Written By Lucy Peters
A sound branding strategy is key for businesses in any industry, with statistics compiled by Oberlo showing that around 86% of consumers value authenticity, and 81% feel they need to trust a brand before they support it. When it comes to healthcare branding, these values are of the essence, as is a respect for diversity. Demographic trends show that the US is experiencing a major transformation – so much so that non-Hispanic whites no longer dominate the census. By the year 2045, this group will represent less than 50% of the population, and by 2060, this number will shrink to 43%. Savvy marketers should be in tune to these changes if they wish to survive and thrive in an ever-changing world.
Key Components Of Successful Healthcare Branding
Branding strategies for the healthcare sector should contain various targets – including showing a brand’s value; building a good relationship with suppliers, peers and patients; providing patients with personalized, speedy and effective treatment; attracting top professionals to join one’s team; and boosting brand awareness. Your brand logo, website, social media channels, blogs, and other forms of media should focus on your target clients’ needs, with a view to building authentic connections based on shared values. Simplicity, emotion and continuity are additional values that should be expressed in your logo and communications. Branding in healthcare comprises everything from selecting colors for your logo or website that express trust and experience, to providing patients with feedback and good customer service, so that public reviews of your business are mainly positive.
Diversity Is Not Optional
The increasingly diverse nature of patients in America means that healthcare companies wishing to stay at the top of their game need to ensure that racial, ethnic, and other minorities are listened to. The Pew Research Center found that over 52% of American adults feel that brands should address concerns such as racism in society, and that they should actively find ways to be inclusive and avoid unconscious racism and exclusion of minorities in branding, product promotion, and all areas of business. Digital communications catering to diverse audiences should be prioritized, with areas such as language, imagery and topics being chosen in line with the needs of diverse audiences. Current advertising is increasingly representing people from various genders and cultures, as well as those with diverse body types. Authentic diversity should be more than tokenism: in order to truly work, it should arise from diverse teams that understand the needs and wishes of minority and diverse groups.
Total Market Infusion
David Maricich, President of Maricich Health in California, recently published an article on the importance of “looking at diverse communities for what they have in common, then fine-tuning the messaging by tailoring to their respective nuances.” This approach is known as ‘total market infusion’. It takes into account that various ethnic groups and other minorities have different ideas about healthcare, disparate abilities to access food, and different attitudes towards health itself. Marketing messages sent to different groups must contain essential truth, without skimping on “additional educational and grassroots awareness efforts” aimed at specific populations.
Building a reputation for trust, authenticity and continuity is vital in any sector, but arguably more so in the healthcare sector – since life and wellness depend on healthcare services in many cases. Marketing within this sector should be patient-based as well as diverse, bearing in mind the rapidly changing demographics of the nation. In order to authentically speak to various minority and diverse groups, marketing teams should themselves be diverse in order to build the additional awareness that is necessary for effective communication.
Please also review AIHCP’s Healthcare Manager Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program in online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a Healthcare Manager Program