Since the start of the digital revolution, the focus on non-traditional healthcare marketing methods has exploded, so much so that one could be forgiven for thinking there was no longer a place for the old ways. Overall, U.S. digital marketing expenditure is projected to reach almost $120 billion a year by 2021, according to a 2016 report by Forrester Research.
Traditional Marketing Still Works—Sometimes
In spite of all the noise around inbound marketing, content, business intelligence and analytics, traditional methods still work in some healthcare marketing areas, including:
- in-clinic brochures and handouts
- educational seminars and open days
- attendance at community events
- on-air interviews, particularly on community radio stations
These might seem insignificant and hyper-local in nature, but for many healthcare providers a strong presence in the local market is more valuable than a broader one. Practices need to ensure that they don’t sacrifice reach for focus; to do that, an integrated, cross-channel strategy is essential.
Having Your Cake—and Eating It, Too
We all want to have the best of both worlds, and the good news is that such a goal is achievable. According to recent findings by the CMO Club and Oracle, marketing practitioners would be wise to align digital and traditional marketing. This enables both methods to complement each other, without marketers having to run two strategies simultaneously.
Our Truth in Medicine campaign (read the case study here) shows the example of South Nassau Communities Hospital, which used a mix of digital, radio, outdoor and print marketing. The campaign effectively aligned its message across all channels to make the point that its healthcare providers had expertise patients could trust. The hospital also delivered an implicit message that while it might be a local institution, it:
- had the resources to communicate on a larger scale,
- was up to date with technology and had a digital reach, and
- cared enough about the community to invest in spreading the message.
With results that included 15,000 microsite visits and 84,000 video views on Facebook, it’s clear that remarkable things can happen when you align your healthcare marketing messages across digital and traditional channels.
For more information on how to align your healthcare marketing messages across a range of communication channels, call Wax Custom Communications at 305-350-5700 or visit waxcom.com.
