In a crowded, changing health care landscape, it can be tough for organizations to set themselves apart from the pack. However, if you’re struggling to find a primary differentiator, keep in mind that your customers are probably equally flummoxed. As health care marketers, you know that you have a story to share. It’s a competitive industry out there—and your organization must stand out (differentiate your brand). Doing so optimizes target audiences, establishes competitive value, and can ultimately increase patient volume.
Branding has long been pervasive in business, and it now extends to people (e.g., Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Tiger Woods, Martha Stewart). These savvy individuals know they have to be different to differentiate your brand or stand out of the crowd. However, branding is not very common in private healthcare practices. Surprisingly, a large percentage of healthcare practices simply don’t use branding to establish and reinforce a specific reputation in their market.
This is precisely what well-executed point-of-care marketing does: Micro-targeting the right message to the right patient at the precise moment when they are ready to hear it, at the precise moment the physician is writing the prescription. Remember, at the same time medication is prescribed or recommended, the patient is grappling with the stress of a new condition or diagnosis. How much can the patient really process or retain during this moment of stress? Educating the patient on the disease or condition not only helps them engage with their healthcare provider to reduce anxiety and confusion, but also empowers them to take control of their health.
Many organizations flaunt a variation of “excellence” as a differentiator and rely on top doctors or a slew of awards to express their competencies. Other organizations may use the idea of “care” to define themselves. But who doesn’t want to be the best provider in an area? In an industry that deals so intimately with human life, marketing campaigns built around concepts like empathy and humanity are ordinary.
