Five Ways Analytics Improves Healthcare Marketing

Extreme Makeover, the healthcare edition is wrapping up in Washington D.C.  The outcome of the sweeping changes will mean one thing for certain.  Healthcare organizations must take a close look at their operations, including their marketing approach, and continue to evolve.

In the wake of the recent legislation on the  insurance front, it is more critical now for healthcare organizations to improve efficiency.  If they don’t become more efficient across the board, they will be less competitive and produce less profit.  In order to assist in the effort to be more efficient, here are 5 analytic-oriented healthcare marketing tips.

1. Change your mindset from brand marketing to acquisition marketing.  Building a brand is extremely important.  However, when push comes to shove like it did in Washington last week, it is going to force you to take a closer look at the bottom line.  What are you spending to acquire patients?  What are those patients worth to your organization across the lifetime that they will be using your services?
2. Change your advertising to include more mediums that are in line with your specific target audiences.  Do the research and understand the demographics of your desired patients.  If you want more privately insured patients, figure out who they are then determine the media they consume.  Target the specific media where you’ll find the desired patients.  You’ll get more of the patients you want and there will be less waste in your media buy.
3. Invest in marketing analytics solutions.  Implement tracking to understand which ads and media are performing more efficient than others.  A capable marketing analytics consultant, such as yours truly (getting in my shameless promotion here), can assist with designing a system that allows for tracking and measuring the efficacy of your marketing and advertising.  By integrating marketing systems with your patient databases, you can begin to understand the value and return on your marketing investments.
4. Test new ways to reach patients and measure the effectiveness.  Through new technologies, such as social media, mobile apps, or personalized URL’s you can customize messaging and engage audiences in new and different ways.  Use technology to improve response rates and reduce your marketing costs.  Better response rates and conversion rates mean you can cut wasteful spending.  As I mentioned above, you need to measure these efforts in order to know if they are working and to what degree they work.
5. Consider how you communicate with current and past patients and create strategies to leverage those relationships.  Patients that are advocates for your organization should be tapped to promote your services and refer friends and family.  Use email, newsletters, direct mail, and other communication vehicles including the necessary tools and incentives for the recipient to pass along a message and make a referral.

We’re making it through one of the worst economic downturns in our country’s history.  We can also make it through this dramatic change in our healthcare system.  It will take some different thinking and hard work.

What are you going to do differently in your healthcare marketing strategy in light of the new legislation?  If you want to take a fresh, creative look at how you approach healthcare marketing, give us a shout.  Our marketing analytics services team is ready to assist.

Flickr photo courtesy of foolish adler