As an independent pharmacist, you doubtless don't have a huge marketing department available to you as you work to establish your presence in your community. However, it's imperative that you become known in your community so that your customers – and your colleagues in the medical community – will come to instantly recognize you and make use of your services. Here are six pharmacy marketing ideas you can use now:
#1 Brand yourself
Retail chains are good at "branding" themselves, in that they make themselves instantly recognizable to customers and healthcare colleagues who need and use their particular products or services. Many retail chains are national and have whole departments devoted to this task, but you can surpass even what they can do at the local level. Your customers likely have several choices available to them locally, so your task is to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Choose an easy-to-remember name, logo, and slogan
The first thing you must do for your own healthcare marketing is to choose an easy to remember logo, name, and slogan, something that customers can call to mind instantly when they need your services.
Associate positive, personal care with your brand
After that, your task is to associate yourself with that logo, name, and slogan by making yourself available to and creating positive experiences for your customers. This is how you can set yourself above competitors like retail pharmacies, because you can provide a level of of personalized care they can't. Word-of-mouth can also put you far ahead of larger chains, which can further strengthen your brand recognition in your community.
#2 Make yourself visible
Be as visible as you can be in your community. Focus your marketing efforts on the four to six blocks around your store, since most of your customers will likely come from that area, make your sign highly visible from the street, and post business hours clearly both on your website and on your front door.
#3 Be an asset to your community and customers
Regularly offer "community" events like free or discounted health screenings, and post these events' dates prominently outside your establishment and on your website.
#4 Make a good first impression, and then keep it up
You can set yourself far above retail pharmacies by making sure you interact with and get to know your customers and patients personally. Retail pharmacies can't hope to create the kinds of one-on-one relationships you can build with your customers, which can be your best advantage in healthcare marketing. Get to know your customers as soon as they come into your store, and make sure you give them personal treatment every time.
#5 Clearly detail customer benefits
As part of your ongoing marketing "campaign," create brochures and materials that your staff can hand out to patients and customers; the materials should detail the specific niche services you provide, as well as enumerate benefits customers can receive if they come to you, such as flexible payment options for clinical pharmacy care, etc.
#6 Market to medical professionals in your community, for referrals
Make regular, scheduled outreach visits to doctors' offices and other medical establishments in your community. These visits should not just be social, but should inform colleagues of your services, tell them how you handle insurance claims and prescription requests, etc. When you do healthcare marketing directly to colleagues in the medical community, you establish valuable contacts for referrals. Visit in person at least occasionally so that your colleagues and their staff will know you by sight, not just by voice.
