This article was previously published on Forbes.
Marketing to women still has a long way to go, including for hospitals, with two-thirds of women stating that they feel misunderstood by healthcare marketers. With a global value of over $6.5 trillion, the healthcare market offers a bevy of opportunity to hospitals and other healthcare organizations that show they consider women’s perspectives and experiences important.
Five key areas to emphasize
It’s estimated that 66 percent of caregivers are female, middle-aged and working outside of the home. The duty of being a caregiver, whether after a single outpatient procedure or for someone with a chronic condition, is stressful and arduous when combined with an already full work and home life. Fortunately, hospitals can market themselves not only as providers of great medical care, but as a source of guidance and support to empower women to make the right decisions for their family.
Use social proof and word-of-mouth to boost your brand’s credibility with women.
We believe what our friends say. According to a report by Nielsen, recommendations from friends are the most trustworthy form of advertising. And women are more likely than men to trust word-of-mouth, with 72 percent reporting that they’ve made a purchase based on a friend’s recommendation.
What does this mean for hospital marketers? Cultivating a strong foundation of brand ambassadors, or women who are loyal to and willing to speak out positively about your brand, will strengthen your hospital’s brand and make it attractive to new customers. Here’s how.
Set your hospital apart by marketing more than just your medical services.
For most people, visiting a hospital is not a regular occurrence, so the process can be daunting. But hospitals can help. From explaining exactly where to go to setting up easy payment options post-treatment, hospitals can use many tactics to show patients and caregivers that they are approachable, knowledgeable and ready to relieve the stressful burden of the unknown.
Now more than ever before, hospitals must market well to set themselves apart from their competitors. Simply claiming to have the best doctors or technology will not be enough when women expect all hospitals to strive to only provide the best. There are many ways beyond medicine that hospitals can market their amenities to drive preference.
Showing you know how to handle tech will drive preference for your brand.
While it’s true that women are open to — and even excited about — tech advances in healthcare that make their lives easier, they also have concerns. From the privacy of electronic health records to the reliability of automated medication-delivery systems in hospitals, your female consumers want the best for themselves and their families. You can drive preference for your brand by using your marketing materials to allay their concerns.
Here are four common worries women have about technology in healthcare, and ways you can show your target that you’re getting tech right.
Women are not only the primary decision-makers for healthcare; they’re also more active on social media. Engaging women where they spend their time is crucial to your marketing success. Here are six recommendations for creating a unique and relevant voice on social channels.
You’ve likely encountered the stereotype that women aren’t as interested in or as proficient with technology as men. But consider how that stereotype might affect marketing innovative hospital services like e-visits, telemedicine and remote physician video chats. That flawed perception could lead to a gender bias that has a negative effect on your hospital marketing efforts.
When a market goes through the kind of wild swings we’ve seen in the healthcare industry over the past decade, it can be hard for marketers to predict the ways consumers will balance their needs against their means to meet those needs. Particularly in healthcare, where costs are spiraling while incomes remain flat, marketers are struggling to know how they can reach their mostly female targets in an effective way.
Fortunately, there are a few constants healthcare marketers can depend on.
There’s incredible demand these days for proprietary hospital mobile apps, but nobody seems to be getting it quite right. Here are some thoughts and tips to help your organization succeed in this space.
There’s a good reason the female-focused blogs on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are named Motherlode and The Juggle, respectively. Women are busy; we serve many roles, often at the same time. More than anything else, female healthcare decision-makers want help them with the workload. Women are also tech-savvy, more than men at times. Statistics show that mothers are the most active female consumers online and adopt new technologies more quickly than average.
In 2012, Bic infamously introduced pink and purple “For Her” pens, packaged in pastel and adorned with a dainty font. The internet took notice and snarky Amazon reviews ensued: “It’s good,” one reviewer wrote, “that Bic [is] finally doing something to aid the plight of women.” Undoubtedly, executives at Bic had hoped to cash in by targeting a female demographic — but without a true understanding of what their female consumers wanted, the effort fell flat.
Since women make the majority of healthcare-related decisions, it’s important to gain a deep understanding of what drives their decisions. Doing so in a way that adds real value, shows commitment to understanding the whole person and fosters dialogue will demonstrate to women why your brand stands apart from the pack — in a good way.
