How can you use market segmentation to improve healthcare outcomes?

Market segmentation is important to categorised customers based on various criteria to improve on marketing initiatives delivery to be more effective and efficient. Better channeling marketing resources to achieve the desirable results.

Market segmentation is a beacon guiding healthcare providers to deliver personalized and impactful services. It allows us to move beyond the one-size-fits-all approach, recognizing that different demographic groups have distinct health concerns, preferences, and accessibilities. For instance, in digital health, understanding the tech adoption patterns across age groups can shape how we design and implement healthcare technologies.

In healthcare segment, consumers will have different preferences, needs, loyalty that they value significantly as impacting their health and comfort. Marketing segmentation is important to define the categories of consumers based on their expectations, needs, perceptions and etc. to craft the strategic actions, functional actions and action plans to fulfil targeted segments with budgeted resources in achieving the desired goals.

Getting help too late is an issue for many deceases. Early prevention can help delay or even prevent serious condition. Some groups are less likely to monitor their health or reach out for help, so targeting them to increase awareness and encourage ,. For instance, men in some countries are less vocal (compared to women) about their obesity (linked with type-2 diabetes) problem, and isolate to 'deal with it' and only reach out for medical help at the later stages of the condition. It is better to prevent condition early on rather than treat it, so knowing such behaviour patterns and vulnerable groups, targeting them to increase awareness and normalise preventive behaviour will have a positive impact on population health.

Market segmentation in healthcare is vital for tailoring communication, allocating resources effectively, enhancing patient satisfaction, providing targeted services, optimizing marketing strategies, and ensuring cost efficiency. It enables healthcare providers to address the unique needs of diverse patient groups and focus on specific areas, ultimately improving overall healthcare delivery.

Big data analysis to understand the consumers from different perspectives eg preferred brands, place to purchase, seasonal trend, gender, age group, occupation, motivation of sellers and etc. The key of segmentation is always knowing the objectives and then dive down the criteria to have deep knowledge and understanding to enable the organization to execute actions within company capabilities or define new investment to create new capabilities to fulfil existing or new consumer needs.

Market segmentation is a potent tool in enhancing healthcare outcomes. By understanding the unique needs of each segment, we can develop personalized interventions, improving treatment adherence and patient engagement. In my experience, aligning digital health initiatives with the preferences of specific patient segments has resulted in more significant positive health impacts.

Market segmentation is the precursor for crafting action plans to target specific groups of consumers to fulfil their expectations, needs and preferences in order to improve corporate and brand equities that will be translated with improve revenue and profit.

For instance, consumers of skin care products - their purchase preferences depending on age, income, culture, environment and etc may purchase goods based on brand image, perceived quality, value perception and etc. Understanding and tracking consumers needs and constant product and service evolution to fulfil the targeted consumers needs is vital to maintain consumer loyalty and purchase preference and thus improve profitability.

Health and wellness segments - preventative is a big market where you focus on lifestyle and prevention. Blood tests, organic products, healthy foods and supplements etc