Healthcare is an market altruistic and selfless field but to remain viable in the long run, hospitals too have to generate profits like any other enterprise. Just like any product or brand , hospitals too have to overcome overwhelming competition and leap over multiple hurdles. Hospital marketing plan is integral to a hospital’s success and has to be formulated thoughtfully and innovatively.

In today’s era, where information is available in the palm of your hand, it takes only a few minutes for a potential patient to select a hospital from the plethora of options available at a click. Gone are the days, when a patient only visited a local hospital or listened to the recommendations of friends and the references of family doctors. Today’s internet-savvy clients look up reviews of doctors and check up on the brand persons, the services, the infrastructure and the facilities available to them before selecting a hospital. Hospitals which have a brilliant marketing plan in place get an edge over their competitors as their marketing campaigns have the ability to strike a connect with the potential customer.

Tips in healthcare marketing

1. Know your audience

Before you market any product, you have to know the likes and dislikes, the needs and the wants of your end users. The same logic applies to hospitals too. Before curating a marketing plan for your hospital, do an in-depth analysis of your core customer base. Try to dig deep into their minds, unravel their expectations. Use feedback, questionnaires, surveys and other marketing tools to understand what a potential client responds to, his/her triggers and  Base the foundation of your marketing plan on the insights you get from this study. Develop your marketing plan around your patients’ concerns and suggestions. 

E.g., While trying to select a diagnostic centre, patients may look for advanced infrastructure. If your hospital has the latest medical equipment, use in it your promotion strategies to attract your targeted clientele.

2. Discover and promote your core strength

There are many many hospitals that offer the same facilities and services as yours, so why should a client choose your hospital over the competition…the answer is because you have a USP, a unique core strength that sets you a class apart from the rest of the herd. Discover this and create your whole marketing story around it. How do you unravel your core strength? Brainstorm with your marketeers, involve your whole team and come up with that special attribute that makes you different from others. For some hospitals, it may be a rare technology they have pioneered, for some it may be the level of expertise of their physicians, for some others it may be their impeccable infrastructure,

3. Know your competition

Before you curate your marketing plan, be sure to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. Stay abreast of market transitions and competitors’ campaigns, so that you can modify or tweak your marketing strategy if the need arises so that you can checkmate  competitors.

4. Convey positive messages

In earlier times, hospital marketeers used to develop advertisements around illness. Sad visuals and heart-breaking news would be present in the messaging. However, now, there is a transition in the type of messaging from treating Illness to nurturing Wellness. This is because a large section of the health-conscious masses responds positively to messages about maintaining and cherishing their wellbeing.

5. Build a strong social media presence

One of the core aspects of your marketing plan should be to construct  a good social media

presence for your hospital. This can help you connect better with your potential clients as most of your future clients will be looking you up on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, besides browsing through your website.

Enhance your online persona by weaving touching stories around your CSR campaigns. Harness search engine optimization activities to get your website in the top search lists and thus direct more traffic to your website.

To summarize, a marketing plan can help you reach out to your potential customers so that you can garner more footfall and achieve your targeted goals. If you need any help in formulating your marketing plan, please get in touch with Hospertz, a leading hospital consultancy firm of India.

Blog has been written by Dr. Vishal Jadhav, a veteran in the field of hospital consultancy with a rich experience of more than 20 years and founder of the Healthcare Consultancy Firm, Hospertz.

Dr. Vishal Jadhav, Director
hospertz@gmail.com
+91 9867712705/ 9820833149