There is only one really good reason to market your practice through good times and bad. Only one. But it’s the one that makes all the difference – it is so you won’t lose your place in line. Better yet, keeping your place in line positions you to move up in the line and overtake your competition.

There is a marketing life cycle that all businesses go through if they want to be successful. First, the business has to know there is a line. Then, they need to know where the line starts and how to get in the line. Much of the effort goes into staying in line and holding that position. Sometimes a practice decides it wants to move up in the line and, perhaps, get to the head of the line.
Marketing is about this entire process.
But when an organization stops marketing and takes it’s position for granted, it is the same as getting out of line and having to start over or, if not from ground zero, then certainly from a more disadvantaged position.

Unfortunately, it is a cliché that when times are rough, the first expense to cut is marketing and advertising. This happens time and again, despite the many case studies and statistics that strongly demonstrate how companies, products and practices that marketed (e.g. maintained their visibility) throughout down times gained greater market share when the good times turned around.  And for a lot less money! Those organizations that silence their marketing voices have to spend more, work harder and play catch up to their more marketing savvy competitors. Often, in spite of their efforts, they never again really catch up to where they were.

Healthcare advertising has a lot to learn. Unfortunately, many organizations learned the wrong lessons, from the wrong people. During the 80s, it became fashionable to talk about “product line advertising” as opposed to image/brand advertising. Large hospital systems thought it would be a good idea to apply consumer packaged goods approaches to healthcare and hired MBAs out of Proctor and Gamble to direct their strategies. Lectures and seminars were developed that had these marketing gurus telling hospital folk how to do it, and the first to be sacrificed was the image (or brand) of a facility. The new hero was the product. Ads had to be measurable. Marketing had to be accountable. The brand stewards were hushed in favor of short term returns.

Lamentably, abandoning the brand took its toll and turned healthcare into a commodity.

Commodities do not have bargaining power.

Commodities do not inspire loyalty. People will not pay a premium to use their services. But organizations (and practices) who maintained their belief in the power of their brands ultimately thrived and out-performed their competitors. For example, Mayo Clinic remains the “poster child” for this concept. The Mayo Clinic “brand” is protected at every turn. They do not market individual programs and services as much as they market them under the aegis of Mayo’s programs and services.

The safe default position to which many healthcare advertisers fall prey is to tout facilities, technology, and sometimes its doctors. Add to that some testimonials from satisfied patients whose lives have been saved, mixed with smiling family shots of arms draped over loved one’s shoulders, or couples walking on the beach holding hands, and you have the typical clichés of healthcare.

Ads that provide a concept that hits a nerve, that engages us on a deeper level of desire, fear, hope and longing are ads that we remember. That is the point of doing ads at all: to plant in the minds of our target clients (patients and referral sources) the message about who we are, what we do, and what we can do for them that is better than what they could get elsewhere.

That is when advertising goes from being an expense to becoming an investment.

Great advertising, effective advertising, is like shoulders from which to drape a garment. It flows. It fits. It makes an impression that lasts long after the person leaves the room.

There are plenty of opinions as to what makes for good, if not great, advertising. Yet the truth rests with some very simple concepts. Do you remember the advertiser and the product? Do you get what the advertiser’s key benefit is to you for the product or service? Do you understand the product’s attributes and promises long after the ad has run its course? Do you like the ad and look forward to seeing it again? Does the ad make you feel inclined to ever use the product? Do you come away from the ad with a positive perception about the advertiser?

If you are going to hold your place in line and improve your position, create an impact. Make your advertising memorable. In Hollywood, people often use the expression “I laughed, I cried, it became part of me” to describe with flair how a performance affected them. Advertising, to be effective, must affect people as well. If it doesn’t, it is an expensive exercise. If it does, it is the best investment you can make in marketing your practice and becoming “brand visible.” The better you are perceived, the more choices you have in creating the practice you desire, with the patients you choose, on your own terms. That’s why you market, and why being in line matters.

If you enjoyed this article and would like more information, contact The Schuster Center at 1-800-288-9393 or www.SchusterCenter.com