Coherent: adjective co·her·ent ko-‘hir-?nt , -‘her-
a : logically or aesthetically ordered or integrated : consistent
b : having clarity or intelligibility : understandable
Few things are as complex as healthcare communications, both for the communicator and receiver. The tech evolution with its proliferation of channels doesn’t make it any easier, either, although they do enable marketers to reach and interact with patients in ways that weren’t possible previously.
A survey of 350 marketers indicated many struggle to manage their messages across the multitude of channels, however, which leads to erratic, unfocused communications at best and confusion at worst.
Take a Focused, Strategic Approach
For any healthcare organization or practice to grow, it’s necessary to have a coherent marketing strategy in place that can:
- attract new patients,
- retain the patients you have, and
- support and maintain relationships between your employees and the patients.
The secret to achieving this is to distil the objectives for each healthcare campaign down to one or two main points that represent the information you want to impart. A broad/general message is not coherent, it’s vague and nonspecific. Once you identify the primary core message you want to deliver, you can shape it into a logically-ordered, intelligible information campaign that gets to the heart of the matter.
Identify Clear Customer Segments
It’s one thing to know who your target audience is, but to create a coherent message you need to drill down into individual segments. This means subdividing the market into customer groups who share similar characteristics.
That way, you can deliver messages to meaningful segments based on their needs, behaviors and demographic data. Your message will be specific for each receiver, and you’ll be able to assign resources for tailoring marketing to match their individual needs. You’ll also be able to measure performance and identify ROI for each segment, and adapt your approach to keep up with changes.
Test and Re-Test
When you’re developing a new healthcare campaign, it’s vital to test it before making the final cut. A participatory approach that solicits the views and perspectives of target members can be exceptionally helpful. Usually done in the form of focus groups, this research can catch unintended consequences early. History is filled with accounts of marketing faux pas that have had lasting fallout, such as Dove Soap’s recent advertisement, for example, in which a black woman appears to turn into a white one after using the product.
Even though this appears to have been far removed from the advertiser’s intentions, comprehensive testing by members of the public would have likely alerted them to the risk of the ad being perceived as racist.
For more information about developing coherent marketing content for your healthcare organizations, call Wax Custom Communications at 305-350-5700 or visit waxcom.com.