advice. It was urgent. His concern was about a slump in new patient appointments. After talking things through, it turns out that this large group practice was answering tough competition in the marketplace with a solid marketing plan. (A good thing.) In fact, the phone was ringing. (Also […]

Patients Want Online Appointment Scheduling, but Few Medical Providers Claim this Marketing Differentiation

Providing patients with online appointment scheduling appears to be growing in some healthcare sectors, but it’s not an option for most patients. People want it. They use online scheduling in other areas of their daily living. There are business advantages for the provider. BUT—online appointments are a convenience that not many providers offer to patients. […]

A Clever Twitter Tip You Can Use to Focus Your Social Media Marketing Message

Here’s a marketing-smart little idea to wring greater value from your Twitter messages. Since micro-blogging in 140 characters or less is precious little space to get acquainted with your followers, consider thanking a new follower and providing a link to a short “getting to know you” online survey. We haven’t seen this often, but it’s […]

woman holding arms open against blue sky background

The One and Only Reason People Buy Healthcare. (What Are You Selling?)

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 […]

Increasing Case Acceptance: Five Bridges Doctors Need to Cross

How to get comfortable with the process of helping people benefit from what you do. Case acceptance is a process of identifying and solving people's problems -- helping someone discover value in what you can provide for them. By another name, that's sales.

How to Improve Patient Satisfaction and Win Patient Referrals

What's important to patients and three easy ways to measure approval. Sometimes the flow of patients seems...well, over-flowing. But if you're continually running behind schedule, this could be a danger signal that your quality of care and patient satisfaction are not where you want them to be. Professional and personal fulfillment, for both doctor and […]

< 1 … 36 37 38 39 40 … 43 >

Search results for: