Marketing Communications For Healthcare Providers and Businesses
I work with healthcare organizations and practices to help them attract new patients or customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace. This starts with defining a personal brand—that quality or specialization that makes you unique in your market—and ends with an appropriate range of marketing materials that reinforce your brand.
I specialize in healthcare communications because I love working with smart, forward-thinking clients who want to make a difference in other people’s lives. I’ve had a lot of personal experience coping with the medical struggles of close family members and friends—from my daughter’s open heart surgery and father’s implanted defibrillator to close friends battling ALS, early onset frontotemporal dementia, breast cancer, lung cancer and severe spinal stenosis.
I bring this understanding and empathy to my business to help healthcare professionals develop persuasive content that gives patients and their loved ones the information they need to make decisions about their care and who they want to provide it. I take great pride in producing materials that are not only effective as marketing communications but show respect for their audiences.
- 1) Websites
Today more and more people turn to their computers or mobile devices to search for healthcare providers. Your website serves as the hub for your online marketing program—the place where you have total control of your message. It needs to provide all the information prospective and current patients want to know about your practice and expertise. It also should offer solutions to your audience’s problems and concerns. Case studies, testimonials and easy-to-digest patient education add value and help establish your reputation for providing patient-centric care. - 2) Brochures
Many patients like to share information about their provider with their loved ones before making critical healthcare decisions. A brochure provides something they can pass around and also read at their leisure. It is also an effective promotional piece for referring doctors who you meet with in person or may not take time to visit your website. - 3) Professional Bios
Every healthcare provider should have a well-written bio that presents professional credentials and promotes his or her approach to medicine. For many audiences, personal information can put patients at ease and make them more inclined to select you as their doctor. - 4) Program Sheets
In some specialties, you can strengthen your marketing by identifying a few key services or programs that are most likely to attract new patients. You can promote these services by producing a program sheet for each one. This often involves translating complex scientific achievements, procedures, conditions and new concepts into language a lay audience can easily understand. - 5) Case Studies
Who isn’t fascinated with relevant medical cases and how they were solved? Each one is unique and often they elicit emotional responses that create a personal connection between you and your prospective patient. The main objective of a case study is to illustrate the kind of attention you provide to each of your patients or clients. In some cases you may not have found a treatment but may have helped the client learn to accept the condition you have diagnosed.