The primary function of marketing is to build strong, meaningful connections with customers. To do this, it’s necessary to focus on the needs and wants of the audience and to make communications relevant to them.
Determine whether your healthcare marketing achieves the degree of relevance you want by asking yourself these questions:
Does Our Marketing Showcase the Value to Customers?
The abundance of data we can collect from the customer journey provides us with in-depth knowledge about clients’ behavior and preferences. We have detailed information available on what drives every transaction, and we can combine this with external data for even greater intelligence. Knowing what represents value for the client, therefore, gives us the opportunity to customize every aspect of our marketing to address this.
Do We Facilitate the Complete Buying Journey?
The way that customers research and buy healthcare products and services has changed, and providers need to adapt with the changes to remain relevant. To facilitate the customer journey from the point of engagement to the point of transaction, McKinsey suggests companies move away from the funnel model and develop a more circular approach that responds to the stages of:
- initial consideration,
- active evaluation of options,
- closure or purchase point, and
- post-purchase, which is the stage of the customer experience.
Brands that stop their marketing after stage 3 fail in the relevance stakes, by no longer being “present” at that point.
Are We Creating Personalized Experiences?
The healthcare industry is increasingly dealing with rising out-of-pocket expenses and questions about value, which makes it necessary to reduce unnecessary costs and “prove” their worth to the customer. To do this, companies need to create personalized experiences that speak directly to their relevance in the client’s life.
Research shows content personalization is indispensable to a successful customer journey from start to finish, with 80 percent of marketers believing it’s more effective than non-personalized content.
Meeting the Challenge
The difficulty facing most healthcare marketers, however, is pulling this all together. Most companies have data, but the various data sets don’t all “talk” to each other effectively. The sales funnel is still considered gospel by many C-Suite executives, and their ability to personalize the customer experience is largely constrained by technological challenges. These issues can almost all be resolved (simultaneously!) with a robust digital marketing strategy based on qualified research, Companies wanting to remain relevant to their audience need to look in that direction.
For more information on how to ensure your healthcare marketing remains relevant, call Wax Custom Communications at 305-350-5700 or visit waxcom.com.
