He althcare and marketing have come together recently. Medical marketing has traditionally been applied episodically in the form of a customer survey or demand analysis. Since many private medical centers have entered the market, providing highly qualified care to the population and different levels of customer focus, it has become necessary to pay attention to the marketing promotion strategy in this area.
A novice specialist may face such a marketing problem in medicine as the lack of developments, experiments and, in general, experience in promoting this culture in Russia. Why is this happening? The reason is the short period of development of marketing in the he alth sector. The audience is also not always ready for an adequate perception of stimulating events, because they are already used to discounted products, but when they offer a discount on medicine, this often inspires doubt. The same can be said about other marketingactivities.
Thanks to foreign experience, major international players in the he althcare market, the need for marketing in medicine is acutely felt and is being actively implemented in Russia. What is it for? System marketing in medicine allows you to identify demand drivers, reorient goods and services so that customer needs are met, while optimizing costs through an effective marketing policy. All this is essential in a market with increasing competition and rising production costs.
All types of he althcare marketing cover categories such as services, institutions, specialists, ideas.
Goals
In the medical field, the following tasks are set for marketing:
- study of the market of goods (therapeutic and prophylactic drugs and products), identifying trends and building development forecasts;
- adjusting existing strategies for the delivery of preventive and curative services;
- development of new products and services to meet existing demand.
Medical Marketing Principles
He alth marketing management is based on certain principles:
- detailed market research (drugs, services, specialists, etc.);
- identification of market segments (all consumers are divided into groups according to criteria significant for the medical industry);
- flexibility of production and marketing processes depending on changes in demand;
- technology and innovation (the medical field must keep up with the times in terms of channelscustomer interaction, management systems);
- formation of a plan for production, marketing and promotion.
Activities
Marketing activities have the following objectives:
- market analysis and forecasting;
- selection of the most effective methods of influencing market segments;
- development of an adequate pricing policy;
- information;
- shaping a marketing plan.
Market analysis primarily involves the study of reports on sales of medicines and products, services. In parallel with the analysis of statistics, educational work is being carried out to form the population's need for he alth.
The peculiarity of he althcare marketing is that the need for help may arise too late, when the disease is started. To minimize such situations, work is underway to form the right image of he alth. The he alth of the population must be made monitored by specialists, at least periodically for the timely detection of diseases. A change in the emphasis in the behavior of consumers of medical services and drugs from treatment to prevention can qualitatively change the demand, and, as a result, the entire he althcare market.
Marketing activities to form the need to maintain he alth reduce the cost of not only medicine, but also the patients themselves, and bear a social burden. Such events, as a rule, are educational in nature, expressed in social advertising, etc.
After studying the market, it is segmented by types of consumers. A segment is a group of potential customers that is united by common selection criteria, due to which they presumably respond equally to marketing activities. Criteria can be geographical, socio-demographic, behavioral, etc.
After identifying the main segments that are most interesting in terms of demand formation and sales, a marketing mix is developed. A ready-made strategic marketing plan in medicine can be directed to the following areas:
- improvement of consumer properties of products;
- improving the reliability of goods or services (warranty, repair);
- building a brand (e.g. a leader in a particular field);
- development of cross-selling, formation of related sales channels to core services;
- innovative component of the brand, the formation of the image of a modern market player.
The marketing mix includes three blocks of the plan: the product (service) itself, pricing policy and promotion.
The nature of the complex is based on the details of a specific area and product. There are three main types of plan strategy:
- launching a new brand, medical center, new service on the market;
- expansion of sales by offering the existing arsenal to new segments;
- diversified plan involves bringing new products to new consumers, redistributing emphasis.
The process of promotion in the medical field includesfollowing tools:
- advertising - informing the audience about the merits of a product (service), attracting maximum attention;
- stimulus promotions;
- propaganda.
Communications that promote he alth are based on timeless values and are easily perceived by the audience, but with the advertising of institutions, everything is not so simple. Building marketing for clinics and medical centers should take into account the following features:
- informing the target audience about the possibility of services in this institution, the high quality of the equipment, the professionalism of the staff, the price of the services provided;
- shaping reasons to think about using;
- colorful presentation of results that generates a desire to visit the specified institution.
At the same time, it should be remembered that an advertising message has not only an informational function, but is also a direct appeal to future customers, colored with emotions, which should form only positive images. Such a message is the first stage of communication between the client and medical marketing.
Internet marketing in medicine
Patients' lives are moving online, where they find everything they need. And this means that they should also find medicine and he althcare there. Internet marketing in general and content marketing in medicine in particular have the following levels of implementation:
- Definition of the ideal client, the maximum description of his socio-demographic, psychophysical, behavioralcharacteristics. At this stage, it is important to understand what goals this ideal sets for itself, what it strives for, what and whom it cares about, what problems it encounters. It is possible to offer high-quality content, to interest the necessary target group, having understood and felt all these details.
- Building a common language of communication based on the information obtained at the previous stage. The sphere of interests and style of behavior determine the language understandable to a person, those images that are best read, activate an emotional response. When interacting with the audience, this language will be adjusted depending on the interaction experience.
- Formation of the "assistant" intention, in which the content is served from the position of help and care, comments are processed from the point of view of the person who is interested not in selling, but in satisfying the needs of the client with the help of a particular service (product).
- Openness and sincerity are felt on a subconscious level even through a layer of gadgets, so it is worth creating a clear inner intention to be sincere in communicating with the audience.
- Creation of a series of meetings with representatives of the desired audience with marketing information. There is a rule of five touches, according to which the first touch with something new causes fear and alertness, but with repeated meetings everything changes, after the fifth touch the person perceives the same information as well known, friendly. In medical marketing, it is necessary to strictly monitor the points of contact with customers, highlight the main and additional channels, create a structureinteraction, through which a person will meet the necessary information several times through different channels of interaction.
- Aiming for an offline meeting should always be kept in mind when interacting, offering to take an action towards, because this is exactly what forms commitment in customers.
- Special attitude to reviews, encouraging customers to write feedback. Feedback is important because it is a formulation of all the moments that left an emotional imprint in the memory of the target audience, they spell out all the most successful and most unsuccessful, which serves as a good lesson for future activities. Negative reviews are required to be worked out, neutralized, otherwise word of mouth will greatly spoil the results of marketing planning.
The specificity of medical marketing is that the content touches on delicate he alth issues. Successful content takes into account the ethical side of the issue, avoids advertising templates and overload with medical terms. In this issue, doctors with long practice, who are accustomed to communicating in the language of the client, who have a huge number of life stories with humor and bitterness, each of which has a deep semantic load, become an invaluable source of content.
In addition to well-formed content, compliance with marketing levels, it is important to take into account the development of technology, models of using Internet content. So, today no one is surprised by the fact that the mobile Internet is actively increasing volumes, respectively, all channels must be adapted to this type of content consumption,take technical considerations into account. In some clinics, mobile traffic reaches 69% of the total flow, so delay in this area can lead to serious losses in the number of clients.
Content visualization in marketing
Information in the form of images, pictures, colorful schemes has long been the main part of the most memorable information, now video has confidently joined this list. Social networks are focusing on the visualization of information, more and more often they do not read reviews, but look on the Internet, looking for a video describing the process of the procedure, photos before and after, etc.
The moment of visualization is important for the process of building marketing in medicine, because it directly affects the decision of the client. It may seem that medicine is boring for videos and vivid pictures, but this is not at all the case. Social networks are already using video content to its full potential, which consists of tips, explanations of processes, meetings with former patients who have something to tell. All information should make the process of providing the service (use of the product) simple and effective.
Social platforms' focus on visualization is evident in the new live streams and stories that are not aimed at disseminating high-quality material at all, but create the illusion of direct contact, without filters and censorship.
Website as a necessary communication channel
First of all, for information, a person goes to the Internet, to the website of the organization, where he studies the details of who, where and how he operates,looks at the filling of content, determines its direction and acceptability for himself personally. This is not an isolated example, it is an established model of behavior in society, which is gaining momentum even more with a decrease in the age of the population groups under consideration. Thus, the creation and competent promotion of the site is a matter of prime necessity for an integrated marketing program in medicine.
Promotion of this site has a number of features that need to be taken into account:
- Regularly filled with content that is new, interesting, taking into account the seasons and related waves of change in the state of he alth of the population.
- The ability to communicate, ask a question online, write a question to a specialist, etc.
- Expert judgment and advice builds a high level of trust.
- The first plan should be useful information, and advertising modules should be the second plan, such planning will interest customers, leave them on the site and build trust.
Service as friend and foe
The quality of medical care cannot always be assessed without appropriate training, for this you need to have a good base of medical knowledge, experience in their application. Clients of most medical institutions evaluate the center by the level of service.
Ease of contact by phone, to the reception desk, waiting time, politeness of the staff immediately form an opinion about the institution. If the call center is a mess, what can you expect at the doctor's office?
It is worth noting that working with repeat customers who are satisfied with the service is simple and pleasant, andthe budget for them is required much less than for attracting a new client. Accordingly, it is worth making an effort to create an internal client-oriented system of interaction, to work with the staff so that everyone is imbued with the importance of this behavior model.
Legislation
Advertising in the medical field is subject to the general rules stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Given the specifics of the sphere, operating with such concepts as "life", "death" and the like, there are increased ethical requirements for advertising.
According to the law, advertising must be reliable, not misleading, not defame third parties and be neutral to competitors. In addition, advertisements for medical services must not contain:
- links to cases of healing with advertised drugs;
- thanks to individuals who used the product;
- indications of benefits identified as a result of mandatory registration studies;
- Assumption of he alth problems among consumers of marketing content.
Since 2014, additional amendments have been made to the law on the promotion of medical services. Now it has become necessary to indicate contraindications, a reminder of the obligatory study of the instructions before use, a recommendation to consult a doctor. These amendments concern the distribution of advertising in non-specialized media.
Active use of "promotions and discounts" is also not applicable to the field of medicine,since the appeal to the clinic is, in most cases, forced, when certain circumstances arise. Here, advertising should form a brand that would be immediately remembered first when a situation requiring medical intervention occurs.
"Black Swan" new developments
"Black Swan" refers to events that dramatically change the reality of the market contrary to all expectations. A feature of marketing in medicine is that such events are not only macro factors in the form of laws, foreign policy, etc., but also new developments.
When cardinal innovations occur, the market situation changes dramatically and requires constant redistribution of resources and emphasis of all market participants. When such situations arise, the winner is the one who is better prepared for new economic realities, who has received, processed and applied information about market changes earlier.
To control, continuous management of he althcare marketing is necessary, which consists in quickly analyzing market changes and taking appropriate corrective measures. For example, when demand decreases, a special study is carried out to identify the reasons for rejection, identify points of growth, which is subsequently evaluated in terms of the goals set for marketing.
Medical Marketing Training
The market for medical services, drugs and institutions is developing rapidly. But professional marketing in this area appeared not so long ago. Courses of additionaleducation for marketers to help them adapt to a new field.
The programs of such courses include the basic concepts and tools of marketing in medicine, all promotion processes: market analysis, proposal formation for the target audience, marketing activities, analysis of results. It is imperative that competition policy is considered in such courses, since the medical and he althcare market has a long-established structure of leading participants, which must be taken into account when building a marketing plan.
Medical MBA programs also have marketing blocks, but they cover more global issues of strategy, brand building and marketing management.
All training programs include an IT block to keep up with the times in terms of using technologies that are most in demand in terms of consumer experience and help build the most comfortable relationships with customers.
Thus, there is a choice of training programs that can fill the existing gaps in the rules of marketing in the field of medicine and he alth.
