Insights: Healthcare Marketing

So you’ve crafted the perfect press release. Now what?

1. Know the right media outlet(s) and reporter(s).
2. Familiarize yourself with the reporter’s former work.
3. Customize your pitch based on the specific media outlet and address the reporter by name.
4. Be concise.
5. E-mail first. Call later to follow up.
6. Include your contact information and offer to assist.
7. Don’t pit media outlets against each other.
8. Make sure your story is relevant.
9. Provide advanced notice.

A news release or press release is a concise, compelling document designed to share your news story with targeted media. Here are eight tips to make your press release effective and help it stand out from the crowd:

1. Attract attention with a compelling headline.
2. Keep it brief and factual.
3. Write in third person.
4. Incorporate relevant background statistics.
5. Include quotes to add a human dimension and credibility.
6. Be sure to proofread.
7. Include any relevant links.
8. Don’t forget to include your direct contact information.

It is Marketing 101 that it costs 10 times as much to attract a new customer as to keep an existing one. Yet, I continue to see too many practices and organizations neglect their existing base as they put all of their focus and effort (and $$) into attracting new patients or customers.

My good friend and colleague Bob Kodzis cautions against taking the “short view” on relationships and instead focusing on “lifetime value.” Here are a few more reasons why this is important:

“Advertising is what you pay for; publicity (the result of public relations) is what you pray for.” 

So goes a common business saying.

Both can play a part in your marketing efforts, but it is important to understand how they are different. Here are four primary ways:

Your Web site is an extension of you and your practice. Think of it as a way to both attract customers and enhance the experience you provide them — patients, family members and referral sources alike. Here are a few basic building blocks:

1. Performance and Functionality — Make sure your site does what it should whenever and however it is accessed. It loads quickly and correctly. All buttons, tabs and links work properly. Any online forms are error-free and easy to use. And the site performs well on search engines.

The best way to build a medical practice is not an ad or even a great Web site (although your Web site is important). No, one of the quickest and most effective ways to build your practice is building and sustaining relationships with potential and current referral sources.

And while your staff can certainly help in this regard, to be truly effective, your individual physicians must put some skin in the game. Of course they should keep their referring physicians informed and take good care of their patients, but go a step further:

It is all too easy for established medical practices to settle into feelings of comfort, security and satisfaction. After all, you’ve done the careful, hard work of building your brand and the relationships that support it. It would be so nice to simply coast.

The problem is the world is constantly changing, especially in healthcare. What worked yesterday or even today may not meet the expectations for tomorrow. Patients are more discerning in their decisions. And competitors are looking to capitalize on your weaknesses as well as new opportunities you may have overlooked.

I like the Cambridge Dictionary definition of complacency:  “a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder”

“I just developed a greater appreciation for how much the human element matters and how much more you can achieve as a team when you have players who care about winning, who care about each other, develop those relationships, have those conversations. It creates an environment where the sum is greater than its parts.” — Theo Epstein, General Manager, Chicago Cubs

I recently read this in a Sports Illustrated article about the Chicago Cubs general manager Theo Epstein and the culture he created with his World Series-wining team. The article talks about how his guiding principle is the character of the players he acquires even more than their skill and expertise.

The 15-year-old with a torn tendon wants to try to play in her team’s last game at the state softball tournament next weekend.

The 62-year-old cataract patient sews costumes for the community theater company but can no longer see to do her work.

The 50-year-old heart attack patient had been training to run his first marathon — the #1 item on his “bucket list.”

The 23-year-old cancer patient has plans to study architecture abroad next semester as part of her master’s degree program.

Building a successful medical practice means building better relationships — with your patients, your staff, your referral sources, and your community. When you think of how many individuals fall into these categories and specific strategies you could employ to strengthen your connections with them, it can be overwhelming. 

So simplify. 

Just pick three people to start with.