This article is more of a personal commentary than a blog post. I’m reflecting on my 12 years of experience working with the best healthcare marketing companies in the world, implementing cutting-edge digital marketing strategies, and a few lessons that I’ve taken from that process.
Before we jump into the story, let me make one thing clear. I’m not preaching one unique path to success here. I’m trying to share the observations I’ve made along the way. The healthcare industry is nuanced, every potential patient has unique needs, and medical practice evolves at an accelerated pace.
If you’re a healthcare marketer trying to craft the best marketing strategy to increase brand awareness or increase patient engagement, you probably will identify with parts of my story.
However, if you’re a non-marketer or a marketer working in a different industry, I don’t expect you to agree. But I hope you’ll at least walk away with some insight into some of these marketing trends because they can be helpful for any digital strategy.
It Takes Work To Connect With Anyone, Healthcare Consumers Are Not The Exception
Marketers, in general, like to believe in tactics, experiments, and measurements, which is a wise way to live, but if you ignore the importance of human connection, you’ll always have trouble delivering outstanding work.
As marketers, instinctively, we know (and preach) about the importance of connecting with people, but too often, we act like robots ignoring the basic needs of our clients.
No matter how big you get, how sophisticated your process is, or the tools you use, you, as an agency or a healthcare marketing consultant trying to help a healthcare brand or healthcare organization accelerate its patient acquisition, will always need to invest in building positive relationships with people.
Relationships are built on a deep desire to understand the person behind the client paying for your services.
Too Many Marketers Are Consumed By The Idea That They Can Optimize Everything Behind The Scenes
Talking to people repels some marketers. This is amusing to me, as I used to think that data was everything. But it’s not. You’re doing a mediocre job if you don’t combine hard data with the richness of any healthcare marketing campaign that living and breathing people bring to the table when you talk with them.
As marketers, we want to measure everything and optimize every decision. But the reality is that you can’t do that. Acting like a mad scientist who crafts persuasive campaigns behind the scenes to lure new patients is more a myth than reality.
- You can certainly optimize your processes.
- You can create innovative ways to deliver more value.
- You can use multiple apps to communicate with your people.
But you can’t optimize how someone feels when they work with you by yourself. You need to listen and adapt. Optimizing without listening wastes your time and your client’s money.
Healthcare Marketers Need A Purpose
Marketing is not the center of the world. The best marketers in the world don’t just do marketing. They understand that marketing is a means to an end.
It’s a tool to help you deliver and communicate your value. To spread a valuable message.
The best marketers don’t say, “I do marketing.” They say, “I help healthcare brands help people do X.”
Your value is not in your marketing skills. Your value is your ability to help your clients achieve a result, and marketing happens to be the tool you use to deliver that. Whether you use social media marketing or innovative healthcare advertising to capture attention, is all the same. Helping is what truly matters.
If you’re marketing a healthcare device that helps people sleep better, your marketing isn’t about showing off how cool your technology is; it’s about communicating how your tool helps people live fuller lives because they finally get the rest they need to live fuller lives.
Your value is not in your marketing skills. Your value is your ability to help your clients achieve a result, and then marketing happens to be the tool you use to deliver that.
If you’re marketing a healthcare device that helps people sleep better, your marketing isn’t about showing off how cool your technology is; it’s about communicating how your tool helps people live fuller lives because they finally get the rest they need to live fuller lives.
Marketing Transparency Will Make People Mad, But It Works
You can try to sell a weight loss program that is a scam, and some people will probably buy it, but is it a win if you sell something that doesn’t work? I think no.
Or, if your client’s offer is a mess, should you risk making them angry by telling them the truth?
As a marketer, your job is to deliver value, and sometimes that means telling a client hard truths like that their product is technically brilliant but that no one wants to buy it because it doesn’t help them solve any problem.
Some clients will want you to do that. And some won’t. If they get angry at you, this is a screaming red flag to avoid working with clients who won’t appreciate your advice as an expert.
In my experience, clients who understand the value of marketing will realize that you need to be transparent.
But hard truths still hurt, so being kind is always the best policy for delivering great marketing.
3 Best Healthcare Marketing Agencies In My Opinion
Ogilvy Health
Ogilvy is a legend in the marketing world. I’m not going to repeat their story, but you should read every book written by David Ogilvy. Ogilvy offers traditional marketing services like healthcare marketing strategy or content marketing, but I particularly like how they bring their holistic expertise and best practice from other industries to the healthcare space.
McCann Health
A global player that goes beyond healthcare SEO or merely improving the patient experience. McCann excels at leading public relations campaigns to communicate to massive audiences public health policies or transformative treatments. A true partner of healthcare providers.
Real Chemistry
A marketing agency with the heart of a tech startup. Modern healthcare demands a deep understanding of prospective patients, and Real Chemistry brings to the table proprietary technology fueled with AI that arms a healthcare practice or healthcare provider with the type of granular data that truly enhances decision-making.
Parting Words And An Invitation
I would love to hear about your personal experiences as healthcare marketers. Send me an email at [email protected], and please share your stories with me.
