Marketing for Sales or for Brand Building
There is always a debate about whether or not marketing is
associated with brand building activity.
Definition of marketing remains unchanged, it’s execution may
differ by market and industry. Hospital marketing encompasses all aspects
including brand building. It depends on the market context for individual
healthcare organisations, but from a
long term perspective branding takes precedence over sales approach of
marketing for majority of healthcare organisation. Within a hospital too
there are certain departments like in patient care, emergency services,
critical care services etc., where brand perception (hospital or doctor)
precedes sales approach of marketing whereas reverse is true for departments
like OPD, health check ups, day care, home care etc.
Hospitals must market mostly on technology or a particular
department. For example if any new equipment is acquired and installed, the
hospital must communicate about the same either through print or electronic media.
Similarly, if any landmark achievement in the field of medicine or research
work or any unique surgery has been done it must be highlighted. This enhances
the image of the hospital in the long run.
For Effective Marketing...
Reforms in marketing strategies and increased competition
within the industry has brought opportunities as well as challenges. Hospitals
mostly interpret their marketing success in the common mantra of the
'hospitality lingo'. It is a common belief among hospital promoters and
management staff that their patient is the best medium to promote their
hospital. This may be true to a certain extent, but it is not the only way to
draw potential customers. Success demands more than just increased foot falls.
It requires a hospital to be on the top along with maintaining healthy, rapid
and sustainable development momentum. Experts have time and again highlighted
that as hospital administrators and marketing managers it is a must to examine
and reflect on the core issue, review the market as well as economic conditions
and study the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors. This activity in
return ensures that the hospital has enough information to strategise an
effective marketing plan.
The key drivers for effective marketing are
- Organisational
vision, mission and values are the starting point for a good marketing plan
- Patient
centric and patient friendly activities, which aid individual’s healthcare
decision-making process
- Visibility
improvement and
- Brand
recall initiatives, which is directly proportional to frequency of preference
by patients and delivering services as promised during marketing campaign strengthens
the marketing plan.
- Study
the environment (Competition) and the capability of the hospital itself.
Understanding the market (including competition) is the tricky part which
requires lot of data and information.”
Further, it is extremely important to prepare a marketing
plan based on strategic goals and objective of the hospital.
Moreover, planning always helps to avoid surprises. It brings
focus and efficiency to your efforts. A well-developed plan is better placed to
achieve marketing objectives. Resources are always scarce. Differentiation has
to be perceived by the consumer. The perception is established in consumer’s
mind if messages are backed by evidence. Therefore, marketers not only have to
identify and create differentiation they also have to ensure that it is
registered in consumer’s mind. A planned approach, which synergises
communication with ground action coherently, requires astute planning. A
marketing plan for the hospital will be based on following components of Plan,
Do, Check and Act (PDCA):
- Strategic
goals and objective of your organisation
- Core
competencies and unique selling proposition of the organisation
- Equation
of your organisation with respect to competitors
- Activity
chart based strategic goals and objectives
- Implementation
milestones
- Monitoring
and control mechanism Realigning / rearranging flexibilities within a plan
