10 Mistakes Hospitals Make in Marketing and Branding...

National utilization numbers related to consumer use of acute care hospital services continue to show that people are hesitant to go to the hospital out of fear they will be infected with the Coronavirus. Although monthly the trend is improving, we are facing a potential public health emergency with individuals delaying necessary care, which can lead to very negative outcomes.

Hospitals can do a better job in the way they brand and position their services, health systems and the benefits of their services to consumers. They often have an even more difficult time connecting personally with consumers. This was true prior to COVID-19, but now it is more important than ever for acute care providers to make a more personal connection to the communities that they service in order to foster stronger trust and competency so that consumers, and community clinicians, feel an allegiance and comfort in accessing acute care services. Improving branding, marketing and community outreach is now not only a matter of ensuring financial solvency for acute care providers, it can literally save lives.

I have outlined below some of the common mistakes hospitals make in their branding and marketing and included suggestions on ways they can work to fix and avoid them altogether:

·        Copycat Syndrome: Hospitals should work to differentiate their services and avoid trying to be like everyone else. A great example of this now is how virtually every hospital is promoting the same messaging about how their hospital is safe to alleviate worries of COVID exposure. Instead of imagery of employees disinfecting exam tables and washing their hands, why not have a few patient testimonials sharing their positive experiences or have an infectious disease physician featured expressing confidence, etc. Differentiation is key to increasing market share, it is wise to stick to those features and elements that make a hospital stand out vs. saying the same thing as competitors.

·        Over emphasizing accreditations: Most consumers are not concerned about Magnet, JCAHO, and Leap Frog status, etc. There is a place for these achievements in your branding, just not in the driver's seat. Reserve the promotion of these prestigious and especially important accomplishments for marketing to healthcare professionals and industry wide/trade venues. Consumers can relate though to achievements and awards such as Consumer Reports, Medicare Compare, and organizations that they have a connection to. Be smart about where and when to highlight these accomplishments - it is like throwing money out the window to feature them in direct to consumer advertising vehicles.

·        Not gaining buy in from physicians and employees: Hospitals should invest more time in engaging physicians in their branding strategy - getting their buy in is often overlooked and their ideas, feedback and constructive criticism can help better connect to the target audience. Same for employees…if you are promoting a high quality of care culture in your branding, make sure your campaign includes your core stakeholders – your employees, so that your messaging is carried out throughout your hospital and system.

·        Need for better media placement decisions: Diversify your media placement decisions. Hospitals rely too much on traditional media. Invest in a diverse and multi-platform campaign that encompasses the right mix of traditional and new/digital media options.

·        Poor loyalty programs: Hospitals often overlook the importance of staying in touch and communicating with the patient's and their families who have used services in the past. Take the opportunity to educate and inform prior patients on healthcare topics that are personalized to their interests and situation. It takes more than a thank you letter from your CEO post discharge to engage them. There are some interesting and innovative digital platforms now that allow healthcare providers to personalize their education and engagement based on health condition, demographics and prior engagement. This is the future and it requires an investment and some trial and error, but not using them will put you ad a disadvantage in the long run.

·        Not valuing community health care partners enough: A good branding program should incorporate relationship development with all the community health providers in your primary market area. Make sure there is outreach and engagement to home health, ASC's, senior care providers, and other health care providers who have a strong influence over health care decisions. This will improve quality across the continuum and improve your hospital's reputation.

·        Poor social media presence: Social media should be a core element of your branding strategy. I am amazed for example that many hospital CEO's, CNO's, and other stakeholders are not as active on social media - especially platforms such as Linkedin that has such a large influencer base in business and healthcare. There is a world outside of Facebook and hospitals would be wise to look for new ways to position their messages and profiles in a more well-rounded approach. It also makes sense for prominent executives and clinicians to engage more in social media on behalf of their institutions to cultivate a following and help amplify branding, especially through health education and sharing medical/health information.

·        Low emphasis on accessibility: Hospitals often forget to include ways consumers can access information and/or services throughout their system. They need to emphasize how people can contact them easily to ask questions, get more information and learn more about what is being promoted. The more personable the initial point of contact, the better.

·        Lack of warmth and relatability: Remember that consumers seek trust, competency, and transparency from their health care providers. Hospitals are no different. If your messaging does not incorporate all these elements, all the time, eliminate or change it. Most people want to avoid hospitals because they are intimidating, yet, miraculous and incredible clinical outcomes are achieved in the acute care setting - this provides ample opportunity to present human focused, warm and touching information and stories that connect with people in a very emotional and powerful way.

·        Rarely a call to action: Often hospital's miss the opportunity to encourage people to "act" to gauge the effectiveness of their branding dollars. Most marketing and communications agencies will tell you branding is hard to assess in terms of ROI, but you can gauge the impact of campaigns through traditional call to action strategies by offering consumers more information, downloading white papers/educational materials, and inviting to special events to assess what is working and what is not.