As an increasing number of consumers are taking charge of their healthcare, our industry is undergoing a dramatic shift. In this patient-centric era, it’s critical for healthcare marketers to identify their audience and connect with them.
Here are five audience development steps every modern healthcare marketer should take:
Step 1: Put your audience first.
In today’s ever-evolving healthcare industry, it’s essential for marketers to take an audience first approach to everything they do. In other words, before you spend time and effort on your marketing strategy, you’ve got to figure out exactly who you’re attempting to target.
Step 2: Pinpoint your target.
Without a well-defined audience, all of your marketing efforts are completely arbitrary—which means you’ll end up wasting a ton of time and money. You might as well throw spaghetti at a wall to see what sticks.
This is why it’s crucial to home in on your desired audience and figure out what makes them tick. Determine who has the greatest need for your product or service and who is most likely to buy it. While it certainly takes time on the front-end to identify and study your target audience, the results will be well worth the extra effort.
Step 3: Analyze your current customers.
As you try to identify your target audience, consider your current customer base. Who are they and why do they buy from you? More than likely, if you seek out potential customers that share similar characteristics, you’ll find your target audience.
Step 4: Size up your competition.
One of the fastest ways to figure out your target audience is to check out your competitor’s customer base. Who are their current customers and who are they going after? Believe it or not, it’s probably not worth your time to go after the same audience. (Unless, of course, their current customers are clearly unsatisfied). Instead, you may be able to pinpoint a niche market that your competitors have overlooked.
Step 5: Get psyched.
Once you’ve found your target audience, it’s time to analyze their psychographics. These are the personal characteristics of a person or group, including values, lifestyle, behavior, interests and attitudes. Figure out how your healthcare product or service will fit into your target’s unique lifestyle or solve a problem for them. Also consider how this particular audience gathers information—whether it’s social media, television, print or some other format. Then, find creative ways to connect with them through that platform.
In today’s healthcare marketing world, it’s crucial to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. But before you can make that connection, you’ve got to find your audience. These five steps will help you develop your audience so you can connect with them organically.