It’s that time of year again – planning for the year to come. This can be a daunting task, but it’s one of the most important things we can do as marketers to strategically grow our businesses. A plan is essential and will outline how you will attract patients, retain staff and communicate your brand in the most effective way.
Below are 6 key components to start a healthcare marketing plan. These are items that you should think about before you start your plan because they will help shape your objectives.
- Research: What are the market dynamics? What do current sales/benchmarks look like? Is there anything that will impact your 2015 plan?
- Competitive Analysis: What’s the competition offering/marketing? What are their successes and failures? What are missed opportunities for your organization? How are they positioning themselves?
- SWOT: We know…this brings you back to marketing 101, but it’s important. Think about your business’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Making an outline of the good, the bad and the ugly will help you anticipate any roadblocks.
- Target Market: Define a general segment/group of consumers that your healthcare organization plans to market its products/services to. This will give you a idea of who you’re trying to reach and will allow you to drill further down into your target personas (which will help shape your marketing messages). Target markets may include parents with young children, local physicians or elderly women.
- Product Description: What do you offer and why is it unique? Define and describe your “product” and why the market needs it.
- Assess: Look at what’s in place right now. What’s working? What isn’t? Could your website offer more valuable information? Is there anything that your consumers or partners have expressed that they wish they had from your organization?
- Budget: Develop a month-by-month schedule on what you plan to spend.
Once you’ve outlined these items, it’s time to start your plan! Having a strategic marketing plan in place driven by effective messaging will ensure your success in 2015. To help create your plan, use our Healthcare Marketing Assessment Planning Tool.
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