Marketing plans are like travel plans-if you don’t have one you can find yourself wandering around in circles. A plan compels you to look ahead, and a good marketing plan is a product of thorough research, conservative forecasting, a good chunk of expertise, and a dash of imagination. Unfortunately, too many business owners get the ingredients confused and instead decide that their marketing plan should have a big chunk of imagination.
Set you inner “Mad Man” aside, and get your arms around the less exciting, but more crucial elements of a successful marketing plan, The Four Ps. The Four Ps are Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. Each one of these components is essential. So let’s break it down:
Product: The marketing plan identifies the ‘hook’ for a product or service. You better know who your target audience is, and why they should be willing to buy what you are selling. And you need to tell everyone why they should buy yours instead of your competitor’s.
Price: What pricing strategy will your practice follow for this product/service? Is the plan to sell large volumes so the economies of scale can keep the price low? Or will be marketed as a boutique practice, which keeps the service and products more exclusive but the prices higher?
Promotion: What is the advertising strategy? How will the service/product be packaged? Are you using your satisfied patients and customers as your best salespeople? Are you using advanced technology to promote your practice, and the wealth of knowledge of your physicians? All of these questions need to be addressed and written down so that the marketing campaign is focused.
Place: How will the product/service be distributed? Will it be pushed out through social media channels, print, traditional broadcast media outlets, or all of the above?
These are just the first steps in developing any marketing plan. There is always a ton of fine tuning once you deal with the basics, but at least you are going to be headed in the right direction. As we all know, summer is around the corner and can be a seasonally slow time for elective medical services, so you need a marketing plan more than ever.
It’s not too late to put a campaign together. You need a strategy to build strong and loyal patient relationships, as well as grabbing a bigger share of the market. I can help you do that. Give me a call directly at 702-374-1944.
