Healthcare Systems Must Harness The Power of Online Marketing To Bolster Their Business: “Healthcare Innovation: Trends from the Trenches” Webinar Series Offers Latest Techniques To Recruit & Engage Patients.

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ 

Reaching the right people at the right time with the right message is a key goal of online marketing, especially in the increasingly competitive marketplace of healthcare systems. This is just one of the many topics to be addressed in “How To Harness The Power of Online Marketing,” the next webinar for Healthcare Innovation: Trends from the Trenches, the popular series launched last year by Simon Associates Management Consultants (SAMC). The webinar will start at noon, ET on Friday, October 24. Click here to register.

Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141015/152269

SAMC Founder/CEO Andrea Simon will co-host the webinar, with help from other leading healthcare marketing gurus, including: Interact Marketing Co-Founder/President Joe Beccalori; Children’s Medical Group CEO Joe Heavey, and Resolutionary Marketing Communications CEO Peter Michos. This group will team up to show attendees how to successfully create, execute and evaluate an integrated, online campaign.

Specifically, they will demonstrate how to: use SEO to propel brands to the top of Google’s rankings, successfully jump on the social media bandwagon, and drive a brand’s online reputation. They also will preview what’s coming next in the world of online and inbound marketing.

“The days of asking five neighbors to recommend a family physician are gone,” said Beccalori. “Inbound marketing is becoming a rapidly growing market segment, largely because potential patients are going online for everything. It’s important that healthcare professionals understand what goes into patient search engine behavior, how patients are engaged on the web and even which mobile devices they prefer to use.”

Simon added that having a website that new or returning patients can find is just the first step in inbound healthcare marketing.

“Today’s healthcare systems need websites that translate well onto smartphones or iPads and convey a good experience,” she explained. “The majority of consumers are investigating options and booking appointments on the run — between business meetings or errands. This means that mobile marketing needs to be top of mind for healthcare organizations.”

The webinar also will explore how to properly measure inbound marketing efforts along with the opportunities and challenges presented by social media.

Beyond hearing advice from Beccalori, Michos and Simon on navigating online and inbound marketing, attendees also will benefit from Heavey’s case study delineating how the Children’s Medical Group has conducted its inbound marketing. This case study will offer many key learnings that can apply to most healthcare organizations. Not only is Heavey the CEO of the Children’s Medical Group, he’s also the father of 11 children, so his understanding of effectively marketing healthcare options to parents is unparalleled.

“The big take away from this webinar is that you need to hire people who have some expertise in this type of marketing,” said Beccalori. “You can’t just rely on your receptionist or a ‘tech guy’ or a ‘web person’ to learn HTML or photoshop and then assume that this individual can become your online expert. Online marketing is too competitive these days to go that route.”

Other webinars slated for this year, include: The Ultimate Guide To Healthcare Marketing Metrics And ROI on Nov. 14 with David Marlowe – Principal, Strategic Marketing Concepts; and Building a Culture of Innovation in Healthcare on Dec. 12, with Simon as the featured speaker. Many other interesting topics are slated for 2015, as well.

For more information on the popular webinar series, go to: www.simonassociates.net, where Slide Share presentations of past webinars also can be downloaded. To read more about pertinent healthcare topics, go to the SAMC Trends from the Trenches blog.

THIS JUST IN – MORE SAMC NEWS

If you’re heading to the International Academic Conference on Meaningful Play at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, then be sure to see SAMC’s own Andrew Simon at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 17, in the Ballroom.

Andy’s presentation, “My Favorite Games and Why They Work!” will inspire anyone in business who’s looking for constructive and effective ways to arrive at business-igniting ideas that will help you achieve (or surpass) your goals and manage the ever-changing marketplace more proactively. After seeing Andy in action, you’ll want to use his techniques to find new ways of thinking about your business and fresh solutions that can help inspire true innovation. For more information, go to: www.simonassociates.net or email Andy at als@simonassociates.net.

Media Contact: Chuck Casto, Casto Consulting, 508-314-3284, chuckcasto@gmail.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Simon Associates Management Consultants

Credit: Simon Associates Management Consultants

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Copyright PR Newswire Association LLC Oct 15, 2014

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Final Project Submission

Lesly D. Ovilmar

Southern New Hampshire University

Marketing, Communication Strategies, and Outreach

MHA

August, 2017

Final Project Submission

Community Demographics

            From the case study, it is clear that the population facing the health crisis in tri-county area of rural Lowa is women and children. The women facing the health problems can be said to be of middle age because of their reproductive status. The women are from a poor background with low income. Even though the women are poor, most of them are educated and can afford to have and use a smartphone. Major health risks affect them that have led to deaths of many women and increased maternal mortality rate. It is possible to reach out to the community and educated them on the health issues which will reduce the death rates. Most of them do not work as they cannot afford accommodation. Women and children are at risk of contracting different diseases due to poor or unavailable medical attention. Women are at high risk of contracting terminal diseases like breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers. The children are not immunized and this puts them at a high risk of contracting different diseases. The current medical services available do not reach these minority groups. In some cases, women and children have been forced to camp in police stations and fire stations so as to be helped to receive the medical treatment needed. The region is also a cosmopolitan area with different ethnic communities. The case study indicates that Hispanics, Non-Hispanics, African Americans, and the whites are represented in the region. Depending with the background or origin of each of these groups, it is important to note that each group is vulnerable to specific diseases and especially cancer which is a factor that should be considered.

Strategies and Tactics to reach the Various Demographic Groups Presented

            The demographic group presented includes two groups of people who are considered the minorities in the community. The women and the children are the groups. Women are educated and can read and write. The children look upon their mother for help. It is therefore important to pass information regarding the maternal health, health hazard to women health, and immunization alongside child health. Various strategies can be employed to reach the demographic groups presented who are the women. It is indicated that the women own smart phones and are active on the social media. The social media can be one of the platforms that can be used to reach the women. Through the Facebook page, it is possible to interact with the women, know their needs, and develop ways of helping them (Starobin, Laanan, & Burger, 2010). Having the phones and using the social media mean that these women are educated to a level that they can comprehend ideas in the internet. Apart from using the Facebook which might contain other distractions, opening up websites with information of how to treat the children should be considered.

Marketing Strategies

Through the website, information can be posted about self-awareness of different diseases and the importance of regular checkups to ensure that some of the dangerous chronic diseases do not catch up with them.  It is also indicated that these women use cars as their homes during the cold season. It is therefore possible for them to listen to radio from time to time (Starobin, Laanan, & Burger, 2010). The means of communication can therefore be used to talk to the women and educate them on the various ways of staying healthy and where they can seek regular medical help in the area. Through the radio, special programs that touch the specific group of people should be aired. Such programs should relate to healthcare and should specifically focus on the women (Stevens, & Hall, 1988). The person airing such programs should be educated and should be able to reason and use the language that the people can easily understand and relate to bearing in mind that it is a cosmopolitan region.

The community health programs are viable ways to reach the women. The community health programs are developed to educate the people of the health concerns facing them and how they can protect themselves from such problems. The health programs in the area will be facilitated by the community college and will allow women to know the different problems especially those associated with cancer that they are at risk of getting and how they can protect them from these issues. It is also through the platform that women will be educated on the need and importance of having their children immunized. In collaboration with the police and the fire department, the women will be able to receive the right medical attention they require (Stevens, & Hall, 1988). The community program is form of traditional marketing that seeks to educate the women the need to have regular checkups so as to fight with different types of cancers that surround them. It is also important to ensure that the community health program includes all the women around the region. As indicated in the case study, most of these people are poor. The organizers should therefore devise means that can entice them to participate and learn. For example, it will be difficult for the women to participate on empty stomachs (Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski, & Paddison, 2003). If the committee can organize situations whereby the participants are given lunch, it will be possible to attract masses of people who will be able to learn and understand why they need to protect their health and that of their children. Feeding the people is just a strategy but the main focus is to educate the community. The planning committee should therefore be prepared with the required resources to ensure the program is successful and that they reach the maximum number of people.

Traditional Marketing Mediums

            Traditional marketing mediums include the newsletters, fliers, newspaper print ads, radio and television among others. When choosing a marketing medium, it is important to study the target population and determine whether those forms are viable or not. The three most viable traditional marketing mediums for the target population include radio, print, and television. The target population represents a majority of people who are homeless. Women and children who visit the medical centers have no physical address which means that the advertisements that are aired through the television do not reach them. The only place they call home is their cars and the most accessible medium is the radio. From that point of view, use of radio as a marketing tool has various strengths and weakness. One of the strengths is that the use of the medium can reach a large number of people at once. The coverage is big and the cost of marketing is low compared to other forms of marketing (Vance, Howe, &Dellavalle, 2009). Availability of radios around the community makes it a convenient method of sharing health ideas with the people. It is possible to offer education about healthcare through the radio as many people have access to it. However, this form of traditional marketing has some weaknesses as well. One of the major weaknesses is the limited audio message. It is not possible to share everything the population needs to know about their healthcare through the radio stations (Vance, Howe, &Dellavalle, 2009). Also, due to the availability of many channels to listen to, it is not guaranteed that the intended message will be shared to the right community due to high rates of channel switching. Analysis of the medium though shows that it can be effective in passing information.

             Flexibility in production is also another strength associated with the medium of marketing. The use of the medium does not guarantee the total coverage of the local population. Apart from this weakness, it is also a costly form of marketing whose results are not guaranteed. Even though the method can be viable, the cost benefit analysis considering the target population shows that might not be the best option (Vance, Howe, &Dellavalle, 2009). In addition to that, issues of inadequate funding and resource have been cited by the committee and that cannot be the best method to reduce the budget constraint.

            Outdoor marketing and direct mail can be good marketing channels that can be applied to the target audience. Outdoor marketing is marketing that is done outside homes, parks, and other recreation facilities and can be of the form of billboards, bus benches, and exterior of cars among others. Most of the families of the target audience live in the parks. Erecting outdoor posts that contain information about their different healthcare needs can help in educating them on things to do as far as their health is concerned. The strengths are that such a medium is visible for all people as it reaches a wide coverage and that the target population keeps on seeing it in their daily routine activities thus creating a sense of importance in their lives. However, such a form of marketing is expensive and only covers a short period of time. As indicated in the case study, most of the people from the target population used direct mail services to ask questions about free screening and mammograms (Vance, Howe, &Dellavalle, 2009). It is an indication that the platform can be used to ensure that that the information about healthcare reaches the targeted people. Direct mail system is easy to use as it only requires the internet and a gadget to read from. The target population is indicated to have smartphones and therefore read mails effectively. The mail system is less costly and effective in terms of ensuring privacy of a respondent or patient.

Online Marketing Mediums

            Online marketing mediums can be viable for the marketing campaign considering that most of the members of the target population are active internet users. Some of the online mediums that can be adopted to ensure effective marketing include Facebook, and other social media sites. The use of the online marketing mediums has some strength which includes cost. It is less costly to share information via different online platforms. The information also can be able to have a large coverage and at a short time. Using the social media platform, it is possible to interact with members of the target community one on one to solve some of the problems that they might be facing (Evans, 2006). However, it is also important to note that not online mediums offer some information. Therefore, there is user skepticism that information found on online sites should not be entirely relied upon. However, online mediums would best work for the marketing campaign. Apart from relying much on the social media sites, it is also possible to engage in web content development. Such requires publishing health care information in different sites to help the target audience get knowledge of how to remain healthy.

How the aforementioned Traditional and Online Marketing Mediums be combined to effectively reach Target Audience

            From a cost benefit analysis, there are several ways that the mediums from the traditional and online marketing platforms that can be combined to yield success in the marketing campaign. The use of the radio, direct mailing, and social media site like Facebook will be employed. The combination is effective because of the factors surrounding the target audience. Use of radio will be effective as the target population can be able to access radios from their cars. The use of direct mail will be effective because the target audience has access to the internet and have smartphones. The audience can also read and understand the information the online platform. The methods are also cost effective and can be maintained without great budget pressure.

Strategies that can be Utilized Internally for a Seamless Marketing Strategy Roll-out

            Performance of the staff will be the main strategy that will be utilized internally for a seamless marketing strategy roll-out. The people of rural Lowa need to be handled properly and treated in a manner that will ensure proper customer service. Proper education of how to handle patients is also crucial. Buy-in for the management will ensure that the staff and the management learn of the different ways to communicate and handle a patient (Evans, 2006). Through this, a patient will be able to the face of the medical center as that of compassionate people. It will therefore motivate the patient to seek medical help at any time without fear of poor treatment. Bring the brand alive to the employees will be a strategy that will help them understand the problems that the target population is facing before offering services to the affected people. Bringing the brand to the people constitutes more of learning to take care of the patients. It will be an effective internal strategy as it will help build a positive image of the health center and motivate many people to visit and get the medical help. Treating the patients in the right way is a powerful form of internal marketing.

The implementation Plan for this Marketing Campaign

            The implementation plan for the marketing campaign is set to cover several steps. The first step will include setting right the expectation of the plan. Expectation will involve educating the target population to visit medical centers for screening and treatment. The second step will be putting the right resources to the plan. Resources include human resource and funds. In the third step, the human resource will be communicated of the plans for the marketing campaign. Building a timeline will also be an important part of the marketing campaign as it will ensure that all events fall into place (Kontos, Emmons, Puleo, &Viswanath, 2011). Monitoring and tracking of the success of the plan will also be established. The last step will allow communication of the results. The implementation plan will be simple and will cover the mediums established in the traditional and online marketing. Major stakeholders in the campaign will include the staff, physicians, service providers, and the local community which is the target population.

How the Marketing Campaign Address the Various Market Segments that were defined during the Needs Assessment

            The market segment is a population of women and children who are faced with different medical problems and needs like ovarian and breast cancer. The marketing campaign will ensure that it addresses all the needs of the target groups to ensure that they all get the right information for their treatment. Radio and online channels will be employed to reach the target population as these are the mediums that the people use on regular basis (Kontos, Emmons, Puleo, &Viswanath, 2011). Marketing campaign will ensure that more people are educated on their medical needs and importance of fulfilling them which all revolves around the consumer behavior.

Part of the Marketing Campaign Designed to Address Cost’s Influence on Marketing

            Cost touches the marketing campaign on different angles. Part of the marketing campaign will discuss the crucial aspect of cost. It will indicate the costs expected in covering different medical care services indicated. Apart from that, the targeted audience will also be educated in the need to have medical insurance coverage as a way of reducing costs related to different forms of treatment (Vance, Howe, &Dellavalle, 2009). Medicaid a form of health care program that assists low-income families and individuals such as those presented in the case study will be discussed. The part will discuss the need of the target population to have Medicare as a means to reduce medical costs.

Potential Ethical Implications when utilizing Patient Data Gathered to Market to Their Perceived Healthcare Needs

            Some of the ethical implications include invasion of privacy, confidentiality of information, and objectivity of the marketing plan. However, the marketing plan will ensure that the all data send and received from the target audience is stored in a secure database. For example, information aired through the radio and that gotten through direct mail and social medial sites like Facebook will be secured to ensure the confidence of the patient has been maintained (Kontos, Emmons, Puleo, &Viswanath, 2011). Some of these ethical implications have changed over time due to the introduction of modern technology and other platforms through which marketing can be done (Evans, 2006). Through this, the potential ethical implications of breach of confidentiality and invasion of privacy will be dealt with. Also, the campaign will remain focused on its goal which is to educate and bring to the attention of the target population in the need to proper medical access. Through this, any ethical implication caused by lack of objectivity will be mitigated.

Evaluation Strategy

Evaluation is the last step in a marketing campaign that is aimed at identifying how successful the process of selling ideas and information to the people was. In health care, it is also important to evaluate the strategies employed in passing information to the target population or patients so as to learn their effects and to also gauge whether there is need for a change. Evaluation process helps in identifying if the original objectives and targets of the group were met.

Evaluation should be done constantly to ensure that the marketing strategies are effective. Evaluations require using the data of the people who have visited the medical centers and also those who have reached out through different platforms like the social media, website, and the community program (Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski, & Paddison, 2003). The higher the number will indicate the more effective the plan. The numbers of people also helped out from different medical problem will also another evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.

Ethical aspects of accessing Patient and Consumer Healthcare Data

            Several ethical aspects associated with accessing patient and consumer healthcare data for marketing. One of the ethical aspects is confidentiality. When using the internet and the social media, it is difficult to ensure that all information relating to patients is confidential because of the many users and the security concerns associated. However, it is important to ensure that all patients and consumers are treated to utmost privacy to ensure that the information they give does not affect them negatively if it is leaked (Gostin, 1997). Data security therefore has to be assured. The other ethical issue in accessing patient and consumer healthcare data is decision support. The data extracted from the internet is sensitive. It is through the internet that there is decision support. It is important to ensure that the person receiving the data and giving advices to the people is qualified in medical matters. With that, information will be handled properly and the rights decisions made in regards to the problems affecting the patients.

            Different ethnic groups are represented in the region. Data and information relating to these people may not be similar because of differences in genetic composition and origin. The needs of these ethnic groups may also be different calling for the need to need to handle the sensitive information in a good manner (Coughlin, Leadbetter, Richards, &Sabatino, 2008). Persons attending to the information must remain ethical at all times and ensure that all the people are handled equally and not in regards to their background. Ethnicity and racism should be discouraged in the region to ensure that the people receive the medical attention they need without any discrimination. It is through proper management of the people and the data that there will be improved health care for women and children living in the region.

Evaluation Tools available Online and Offline to help Measure Success of Various Traditional and Online Marketing Mediums

            Some of the online marketing mediums employed in the marketing process include direct mail, and social media. One of the ways of evaluating the mediums includes recording the number of mails from the target population. The higher the number of mails and solved cases from the target population is an indication that the medium worked properly. Counting the number of clicks or filtering the activity within a specific URL can be able to tell the number of people who have visited a website for information as well as for help. Some websites contain slots for questions from the target population (Cugelman,Thelwall, & Dawes, 2011). Checking the activity in a website is an evaluation strategy for the online medium. The social media and specifically Facebook can be evaluated using the number of engagements and direct messages from the target population. Filtering, recording clicks, and recording messages are some of the tools applicable for the online medium.

            The traditional marketing mediums used include radios, fliers, and notepads among others. The evaluation method for the traditional marketing that employs mostly the offline tools is recording the number of people who have been reached by a certain advert aired on the radio or through a flier or a notepad. It is possible to record the where participant got the information from so as to evaluate its effectiveness. The number of fliers distributed within a certain period of time also helps in showing how the information has been spread (Scardina, 1994). In the long-run, it will be important to note the increase in the number of patients and the decrease in suicides and attempted suicides from the target population. All these tools help in knowing the return on the investment. 

Limitations in Evaluating Marketing that has been implemented in Social Media

            Some of the limitations in evaluating marketing that has been implemented on social media include poor monitoring of complex issues that affect the participants. It is difficult to offer ultimate help to a person suffering from a complicated health issue through the website. The use of social media does not give enough room for secondary data. Identifying the respondents being assisted through the use of the social media may be a problem. Reliability and validity of the primary data collected through the social media is another limitation.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, health care needs assessment is important because it enables the responsible groups to analyze and prepare measures that can be used to cope and deal with health needs. The assessment is also necessary because it gives a suggestion of changes or improvements needed in the health sector.

The minority groups in the society need to be elevated through proper medical care and facilities. Different groups should work towards educating these people like the women in the community named above. Proper marketing should be sensitized to ensure that all these groups are properly reached with the right information. It is possible to drive chronic problems like cancer from the society through education, awareness, and screening. The marketing plan will cover all major healthcare needs of the target population. It will utilize all the available marketing channels and ensure their effectiveness. In choosing the right mediums to use, a cost-benefit analysis will be done to ensure that there is proper utilization of the available scarce resources. When choosing the right marketing evaluation tool, it is important to also ensure that the tool corresponds with the marketing medium to be employed. Adopting the right tools ensures effectiveness as well as accuracy of results.

References

Coughlin, S. S., Leadbetter, S., Richards, T., &Sabatino, S. A. (2008). Contextual analysis of

breast and cervical cancer screening and factors associated with health care access among United States women, 2002. Social science & medicine, 66(2), 260-275.

Gostin, L. (1997). Health care information and the protection of personal privacy: ethical and

legal considerations. Annals of Internal Medicine, 127(8_Part_2), 683-690.

Mohammed, R., Fisher, R. J., Jaworski, B. J., & Paddison, G. (2003). Internet marketing:

Building advantage in a networked economy. McGraw-Hill, Inc..

Stevens, P. E., & Hall, J. M. (1988). Stigma, health beliefs and experiences with health care in

lesbian women. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 20(2), 69-73.

Starobin, S., Laanan, F. S., & Burger, C. J. (2010). Role of community colleges: Broadening

participation among women and minorities in STEM. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 16(1).

Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M., & Dawes, P. (2011). Online interventions for social marketing

health behavior change campaigns: a meta-analysis of psychological architectures and adherence factors. Journal of medical Internet research, 13(1).

Grier, S., & Bryant, C. A. (2005).Social marketing in public health. Annu. Rev. Public

Health, 26, 319-339.

Scardina, S. A. (1994). SERVQUAL: a tool for evaluating patient satisfaction with nursing

care. Journal of nursing care quality, 8(2), 38-46.

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