With summer on its way, many of us are working on growth and renewal. For hospitals, now is a great time to refocus energy on marketing strategies. If your marketing strategy has grown a little stale lately, summer is an opportunity to shake things up and set some new goals.
As we start making plans for the summer, here are a few simple ideas to get you thinking about how you can improve your strategy.
Get to know your audience – or get reacquainted!
Improving the effectiveness of your marketing plan really starts with knowing your audience. It’s easy to get caught up in design, efficiency, budgets and other aspects of marketing and forget the key component — the people you are trying to reach!
Do your homework. Find out who your ideal audience is, what that person expects and how to speak the language that connects. An easy way to do this is to look at the patients you already have. Nurture and reward your current patients and partners and learn more about them.
Work on your messaging
Have you been paying attention to your content marketing strategy lately? Go over your recent content — on your website, social media platforms, emails, etc. — and think about how your message is coming through. Does your content reflect your brand’s message? How well does it connect with your target audience?
Look for inconsistencies and ways you can improve. If things feel confusing or irrelevant to your message, this is a good place to start.
Don’t be afraid to let go of what doesn’t work
Not only does doing the same thing year after year get boring, but it will prevent you from growing! Or worse, with changing market dynamics and customer needs, you could end up losing business.
Don’t be afraid adapt and change to meet the changing expectations of your community. It can be hard to break with the past, especially for teams that are busy juggling multiple responsibilities. But letting go of outdated marketing materials or inefficient communication strategies is an important way to reallocate your resources and focus on new ideas to grow your hospital.
Learn new technologies – or improve your skills
Marketing is constantly changing, and new technologies bring challenges and opportunities. If you haven’t committed fully to a social media strategy, get started! New platforms can seem daunting, but with the right plan and some persistence, you will find that new ways of marketing are essential for staying competitive.
If your hospital is already using social media and other online tools, learn new techniques to take your strategy to the next level. Go over your analytics and plan for the next week and month using this important data. Having things ready to go in advance and scheduling time to devote to social media and online marketing will help you to turn it into a good habit for your marketing strategy.
Get serious about marketing!
Planning your marketing strategy and anticipating goals and targets along the way will make it easier to attain them. This will help you save money in the long run, lower the burden on your hospital team and help you engage the right audience.
Ready for a new approach to your marketing strategy? Give SRJ Marketing Communications a call! SRJ can help your hospital develop a cost-effective marketing strategy, improve efficiency and engage your target audience. To learn more, please call 1-800-411-7401 for a free consultation. You’ll be glad you did!
