Reaching The Right Audience Through Target Marketing
Posted onHave you decided to advertise your clinic? Are you looking for a special audience who will become your patients? As a marketer, you target those who can become the future patients of your clinic. But sometimes your advertising is too general. What if the strategy is aimed at reaching everyone?
In this case, you are simply wasting your budget. The only way is to define your desired audience. Who do you need to reach? How to identify target goals in the healthcare field? Learn how!
Steps for Identifying Your Target Audience
Hospital marketing strategies have certain specifics. The smartest approach to marketing in the healthcare industry is to follow these four steps.
1. Initial Assessment
Assess the pricing and features of your service. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of your offering.
2. Survey Current Customers
Conduct a short survey about your products. Survey your existing customers via email, SMS, or over the phone. Using CRM systems makes it easy to collect relevant metrics using built-in analytics tools.
3. Comprehensive Service Assessment
Analyze the internal and external factors of your practice. Define your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks. Identify growth opportunities.
4. Target Audience Research
Now it’s time to dive into healthcare marketing. Segment the market based on common characteristics. Try to cover all areas that may affect your potential customers. If you are a psychotherapist, consider implementing telemedicine or online group sessions to engage with different audience segments through marketing channels.
Marketing for Healthcare: 4 Ways to Identify Your Target Audience
How to classify potential clients? The most common approach is to classify your audience into four main areas.
1. Geography
You need to answer the question: “Where?” What specific location are you interested in? Typically, this is a metro station, an urban area, or several apartment complexes near your clinic. Consider all the features of the area.
2. Demographics
Demographic factors include age, gender, family size, occupation, education, and income. Teens and seniors interact with healthcare using different channels to access health information. Strategies for pediatrics will differ from those used for gerontologists. Do not lump all ages and genders into one campaign.
3. Psychology
Analyze the personality traits, behavior, and lifestyle of your audience. What are the current needs of your patients? Are they open to new ideas and innovative technologies? What are their key pain points, habits, and desires? This will help you tailor your medical clinic marketing strategies.
4. Social Status
Social status or psychographics includes education level, income, religious beliefs, and occupation. Psychographics-based market segmentation divides consumers into homogeneous groups based on their values, beliefs, purchasing motives, and personality types.
Your patients have different healthcare needs. The effectiveness of your marketing efforts will depend on their social status and lifestyle. Your target audience may include not only direct consumers but also those who influence purchasing decisions. These people are called “decision makers.”. For example, doctors are reference groups for patients when choosing medications. Housewives may influence food purchases for the family.
Sample Target Audience Description
Here is an example of a detailed target audience description. Family couples aged 22-35 living in an area close to the H tube station. These people have at least one child and live in a separate flat. They are university-educated and have a combined income of £2,000 or more. They are busy, active young professionals who value their time. They maintain a positive outlook on life and tend to make independent decisions after researching online.
The more accurately you define your patient, the better you can develop a personalized brand and strategy. This way you can be sure that your healthcare services will be attractive to your future patients.
How to Market to 5 Different Healthcare Audiences
Let’s take a look at five different healthcare audiences. We will analyze the most effective strategies to reach them.
1. Marketing Healthcare to Consumers
Consumers who haven’t chosen you are difficult to target. Often, healthcare decisions are made in emergencies. Patients may be searching for the nearest facility without considering previous marketing messages. Additionally, many consumers approach healthcare with hesitation or anxiety.
Focus on providing them with useful information. This modern generation of patients has access to extensive online resources, so make your digital presence count. Make sure your website is user-friendly! Publish helpful and informative content on healthcare topics. This positions you as a trusted resource and improves your SEO. Feature stories, photos, or videos of real patients to build trust. A children’s hospital might feature images of children who have had successful treatments.
2. Healthcare Marketing to Patients
These people have already interacted with your healthcare facility. Develop long-term relationships and encourage repeat visits. Effective marketing to existing patients ensures their loyalty. It also helps attract new patients. Satisfied patients can recommend your clinic to family and friends. Give patients easy and secure access to their records, visit history, and communication with doctors through an online portal. Send personalized email reminders.
3. Healthcare Marketing to Baby Boomers
Baby boomers are often less tech-savvy than younger people. But it changes. Make your site mobile-friendly!
Use SEO to ensure your site ranks high.
4. Healthcare Marketing to Seniors and the Elderly
Marketing to seniors requires a sensitive approach. Recognize their unique challenges and needs. Consider alternative marketing methods that focus on building trust. Many seniors do not engage with online content as often as younger adults. TV ads, print ads, and magazine articles can be effective ways to reach this audience.
Build long-term relationships with older patients. Sponsor articles that offer tips for older adults’ health problems. Often, older adults rely on family members to select their healthcare providers. Remember that marketing to an older audience may also mean marketing to their family caregivers.
5. Women’s Marketing
Women are often the primary decision-makers. They tend to be more proactive about their own health and are responsible for managing the health of children and older family members. Address specific women’s health concerns and needs. Focus on education and empowerment. Hosting women’s health events or workshops can build trust and increase patient loyalty. Blogs, webinars, and online guides can be effective in attracting female patients.
Conclusion
Adapt your marketing strategies to effectively reach consumers. Know your audience inside and out. Choose the channels of communication with potential customers that will be most convenient for your audience. Evaluate everything down to the smallest detail and think about decision-makers too. A good strategy helps to build long-term relationships that will contribute to business growth.