If you try to reach everyone, you will wind up reaching nobody. Plain and simple.
While it has been said so many times that by now it probably sounds a little cliché, it’s a hard truth that many businesses don’t really take to heart, even in the field of healthcare.
Are you really hitting your target audience, or just brushing up against them with a weak strategy that is not very effective? Knowing the difference can save you time, money, and headaches.
Focus on your strengths
It’s 2013, and the healthcare market is so broad and diverse that trying to reach every field and touch on every subject is only going to exhaust you and your audience. This is why it’s important to identify your most compelling strengths early on and focus on them.
There is no need to get carried away explaining every little detail of your services in your marketing material. Let physicians and in-house experts do that.
Focus on the most important strengths that make for a good narrative and set your facility apart from the rest. Do you offer a service that no one else offers? Tell your audience about it!
Identify your audience
Now that you know what story you are trying to tell, identify those people who most need to hear it and focus your energy on them. It doesn’t make sense to waste time trying to sell motor oil to someone who only owns a bike.
Of course it’s not always obvious where your target audience lies, but with the right metrics you can get a much better idea. Test your market by using data gathered from patients and clients to determine what segments of your community are more likely to use your services and apply that information to your strategy.
This may seem like a simple concept, but you might be surprised at how many healthcare facilities don’t take advantage of the useful information already on hand and use it for the benefit of their own marketing plan!
Think locally
Are you doing enough to reach out to your own community? Often we spend so much time looking over the horizon for new leads that we don’t notice that they are right outside the door—in our own front yards!
Engage local business groups and host community events to get your neighbors involved. In the field of healthcare, where personal contact is more vital to good relationships with clients (your patients!) than almost any other field, demonstrating loyalty to your community and those around can do more than any fancy website you can design!
Establish contact
Reach out to your patients and partners. Sometimes it can be as simple and old-fashioned as a phone call or a mailer, but the act of contact can be one of the most powerful tools in developing repeat business and gaining leads to new clients.
Avoid overkill
Once you’ve identified your target audience, don’t go overboard! It’s easy to inundate people with promotional material—especially online, where postage and printing costs no longer exist. This often comes with practice, but timing and relevance are among the most valuable skills you can learn when it comes to communicating your brand’s message.
By refining your strategy, you will often see results by targeting a smaller but more receptive number of people. Remember: “lots” doesn’t always mean “better.”
It’s a much better use of time to focus on your strengths and target the right audience rather than trying to reach out to everyone. Otherwise, you will stretch your market strategy thin and miss out on the potential that is probably right in front of you!
