Hospital Marketing Journal

Hospital Marketing Leadership Webinar:

ROI, Measurement & Accountability for Hospital Marketers

Hospital executives are confronted everyday with demands for accountability for all expenses, including their traditional marketing campaigns as well as new media.  Asked to do more with less, hospital marketers are forced to build the hospital brand, develop and implement patient acquisition strategies, promote their integrated physician practices and all of this on tight and dwindling budgets.  It’s tough enough convincing hospital administrators of the importance of marketing without having to also show them that the proposed marketing campaigns are working optimally.  Being able to measure and report ROI for hospital marketing campaigns is an important and vital step in this overall process.  Unfortunately, measuring marketing results and reporting ROI for hospital marketing campaigns can be challenging.  In the healthcare industry, it’s a lot easier to measure an increase in referrals – broken down by each referring physician – than it would be to try and figure out how many patients checked in after viewing or reading a particular advertisement.   This is particularly true because patients are not good at reporting why they’ve chosen one hospital over another. The healthcare industry has gotten a bad rap at reporting marketing effectiveness ROI.  In the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey, marketing leaders at hospitals and health systems were asked what emphasis their organization will place on measuring the ROI of marketing efforts in the next three years. The largest number of respondents (85%) said they'll use a mix or anecdotal and financial evidence to measure return, although only 6.74% say they'll employ hard, financial ROI measurement exclusively. Do you feel somewhat behind the times regarding the most recent methods to measure successful hospital marketing? Do you need some assistance figuring out how to demonstrate return on your hospital marketing investments?  Are you interested in learning where to start and what mistakes to avoid? Ten Adams and Hospital Executive Today, and producer, Social Media Training, Inc., are teaming up for a live Webinar, entitled, Hospital Marketing Leadership:  ROI, Meaurement and Accountability for Hospital Marketers.  The webinar will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2011, from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm eastern and includes such well-known speakers as: Chris Boyer, Director of Digital and Communications, Inova Health System Jon Headlee, President, Ten Adams Jake Wengroff, Frost & Sullivan, Global Director of Social Media Strategy and Research  Topics of discussion will include: Discover 5 Steps to measuring the success of your marketing campaigns Learn why accountability is the fastest road to marketing success Learn how to be accountable to and communicate with the New Hospital Consumer Learn how to get better results with a smaller budget Connect the dots from your hospital marketing strategy to ROI Understand how new media & social media can allow you to achieve more with less Case studies of successful hospital marketing strategies Don’t miss this great webinar so you can learn to take the best approach to measuring your hospital’s marketing effectiveness and ROI.    Space is limited.   To register go to https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/422117334

Hospital Branding Webinar:

How to Stand Out in the Sea of Sameness

“Hospital branding” is an important topic today – the center of many discussions among hospital marketing professionals throughout the U.S. With many hospitals merging or consolidating, and the pressure from high operating costs, hospitals need to find and send the message that spells “value” to their prospective patients. Understanding “hospital branding,” how it is defined, how it is accomplished, and what strategies and tactics can be employed to make it work, is a marketing concept that needs some answers. Because this topic is so important, Ten Adams is sponsoring an informative Webinar entitled, Hospital Branding: How To Stand Out In A Sea of Sameness. This free Webinar will be held on Monday, October 10, 2011 for one hour, starting at 10:00 AM (Pacific Time). The Webinar is open to anyone interested in hospital and healthcare marketing. Jon Headlee, President of Ten Adams, said, “Ten Adams is proud to sponsor this upcoming event. We realize how difficult it is today for hospitals to make those all-important branding decisions – to develop their marketing strategy amidst a tough economic climate, where they are forced to deal with increasing regulation and inadequate reimbursement, and despite all of those challenges, trying to figure out how to bring in more patients to boost revenue.” The hospital and healthcare industry have grown and matured to a state where they must make some difficult decisions regarding their branding, in order to compete for future market share. The Webinar is designed to help marketers and administrators understand a variety of branding issues - to see that the hospital brand is so much more than just the logo and tagline, encompassing the entire patient experience. This online training is delivered by a panel of national experts in hospital branding, covering such topics as: What makes a great hospital brand? The importance of delivering a great experience A powerful brand is much more than a name, tagline or logo How brands are built from the inside-out, but sustained from the outside-in Discover how to find your hospital’s key brand differentiator How strong brands drive patient volume and increase revenue How and where your hospital brand is being judged every day Social media’s impact on your hospital’s brand & how to get better at managing it Keeping everyone happy: great brands are sustained by great communication Case studies and anecdotes Speakers at the Webinar include: Jake Wengroff: Global Director, Social Media Strategy & Research, Frost & Sullivan Dan Rogers: CoFounder of Bearings Branding Jon Headlee: President of Ten Adams Guest Hospital Speaker: To be announced shortly The Premiere Sponsor is Ten Adams. Webinar Host: Social Media Training, Inc. and Media Sponsor: Hospital Executive Today. Click here to register: Sign up https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/244860142

QR Codes Gaining Popularity

by Nancy Daugherty

Information at the click of a mouse, in the palm of your hand—and now by the scan of a code? That’s right. QR codes, short for quick response codes, are those small barcode look-a-like things that you may have seen in the corner of advertisements, magazines, or billboards that literally connect you to information when scanned. These two-dimensional codes are more than just funny looking black and white squares. When scanned by a smartphone’s QR reader, the code directs you to a landing page where you can view videos, promotional content, or other information. While QR codes are just beginning to gain popularity in the U.S., they have actually been around since the 1990’s. Created in Japan by Toyota in 1994, QR codes were originally used to track automotive parts as they were distributed to various manufacturers across the world. Now, they have become mobile-friendly ways to instantly connect people to online resources. Fast-food restaurants place them on food and beverage containers to connect consumers to their product’s nutritional information. It’s a tool that businesses use to engage consumers with their brand by placing them on business cards or brochures to drive traffic to their website, social media platforms, and to coupons or discount codes. Hospitals are also using QR codes in many ways: on their hospital directories to give people directions to various locations, introduce new services or facilities, and promote teen health education.  QR codes are emerging on print campaigns to promote new physicians directing viewers to a YouTube interview with that physician or to promote a service line with a patient video testimonial. Caution must be used; however, because thought and creativity are essential when including a QR code in promotions. It's work to scan a barcode, so users have higher expectations as to what content they will find. If you think QR codes are just a fad, consider this; now you no longer have to find the nearest computer, or spend time Google searching on your phone to access information because QR codes allow you to be directly connected no matter where you are, and with the rising number of smartphone users, QR code usage rates have steadily increased. Businesses, organizations, and marketers are also seeing the value because they can track user engagement by seeing the number of people who scanned their code, how much time they spent on their site, and what they are doing on their site. That data can be analyzed and used to make decisions about future marketing campaigns. In today’s world that relies heavily on hand held devices to access information, QR codes are definitely something to look out for. Have you utilized QR Codes for your organization?  Have you ever scanned a QR Code?

Measuring Social Media on the Web

by Nancy Daugherty

Digital communications over the internet have opened, to hospitals and healthcare organizations, a growing trove of marketing channels; particularly those built around search and social networking.   With an opportunity of abundance comes a challenge of control. Using social media marketing to build awareness and affinity around your brand and web presence can be a boon, but trying to understand the complexities of how well your marketing vehicles perform online can seem like an anchor.  A solid digital presence relies on your ability to recognize your reach and influence within the world of the web. Significant resources are often applied to this challenge, but there are free options available that give healthcare managers – marketing or otherwise – access to basic measures of engagement and effectiveness. These tools measure an array of elements; from visitor page counts and tracking, to the ‘hottest’ spots on your site (through analysis of click patterns). These examples cover many of the more popular marketing channels on the web: Google Analytics – gives you a view of the traffic flow into and around your website. It can tell you if visitors arrive through search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, or email marketing.  It also provides data on time spent with your site and the next web destination for visitors. FaceBook Insights – a tool for understanding your followers on Facebook. Demographic info, as well as psychographic clues like activities, comments and wall posts, give a glimpse into the consumer who is most engaged with your social media. Feedburner – if you are blogging or providing other content, know more about your content consumers.  This tool gives you data on where and how your subscribers came to find your RSS feeds. Post Rank – if your site is powered by WordPress, get analytics that identify where and how visitors engage your site, and what they do while visiting.  This tool provides near real-time snapshots, as it refreshes data daily. Twitalyzer – analytics for the Twittersphere.  This tool, provided by Twitter, delivers detailed metrics on engagement and ‘clout’ for individual Twitter accounts. YouTube Insights – view detailed statistics about the videos that you upload to your YouTube site. Understand the number of unique viewers as well as total views, broken-out by geographic regions.  Benchmark your data against all videos in that market over a given time period. Maximizing viewer engagement and optimizing your reach is at the core of success in any digital marketing campaign; and social media marketing on the web is becoming a more and more valuable ‘community communication’ channel for healthcare organizations. Measuring the impact of your campaign on the web should give a much better picture of overall effectiveness. Have you had experience or success with measuring your online impact? If so, how has it impacted your present marketing efforts?

 

 

 

Making Data Work for the Consumer

by Scott Mosley

Americans today have direct access to an unprecedented and rapidly-expanding amount of data. This can easily lead to the paralysis of data overload, if raw data is not filtered and focused through the thoughtful and purposeful use of consumer-oriented decision support platforms. A wide range of decision support platforms/tools are available to today’s healthcare consumer. However, studies of the extent to which these tools are effectively employed suggest very mixed results. There are a number of barriers which account for this mixed effectiveness, many arising from the design, content, format and dissemination of the tools themselves. Limited consumer awareness of information sources and data repositories. Few people really know where to look for the information they need. Poor tool design and confusing presentation of complex information. As educated as consumers have become, effectively digesting outcomes data requires a level of sophistication which is rare in the general population. Lack of relevant content supporting the comparison of individual practitioners and healthcare organizations. Most of the time, data is so general that it’s of little value in making relevant side-by-side evaluations. Low levels of data literacy often limit data consumption. Particularly among the growing elderly population, reading healthcare data can be a very challenging proposition. Lack of online access to data repositories remains a factor. This is particular true where the nation’s poor and underserved populations are concerned. Lack of trust in the source of data. The extent to which selective or self-serving analysis comes into play makes many data sources highly suspect to many consumers. Difficulty engaging healthcare practitioners to discuss relevant information. A general lack of time and training on the part of practitioners and the absence of incentives often present insurmountable barriers to consumers in their attempts to engage physicians and other providers in meaningful dialogue. Considering the collective impact of these barriers suggests that there are steps which can be taken to dramatically enhance the utility of decision support platforms/tools. The designers of these platforms can do a better job of considering the context within which information is being sought and will most often be used. The user-friendly presentation of data in formats specifically geared toward comparison and basic decision-making can go a long way in easing many common consumer frustrations. The testing of consumer functionality, through focus groups and similar techniques that engage potential users can also play a major role in ensuring that tools are capable of satisfying the most common needs and interests of consumers. Studies suggest that report cards can be positive tools in guiding consumer decision-making when the information is easy to understand. Tool developers need to be challenged to present sometimes complex information in simple formats, helping users to more easily access relevant content, apply it to their particular circumstances and understand its specific implications. This means providing assistance in breaking complicated decisions down into discrete steps and simplifying difficult tradeoffs, like the choice between cost and quality. It means making navigation easier with the guidance of simple, easy-to-understand words, symbols and graphics and giving information greater resonance through the use of color, rankings, summary tables and reinforcing narratives. It means layering information so only the necessary level of depth indicated by the decision at play is imposed. The availability of healthcare information is greater today than ever before, but mere availability is only half the battle for enhanced transparency. We still have a long way to go in making healthcare data usable for the average consumer. And, even further to ensure a good foundation for healthcare decision-making.