7 Common Marketing Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Healthcare Business
From strategy to big-picture, look out for these 7 marketing mistakes that could be costing you money and patients.
It can be tough to get it right in the competitive industry of healthcare marketing With so many companies vying for patients’ attention, along with changing consumer behaviours and evolving industry trends, it can be difficult to stand out.
Today’s digital era is also redefining the patient-practitioner relationship, with the former taking more of a consumerist role. This means that healthcare businesses need a nimble strategy to stay ahead of the curve. But for your strategy to be successful, healthcare marketers have to avoid the common pitfalls that may impede their efforts.
Here are seven common marketing mistakes that can hurt your healthcare business.
No 1: Prioritising Sale Over Customer
One of the most common mistakes that healthcare businesses make is prioritising the conversion over the relationship. While the acquisition is important, the focus of healthcare marketing should always be to invest in patient awareness and encourage them towards thoughtful action instead of simply gaining a sale. This cements the way for developing a thoughtful and authentic relationship between patients and practitioners, that lasts in the long run.
No 2: Ignoring Brand Building
There was a time when patients had little choice in selecting their healthcare provider. In today’s market of consumerism, patients now have more access and freedom in choosing how they wish to manage your own health.
Healthcare companies can no longer ignore the importance of establishing their brand if they wish to choose to stand out in the sea of competitors. Patients will be more attracted to brands who communicate their values and purpose openly, clearly and consistently. On top of that, this can also be a factor in patient retention and referrals.
No 3: Not Considering Patients Needs
If you’re not catering to the needs of your target market, you’re likely to lose them. You need to understand what drives their decision-making process, and then create content, ads and offers that match these needs.
This is where performing market research can come in handy. By gaining insights into what your consumers are looking for, you can learn how to optimise your messaging and strategies to amplify their experience.
No 4: Focusing on One Element of a Business Rather Than All
It’s easy for healthcare businesses to get caught up in the minutiae of their operations. While it’s important to focus on key areas, such as patient care and physician recruitment, it’s also important to be aware of the big picture strategies and assess where your business is strong and where it can improve.
Embrace big picture thinking and look at your brand as a whole, considering more about the impact you wish to leave behind with your customers and the community. In such cases, patient feedback could also be a useful tool for you to understand more about what your target audience is looking for, and areas of opportunities for you.
No 5: Not Optimising Marketing Budgets
When it comes to marketing, you don’t have to spend a fortune to achieve results. However, you do need to allocate a proportional amount of your budget towards specific goals.
Staying competitive means being able to maximise your budget to cover for the execution, pricing and distribution for your services and products. Within the planning stage, it’s key for you to perform an assessment of the areas that you’re willing to invest in. From there, refer to previous years budget assessments to figure out how to readjust and optimise your investments. Additionally, you can consider your objectives and decide from there the key priorities you’re willing to put money into.
No 6: Not Keeping Track of What Works
Do you know how profitable your marketing is? Or which avenues or channels are driving your objectives?
Running a successful healthcare marketing initiative isn’t simply about execution, it’s about meeting demand and gathering your audiences with your purpose. Make sure you evaluate your results regularly and take action based on what works best for your business. Some metrics to look for include patient sentiment, engagements, and shares. By doing so, you’ll be able to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and make necessary adjustments as needed.
No 7: Not Adapting to Changing Conditions
The landscape of healthcare is always changing, which means you need to be prepared to make changes to your marketing strategies as needed. By constantly assessing the industry and how it’s affecting your business, you’ll be able to keep up with the latest trends and adapt your marketing plans accordingly.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to marketing for the healthcare industry, there’s more at stake. Even the simplest of marketing mistakes can cost you the trust of your customers, which in turn impacts your brand’s reputation in the long run. Take care to avoid these seven key mistakes, and increase your patient’s experience while hitting your business goals.
From planning to execution, we’re here to help you make a difference with your healthcare brand at INL. Reach out to us to find out more about how we can help you grow your business.