By Joshua Miller

A marketing or business goal is not clearly defined without establishing what needs to be done to achieve it. The broad concepts and specific action steps that support the goal need to be organized because they are the fundamental tools necessary to success in marketing. Here’s how to define how you’re going to get to where you want to go.

A relatively simple concept to produce traction for your marketing effort is to answer the “which-way-up?” questions that always follow when high-level goals have been decided, quantified and defined.

A lofty goal can look overwhelming until you chart a course of manageable and do-able action steps. This is a quick lesson for everyone (maybe a reminder for some) that’s useful for marketing in organizations of all types, including hospitals, manufacturers, individual and group practices, physicians and surgeons, dentists, pharmaceuticals and entrepreneurs.

Goals, Strategies, Tactics

The success process uses a hierarchy of Goals, Strategies and Tactics – and it’s important to know the marketing definition for each term.

Goals: Take a look at your goal or goals. Goals are specific, measurable, achievable and tangible business objectives. It’s expressing the goal in a concrete way that can be managed.

Strategies: This is the first level of “what’s next.” Strategies are the ideas and broad approaches that support the goal. There can be more than one strategic approach to achieving a goal.

Tactics: Think of these as the tools that give your plan traction and energy. Tactics are the specific action items, details and activities that must occur for the strategy to be successful. You’ll want to list several tactics under each strategy.

Selected strategies and tactics work synergistically to complement one another for exponential positive results. Here’s an illustration of the relationship between a goal, strategies and tactics.

Goal: Increase new patient volume by 20 percent in the next year

Strategy: Improve patient experience to inspire more patient referrals

Tactics:
• Institute quarterly patient satisfaction training sessions for staff
• Create incentive program for staff based on increased referral volume
• Devote one staff meeting per month to ideas for improving patient experience
• Create and display a framed poster defining our practice’s unwavering patient satisfaction commitment

Additional Strategies and Tactics follow to complete the plan; all are implemented in concert with each other. The synergy of several strategies and many tactics working together creates the best results.

Immediate and Daily Action

This detailed list of marketing strategies and tactics provides what’s needed to make decisions and start to take action right away. And I mean today. Marketing is a real-time exercise – it’s what you do every day. It’s not designed to be planned in one month and then implemented six months later. Break out each of the tactics in action plan with these headings:

• Timelines and Deadlines – how long will it take, and when will it be done?
• Tasks and Responsibilities – specifically who will be accountable for each task?

If this sounds academic, here’s how author Denis Waitley said it: “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.”

This is the kind of detail that gets the job done. If you need Marketing help, give us a call today at 561-596-9071 and we can answer your questions.

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1. Social Media & Healthcare Marketing
2. LinkedIn & Healthcare Marketing
3. What your successful healthcare competitors don’t want you to know

Color communicates. It can provide direction and clarity. When language fails color can offer valuable associations with people, places and things. Fire engine red. School bus yellow. Midnight black. Sky blue. Simply reading those color names evokes distinct feelings. Color induces subtle emotions, and elicits powerful responses. Because color’s impact is so profound, its role in design and branding is critical.

Over time, thoughtful and consistent use of color becomes emblematic of a brand and can be as powerful an identifier as the corporate name and logo. The effects are profound. Consider the iconic green and yellow of John Deere tractors and farm equipment that is so woven into the fabric and history of the heartland it’s almost as American as red, white and blue.

If color is communicating on behalf of your brand, what is it saying? The truth is, different things to different people. Though we all see the same colors, we interpret and remember them through the lens of our varying experiences. Plenty of people don’t like red for a car – even a Ferrari. Ultimately, color is subjective. So, what do you do when considering color options that will represent your business? Start by keeping these tips in mind:

Select a color you can own

Be it red, green or periwinkle, consider a color unique to your industry. Color associations increase brand recognition and build brand equity. A distinctive blue box confirms that it’s no ordinary item inside, but a Tiffany item. The difference in perception is significant, before the box is even opened, and the gift revealed.

Consistency is king

Whether in print, on screen or fabric, your palette should be consistent. Your logo should appear the same color on your business card as it does on your signage or the embroidery on a uniform. Coca Cola red is never Coca Cola reddish-orange.

Consider the impact of technology and production processes

Electronic file formats affect color in different ways. A CMYK .eps file set up for printing does not treat color the same way as an RGB .jpg file intended for onscreen graphics. Variations will also occur between process printing and spot color printing. Differences can be significant – and care must be taken.

Consider the costs

Distinctive colors, and color themes, can be had by utilizing commonly available resources. The Pantone Matching System (or PMS) is the industry standard for printing, and provides a broad spectrum of colors. Resources like Pantone offer economical options that are easy to reproduce consistently.

Go with a pro

When you need help developing a corporate color palette, and implementing those colors across your brand, call us for help. We can assist you with the complexities and nuance of visual communication – as well as navigate you through production obstacles to ensure accuracy and consistency.

To learn more about communicating with color in your design and branding call us at (561) 596-9071 today or contact us via email.

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Social media is the new marketing phenomenon – how LinkedIn can help your marketing efforts.

Chances are someone has already invited you to join them on “LinkedIn.com.” This may include friends, colleagues, salespeople and maybe even some people you barely know.

What should you do? You already have plenty to do – do you really need to add something else to your plate? Since we have researched LinkedIn and used it effectively, we can give you some tips.

Generally yes, you should go ahead and join LinkedIn. However, to make it productive you’ll need to consider a few things:

1.) The first step is to define your objectives. Why do this? Do you want to get or share ideas with colleagues? Do you want to position yourself as a thought leader in a given area? Are you looking for new social opportunities? Are you looking to find new opportunities through networking? Or are you simply looking for an easy, non-obtrusive way to stay in touch with people you know?

2.) Your Profile. Don’t do what most people do, i.e., simply sign up for your free account and then forget it. Plan on investing an hour to get to know the LinkedIn arena and fill out your profile. You don’t need to list everything you’ve ever done when you are getting started, but the more relevant you look to your desired target audience and objectives, the better.

3.) Strictly business. Remember that LinkedIn is business oriented. Most Internet-savvy people put their social lives on Facebook, their business lives on LinkedIn. While there are exceptions, getting too casual on LinkedIn is not a good idea.

4.) You can reach nearly anyone. LinkedIn has a reputation for being a place for salespeople, recruiters and people looking for jobs. However, you would be making a mistake if you assumed that everyone on LinkedIn falls into those categories.

You can use LinkedIn to connect with many hard-to-reach VIPs including the press, government officials and executives at leading companies.

For example, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s Founder and CEO, is also one of the Internet’s leading financiers and entrepreneurs. In March, 2009, Hoffman stated on the Charlie Rose Show that he won’t “take a meeting with a prospective entrepreneur if they don’t come referred. It’s actually one of the ways I use my own personal LinkedIn profile.”

Most of what LinkedIn offers is free, but they do offer several premium accounts that will increase its utility. Once you know your way around LinkedIn you can explore these options if appropriate. LinkedIn’s most important feature is “groups.” LinkedIn offers thousands of groups that you can join, based upon your interests and background. Some are open – anyone can join – and others require approval from the group’s creator. Some of the groups I have personally joined include the American Medical Association, Association of Medical Media and the AIGA (The professional Association for Design).

You can get updates weekly (or daily if you prefer), and some groups are better than others. The good news is that you can easily opt out of the ones that waste your time. Participate in the groups you join. Contribute useful comments, forward links, share content or ideas, answer or ask questions. Over time, people will begin to notice you and reach out to you with things that will directly benefit you. Beware, however, that overt self-promotion is a faux pas.

While LinkedIn advises its users to link solely with people they know, the dividing line can become fuzzy. You really need to use discretion, because if too many people say they don’t know you, LinkedIn will suspend your account.

You may find these new groups helpful:

At this stage, your best path to learning is experiential. You’ll have to get online and sign up to really understand it. So go get an account, fill out your profile, and make sure you do a search for groups that might be relevant to your interests. If you need help setting up online profiles for social networking sites, or if you think that you could incorporate social networking into your marketing plan, but need some advice, call us at 561 596.9071 or contact us via email.

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2. What your successful healthcare competitors don’t want you to know
3. Healthcare Marketing, How to Bring in New Patients

The truth is that everyone’s situation is different. But I do know that when economic anxiety goes up, some professional organizations think it’s a signal to pull down the marketing flag and quickly head for the sidelines.

What’s not well known is that your marketing-savvy competitors actually want you to be scared off the field. The better course, although counterintuitive, is to stay in the game.

It’s the secret that successful healthcare businesses don’t want you to know. Here’s why… The most productive and cost-effective marketing opportunity is when there’s little or no competition. It’s a rich opening to reach and attract the patients who are still seeking healthcare services, to protect your patient base and to build a larger market share overall.

Things to consider under a “falling sky:”

Healthcare needs are not economy-driven.
The demand for healthcare services is based mainly on personal need, and regardless of the economy there are always people who require your services. This market exists and it’s a good time to be delivering value in the community.

Marketing is communicating with the community. The healthcare business that abruptly silences its voice is totally and suddenly invisible to people in need. Marketing works best with consistency and reliability.

Be alert to new opportunity. Economic change can also mean social change. Some procedures or services may be in greater demand, so consider marketing messages that adjust your patient mix.

Maintain or increase the budget. Although cutting or eliminating the budge “feels” like you’re preserving resources, you are likely giving up more in lost revenue and opportunity. Advertisers who increase their budget in a soft economy increase their market share. And as an added bonus, media costs might be available at bargain rates. There’s a good possibility that media rates and services are negotiable.

Have and use your marketing plan. If you don’t have a marketing plan, let’s talk about creating one for you. If you have a plan, we can guide you on how adjustments can boost the results. A hard-working marketing plan is your most valuable defense if economic times are soft.

The practice that stops marketing at the sound of discouraging economic news gains nothing. Period. Assuming a “defensive” posture on the sidelines is empty silence that allows your patient base to erode.

Instead of throwing in the towel, let’s talk about ways to maintain or increase your marketing efforts. It’s an opportunity for you to stand out and capture the market share. Turn off the news, and call us today at (561) 596-9071

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Direct mail
A well-optimized web site
Coupon marketing
Print advertising

But remember, there are three keys to effectively implementing this process:

1. First, you need a solid brand developed for your practice which will allow the marketing to tell the story of “Why You”. External advertising fails when you develop a “Name Recognition Ad” that just lists your services, without telling prospects what sets your practice apart.
2. Try this test: If you can remove your name from your ad and insert another physicians name and the ad works just as well for his/her practice, then you have not told potential patients anything unique to attract patients to your practice.
3. Second, all advertising should have a “Why Now” mechanism in the ad or a reason for the patient to call now. You could offer a discount with a time limit, or no-charge consultations with time limits. Even if you already offer these incentives to all patients anyway, by adding an expiration date on your offers you’ll drive more responses and customer buying behavior.

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2. LinkedIn & Healthcare Marketing
3. What your successful healthcare competitors don’t want you to know

What’s the objective?
The best way to get hard results from a brochure is to start with a clear objective. 
For instance, is your brochure to introduce a new service? Is it to provide technical data? Is it to generate leads via fax-back form? Focus on the action you want readers to take. The content and design need to support your primary objective. 

Define your audience
Great brochures also have a specific audience in mind. Picture who you’re creating it for and identify what that person needs to know. To make your brochure stand out with this audience, determine what else they’re reading. Review rivals’ brochures for style and content. 

Make it easy to respond
Why make it hard for prospects to respond? Provide phone numbers in a prominent spot and increase the size of that text. If you’re going to list your web site on the brochure, use a redirect or add a tracking code to the URL so you can measure how well the brochure is actually driving prospects to your site. 

The key: Don’t publish the unique URL on any other materials. Otherwise you won’t be able to track where the traffic’s coming from.

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Reason: Prospects are more likely to lose or throw away a boring, hard-to-read or awkwardly shaped card. The best cards are easy to store, retrieve and use when a customer decides to contact you.

Making an impact
Some tips for cards that will be kept and used:

• Avoid radical shapes or sizes. Odd shaped cards don’t fit in holders or work in scanners, so they often get thrown away.
• Play with look and feel. Make the card identifiable to someone feeling around to find it in a cluttered desk drawer or pick it out of a pile of other cards. Round two corners or give the card some texture. Place the information on the card vertically. Just don’t change the size or shape too dramatically.
• Invoke and protect the brand. Don’t forget the logo and use the company fonts. Don’t print cards on cheap stock unless cheap is the image you’re trying to convey.
• Keep it readable. No one likes to squint to get the info they need. Use the biggest type possible and steer clear of fancy scripts that can’t be read by card scanners.
• Tell them what they do. Titles are fine, but also give some idea of what the person does. Example: Joan Smith, vice president, data. (Marketing lists and e-mail campaigns)
• Say why they’re special. A short reminder of what makes them unique is appreciated. Example: “Any size widget delivered to your factory door”
• Include the website. Almost everyone looks at websites before they buy. Make it as easy to find the site as it is to contact you.

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Bear the following in mind when preparing your marketing plans:

Know your customers. You need to know what your customers are expecting from you during tough times. Don’t assume that lower prices are the only thing they are looking for; try to understand how your customers are redefining value and adjust your product or service to meet their expectations.

Adjust your product offering. In downturns, customers often look to trade down to products that offer more value with fewer extras. Evaluate your product offering. Continually monitor customer buying habits and maintain the right mix of product and services.

Maintain your marketing. Now is not the time to cut back on advertising. Research shows that businesses that increase their marketing in a recession (while others cut back) actually improve their market share and return on investment (ROI) at a lower cost than when the going is good.

Shift your marketing mix. If you do have to cut back, try to maintain your frequency with smaller advertisements. Increase the use of direct marketing, which allows for better tracking to measure ROI and gives more immediate sales impact. Consider running smaller, more targeted programs at regular intervals to maximize your return.

Emphasize your core values. Maintain your quality rather than cutting corners to ensure that you keep your existing customers. Cement the loyalty of your customers during economic recession by reassuring them that they will continue to get the same level of service and quality they’re accustomed to.

Successful businesses do not stop their marketing efforts during a recession; they look for opportunities to adapt and strengthen their positions.

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