Catalyzing marketing innovation and competitive advantage in the healthcare industry: the value of thinking like an outsider

2020

Self Cite

Background Personal selling—the use of sales agents to personally deliver messages to target audiences—is often not the first conveyance pathway that comes to mind when thinking about marketing communications in the health services industry. This is not surprising given that sales force roles are not as public and prominent as other promotional avenues, such as advertising and public relations. Further, the titles held by those in sales-oriented roles in the health services industry are usually more discreet, carrying designations such as community liaison, business development officer, and the like. Regardless of title, sales roles involve personally interacting with desired audiences to compel some sort of action, adding a vital form of communication that bolsters engagement opportunities. Discussion Personal selling plays a critical role in the promotion of health services organizations. Perhaps most obviously, it is distinguished from its counterparts in the marketing communications mix by its use of people to deliver messages to desired audiences. Associated titles, duties, and expectations vary widely between and among those healthcare entities which make use of personal selling, as there is no pat formula for deployment within health services environments. To shed light on personal selling, this article presents an associated overview through the lens of Willis-Knighton Health System, sharing practical insights and experiences which can assist peer healthcare establishments in understanding, shaping, and honing sales roles within their own facilities. Conclusions Taking advantage of the utility afforded by direct, personal interactions with audiences, personal selling provides a helpful communications resource that better enables healthcare providers to connect proficiently with target markets. It supplements other forms of marketing communication, operating synergistically to help healthcare institutions achieve their conveyance goals. Prudent deployment of this unique marketing communications method affords health and medical institutions with a capable conveyance asset that can provide great assistance in achieving communicative ambitions.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal selling in health and medicine: using sales agents to engage audiences

2020

Self Cite

“…Encouraged, accordingly, Willis-Knighton Health System sought to contribute knowledge on the marketing communications front, a vital area with excellence being mandatory for successful healthcare operations and endeavors. Over many decades, through scores of deployments, the institution has acquired significant communications prowess [1,15,16], prompting development of this special supplement in BMC Health Services Research, entitled "Marketing communications in health and medicine: perspectives from Willis-Knighton Health System," with this particular article supplying a brief profile of the contents included in the associated supplement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marketing communications in health and medicine: perspectives from Willis-Knighton Health System

2020

Self Cite

Background Communications prowess is a key ingredient of productive healthcare delivery pursuits, with associated successes clearly positioning health and medical establishments for growth and prosperity. Many conveyance mechanisms are at the disposal of healthcare providers, permitting numerous opportunities for engaging current and prospective patients. For the best communicative outcomes, all must be considered when formulating marketing communications initiatives, with consideration first, of course, requiring that healthcare providers acquire an understanding of communications options and associated fundamentals. Discussion In pursuing knowledge of communications options and related guidance, healthcare providers can benefit greatly by gaining operational perspectives from peer institutions. Over many decades, through scores of deployments, Willis-Knighton Health System has acquired significant communications prowess, prompting development of this special supplement in BMC Health Services Research, entitled “Marketing communications in health and medicine: perspectives from Willis-Knighton Health System,” with this particular article supplying a brief profile of the contents included in the associated supplement. Across the pages of the collection of articles contained in the supplement, attention specifically is directed toward the components of the marketing communications mix, foundational elements of communication, the patronage process, and the necessity for integrating marketing communications. Conclusions Establishing an effective dialogue with current and prospective patients is an absolute necessity for healthcare organizations, warranting intensive efforts to master marketing communications. Given the imperative for excellence in marketing communications, it is hoped that the light shed by this supplement and its collection of articles will help healthcare providers better understand marketing communications and deploy associated initiatives successfully, affording greater patient engagement opportunities.

“…Further, its extensive and continued use by business and industry provides additional validation of the effectiveness of advertising [9,14,22,23,29]. Willis-Knighton Health System's own experiences, some of which have been published in the scholarly literature [9,15,16,30], support accounts attesting to the prowess of advertising to generate awareness and convey information effectively to current and prospective customers, giving advertising a firm place in the institution's communications arsenal.…”

Section: High Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As presented in this definition, promotion is a prominent component of marketing, something further illustrated by its inclusion as one of the Ps in the classic expression known as the four Ps of marketing (i.e., Product, Price, Place, Promotion). The promotion aspect of marketing essentially entails any and all elements associated with engaging audiences, with the core pathways for engagement being depicted in a descriptive model known as the marketing communications (or promotions) mix [7,16].…”

Section: Definition and Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This should not come as a surprise as advertising-formally defined as "a promotional method involving the paid use of mass media to deliver messages" [7], p. 219-is the most public of communicative avenues. Television commercials promoting the latest offerings of an urgent care center, magazine advertisements communicating the grand opening of a medical clinic, billboard advertisements presenting the current wait time at a hospital's emergency department, and other open conveyances appear prominently and frequently across scores of communities, making advertising a familiar and robust influence easily recognized by most anyone [15,16].…”

Section: Definition and Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Advertising in health and medicine: using mass media to communicate with patients

2020

Self Cite

Background Advertising—a marketing communications method involving the paid use of mass media to deliver messages to desired audiences—represents one of the most common and effective avenues for engaging current and prospective patients. Although late to proliferate in the health services industry due to tradition, the medium of communication is now firmly established and routinely deployed by health and medical organizations far and wide. Despite widespread use, healthcare providers must take opportunities, when and where possible, to stay abreast of the latest details concerning advertising and its associated applications, increasing the likelihood of successful audience engagements. Discussion Maintaining an awareness of current developments in health services advertising can be facilitated by acquiring operational perspectives and practices from peer institutions. Most any healthcare provider can benefit from experiential views as they can shape and hone advertising approaches. Gaining such insights can be difficult, given competitive sensitivities, but occasionally healthcare institutions are compelled to share knowledge in published accounts, with this particular article following suit. Specifically, insights and experiences from Willis-Knighton Health System’s extensive and historic use of advertising are shared, bolstering the experiential accounts available in the literature and supplying operational guidance for health and medical providers. Conclusions Advertising, if well devised and deployed, offers healthcare providers opportunities to dramatically improve their fortunes by successfully engaging current and prospective patients, hastening exchange and building vital market share. In pursuit of advertising excellence, health and medical establishments can bolster associated endeavors by tapping into the experiences of other healthcare providers, permitting insights which might potentially be incorporated into communicative pathways. This account sheds light on the advertising operations of a major health system, supplying food for thought for the advancement of advertising acumen.