Direct Marketing

Marketing budgets will move away from conventional advertising and toward content marketing in 2012, according to experts at a Content Marketing Institute forum. The content generated will be of a higher quality, experts from SES San Francisco say, as marketers seek the edge that journalists can bring to the work. The CMI asked marketers about their top content predictions for the coming year, and experts seem to agree that 2012 will see content marketing take precedence. Several respondents noted that marketers can expect to see budgets moving from advertising toward content marketing.

John Muir Medical Center’s Women’s Health Clinic publishes a catalog of current classes, lectures, screenings and other events that it offers to women in communities served by its three clinics. New editions of this extensive, 16-page catalog are mailed twice per year to women throughout the community, and it has proved a successful means of reaching, impressing, and motivating those women who make decisions about healthcare for themselves and their family members. It inspires them to actively seek out the medical center’s programs. 

From a pure marketing point of view, these programs represent the place where the Medical Center is introduced to it customers.  Women find support groups, counseling, training and screenings related to heart health, cancer care, parenting, nutrition, weight loss, aging, and more. It’s in these “entry way” services that patients begin their relationships with the medical system, and where their loyalty to the system is cemented. Over their lifetimes, when high acuity services are called for, these patients are predisposed to favor John Muir’s services because they have an existing relationship with the system.

DCP has published the Women’s Health Catalog for several years. But in the issue just released this month, we worked with the staff of the Center to reorganize how the content is displayed. We strove to categorize the information in ways that are more consistent with how readers use the catalog. It wasn’t really a “redesign” so much as a “design tweak.” But the results have been excellent, and the Center reports a higher rate of consumer response already. This is a perfect example of how a minor modification can produce noticeable results.

Of course, John Muir Medical Center doesn’t offer these classes because they’re good for marketing. That’s just the lens I see them through because I’m in the marketing communications business. No, these classes are good for the community because they help people live healthy lives. That’s the real purpose.

If you’ve ever wondered, “What on earth does social networking have to do with direct mail?”, you must read this Target Marketing Q&A between Paul Gillin, author or the recently released “Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!” and Ethan Boldt, editor-in-chief, Inside Direct Mail.

Throughout these seven questions and answers, Gillin presents numerous examples of how these marketing functions are starting to come together and support each other. To me, the most hard-hitting point in the dialogue was Gillin’s statement:

“We don’t control our brands anymore. Brands are controlled by our constituents. We have a role in shaping the brand, of course, but branding is now a process of constant back and forth with the people who will interact with these brands.”

Given this development, Gillin suggests that direct marketers use their social community to help refine their marketing message. Let your community tell you what messages work and don’t work—they’re a great testing ground.

But read the article to get other ideas of how social marketing can support your direct mail strategy.

I came across this article "10 Steps to Effective Copywriting" and I highly recommend that you read it. It’s always a worthwhile exercise to revisit the basic steps to writing well-crafted marketing communications. While these types of lists typically cover the obvious, I found this one to be particularly strategic and useful for triggering smart questions that can help you make sure you’re communicating effectively and getting what you want out of your marketing programs.

The main points I took away were:

1. Really understand what you want to say and why you want to say it

2. Make sure you write from your readers’ perspective

3. Don’t overwrite

4. Highlight an easy call to action

But read the complete article by Susan Gunelius to learn the specifics behind each of her ten easy steps.

Healthcare marketers, and hospital marketers in particular, are learning that generational considerations need to factor into any service line or brand campaign. Just what are the important generational differences that affect how consumers choose new doctors, specialty medical services, and health plans?

A useful new study by Thomson Reuters has just been released, “Matching the Market: Using Generational Segments to Attract and Retain Consumers” and it looks at how adults of different generations use healthcare, make choices, and respond to marketing. Any hospital marketer planning direct mail, advertising, or online campaigns intended to drive physician referrals or service inquiries needs to think about how generational expectations will shape the message. Thomson Reuters’ study is a good beginning.

Take a look at this Research Brief and consider the findings in your next targeted marketing campaign. Since this brief is in the “Members Only” area of Thomson Reuters’ website, you’ll first need to sign up but it only takes one minute and it’s free.