Effective Health Care Marketing Isn't Brain Surgery

posted by Pivotal Health Solutions on Friday, August 21, 2015

Want to be an effective health care marketer? Forget about the bells and whistles: It all boils down to these four simple concepts.

1) Address the problem your product or service is tackling—and do it boldly. Be clear (absolutely crystal clear) about the problem, support it with facts about the problem's prevalence and offer your winning solution. 

2) Approach the "creative big idea" in a surprising and deceptively simple way. A smoking cessation video portraying the premature aging of a teen if they keep smoking? A visual and memorable way to recognize stroke signs? People wearing Depends--over their clothes--to demonstrate solidarity around bladder issues? These are just a few examples. 

3) It doesn't have to be expensive. Think outside of the box with social media or special events and giveaways. 

4) Work fast—and get results fast. The best campaigns don't worry or mull over a great idea--they jump on it, and the results speak for themselves. 

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A few months ago, I judged the final round in the North American Health Effie Awards. In addition to having a fantastic and fun time debating various entries with my esteemed industry peers on this judging panel, something interesting struck me about the strongest finalists and ultimate Effie winners. These “best of the best,” culled down from hundreds of entries, had a lot in common. What was behind their success was not overly complicated and certainly not brain surgery. It was an excellent reminder that great marketing in the healthcare space today stems from a few basic and simple concepts. Some of these concepts I observed follow, with a few award-winning examples to bring them to life.

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This article excerpt, by Howard Courtemanche, originally appeared here: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/255150/effective-healthcare-marketing-doesnt-have-to-be.html.