Hospital Marketing Trends in 2023
Very soon we will be entering into the year 2023. Here are a few challenges faced by healthcare providers in current year: Recruitment and retention of skilled marketing & business development personnels, Increased competition in local marketing, ever-changing digital marketing and social media best practices, Government Yojana & there payment, difficult to maintain cash flow, pricing strategy and increasing patient`s expectations toward care delivery. In the post-COVID world, these are just some of the challenges healthcare marketers must understand by doing a deep dive into it.
Working closely with many healthcare providers as branding & marketing consultant, I thought of sharing my view on Healthcare Branding & Marketing trends for 2023. Trends that must be addressed in next year’s marketing and communications plans in order to succeed.
Those who are associated in the field of hospital marketing, know very well that hospital marketing is not restricted to Digital marketing or social media marketing. To achieve major goals of hospitals in terms of Brand visibility, increase patient footfall and increase revenue, healthcare marketers need to adopt 360 degree integrated marketing solutions.
In 2023, healthcare marketers need to adopt 360 degree integrated marketing more strategically where one needs to give enough weightage to all aspects of marketing and needs to design all marketing activities accordingly. Let me provide a little more details for this.
First Thing First:
It’s high time one needs to do detailed Marketing Audit of their healthcare business i.e. Clinic, Nursing Home, Hospital etc. Idear Marketing Audit should include following parameters
- SWOT analysis (Organisation / Doctor / Department / Service)
- Patient Data and it’s utilization in marketing activities
- Revenue Source (Department, Doctor, Service, package wise)
- Profit contributor services
- Pricing / Rate list (Competitive Study)
- Patient Footfall study (Cash / Credit / Yojana etc.)
- Demographic Analysis
- ROI on marketing activities
- Internal Marketing
- Patient Retention ratio
- Brand Ambassador & it’s utilization
Actionable Points:
On completion of the marketing audit, healthcare marketers need to list down their actionable points for the year 2023. Points should have clear objectives & goals with set timelines.
Leverage Importance of Internal Marketing:
Have you ever thought about your own employees, old patients and their relatives from a marketing perspective? If not then in 2023 one should leverage the strength of their own database and turn them into brand ambassadors thru Internal Marketing strategy.
In 2023, healthcare marketers needs to involve Receptionist, Call Centre, Patient welfare officers, HR, Admin, Housekeeping & Security staff members also in to their marketing activities it doesn’t mean we don`t need to involve other staff members of the hospital, but here I am suggesting to involve above mention set of staff members more into marketing activities after all they are first set of Brand Ambassadors.
Data is Everything in 2023:
In the year 2023, you shall observe and see more and more tools, technologies, Artificial Intelligence in healthcare marketing. Healthcare marketers should start gathering and utilizing their own database in order to achieve their marketing objectives in a smart way.
Never Underestimate the Power of Traditional Marketing:
As I mentioned before, Healthcare Marketers need to think beyond Digital Marketing. Digital / Social Media Marketing is one the important aspects of marketing but not the only option one should opt for achieving their Hospital Marketing goals. Helathcare Marketers should use each channel of communication in such a way that they reach their target audience in a stipulated time period in an effective manner. Never underestimate the power of traditional marketing channels in 2023 effectiveness of Newspaper Advertisement, OOH, Hoarding, Banners, Posters, Radio Advertisements, on ground activations, events etc. will remain the same.
So once again I would like to emphasize that apart from the above strategies of your clinic / healthcare business / hospital or nursing home’s marketing plan, healthcare marketers need to take into consideration following most effective marketing trends that will be more effective and result oriented in 2023 and beyond.
- Patient & Employee Centric Approach “Patient is always First but don`t ignore your own employee”
- Patient engagement is a Top Priority at every touch points including your old patient database
- Use of technology in hospital operation processes “Innovation Wins”, eliminate human error and improvise quality care
- Creating more & more Brand Ambassadors “Internal Marketing”
- Say Hello to old patients “Re-engage old patients”
- Data Driven marketing strategy “Data is King”, for that training to your front office staff is essential to enter right data in to the system
- Authentic social media content “Say No to Copy Paste”, share content based on interest of your target audience, don`t push your content please
- Published genuine patient testimonials “No Pre Explained Testimonials please”
- Optimum utilisation of traditional media for advertisements / Publications
- Networking with medical fraternity
- Generate healthcare informative videos & podcast in vernacular languages
- Short & Sweet Content marketing “No one has much time to read lengthy content”
- Online & Offline engagement on ground activities focusing on preventive healthcare
- Remember you have multigeneration people around you “Don`t forget Gen Z & Millennials”
- Integrated 360 degree marketing communication approach “Don’t rely only on social media”
- Encourage your patients to give genuine reviews to you on various available platforms as future pateints are used to review, research and consider many factors before taking the final decision over selection of doctor / hospital / clinic for their healthcare need
- Most important give equal attention to your marketing team & budget
Trizone Healthcare Consultants believe in creating a meaningful collaboration with their healthcare clientele by providing 360 degree services in Branding, Marketing Strategy, Advertisement, Communications designing, Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Web Solutions, Training & Development.
