Healthcare marketing for the independent pharmacist is changing. Thanks to the availability of healthcare information on the Internet and other sources, patients are more informed than ever before. They're making choices about their healthcare. It's up to you to make sure prospective patients know that you are the best choice rather than a competitor.
Traditional outbound marketing methods such as print, television, direct mail, or radio campaigns still exist, of course, but they're expensive and "unidirectional." That is, you are pushing information about your products and services "out to" your prospective customers and patients. This worked in the past, because these were the only channels patients could receive information through. You were in control of the information, your customers were the passive recipients of that information, and that was that.
Today's customers and patients are different. Because your prospective customers are in control of how, when, where, and why they receive the information, they may or may not choose to pay attention to yours; this makes outbound marketing increasingly ineffective, especially when you as an independent pharmacist are competing directly with retail pharmacy; retail pharmacists have national name brand recognition in their favor. You can negate this effect to a large extent, though, if you focus your efforts on inbound marketing instead.
Inbound healthcare marketing and social media
Inbound marketing is targeted specifically to patients on a one-to-one basis, through social media. You are uniquely poised to take advantage of this one-to-one marketing model especially because you already focus on building one-to-one relationships with your customers. Retail pharmacists can't hope to do that.
Social media lets you carefully target your healthcare marketing campaigns and distribute them through blogs, podcasts, video blogs, and your own Web 2.0 compliant website. You attract clients and customers to come to you, instead of going to them. The key to this is to make your marketing campaigns visible to prospective clients and customers, who will then share that information with others through various social media aggregates and platforms like Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.
Advantages to inbound healthcare marketing through social media
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It's instantaneous
Old outbound marketing campaigns took weeks or months to establish, and couldn't be altered without a lot of time and expense. Today, inbound marketing is fast and instantly changeable. Advertise specials in your store that are good for just a day or two to attract new customers, for example.
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It's interpersonal
Brochures and flyers contain a lot of information, but they are impersonal. Prospective patients and clients may not even read this information, much less act on it.
Instead, put short informative videos on your website with you as narrator and host; showcase current specials at your store, or create informative videos on specific health conditions. You can do this on commercial television, too, but it's expensive and hit or miss. When patients watch your videos, their experience that's uniquely interpersonal, targeted to them and for them.
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It's effective and efficient
Inbound healthcare marketing draws customers in, giving you a captive audience that wants to hear what you have to say. Customers come to you; you don't go out and "get" them.
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It's inexpensive
With a computer, an inexpensive webcam, and some software, you can create your own inbound healthcare marketing campaigns at no extra cost. You can also hire a marketing firm to help create these campaigns, but the cost will still be much less than old outbound methods like newspaper ads, or brochures. Save money, save time – and target your customers and patients directly; let them see your expertise as an independent pharmacist first hand, with inbound healthcare marketing.
