Paying Patients: Are Rewards Programs Next for Physician Marketing?

May 7th, 2012 HealthcareSuccess

From airline frequent flyers to auto parts bonus buys, American consumers are consumed by loyal-customer incentive schemes. Purchases earn points, miles, discounts, and even cash rewards…all to inspire buyers to buy again and buy more. (How many little “advantage” scan cards are in your pocket?)

It works in retail. And not surprisingly, this proliferation of engaging programs and the consumer mindset—an expectation of a financial reward—has already taken roots in corners of the healthcare industry. The public (meaning patients and prospective patients) wants to be financially rewarded for being actively engaged in their health, according to a new study. Read more »

Digital Healthcare Decisions: Social Media Opportunity for Marketers

May 4th, 2012 HealthcareSuccess

The virtual environment of social media is growing in importance as a vital connecting point. Social media is the online environment where consumers (prospective patients) evaluate healthcare providers, and make decisions about their health, medication and hospitals. A new Health Industries Group/PwC study declares “Social media is changing the nature of healthcare interaction, and health organizations that ignore this virtual environment may be missing opportunities to engage consumers.”

What’s wrong with this picture? The dichotomy—and emerging social media marketing challenge—is that the public demand at this intersection out distances that of healthcare providers, institutions and organizations, says PwC. Read more »

LinkedIn: The Social Media Town Car of Physician Marketing

May 2nd, 2012 HealthcareSuccess

The many and various social media platforms seem to have their own “personality” of sorts.

One might imagine Twitter as a Corvette…a fast little sports car. It’s nice to look at, but it’s quick to disappear down the road. That would make Facebook something like the family station wagon. A casual and universal transport for family, friends (and just about anything), with extra duty on weekends. Read more »

Doctor Marketing: Patients Are Always Judging You

April 30th, 2012 HealthcareSuccess

It doesn’t happen as often these days, but from time to time we find ourselves in a discussion with a practitioner who confidently declares that they have no need for “doctor marketing,” much less any need for a health care advertising agency.

The back-story in each conversation varies, but we often discover that their mindset against physician marketing holds a fear that, if they promote themselves or their practice, their peers will judge them as being less than professional, and/or the public will judge them as being needy or greedy. Read more »

A Clear and Sensible Business Case for SEO and Healthcare Marketing Analytics

April 27th, 2012 HealthcareSuccess

Sometimes it’s doubly curious to discover valuable medical marketing lessons and useful tools in…well, curious places. For example, one of the most articulate business cases we’ve read recently originated in Vienna, Austria, and it’s not about healthcare.

Remarkably, author Dan Taylor offers a business-smart discussion of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the value of analytics—without any hyper-tech-talk. This is not a technical “how-to,” it’s a practical business-savvy post. You can leave the technical side to an IT pro, but it’s vitally important to track, measure and report its marketing value. The trouble is, Taylor says, most small businesses (read that as healthcare and provider practices) “either don’t track their website stats and figures, or, have some form of analytics installed, but don’t truly know what they’re looking at. Read more »

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