Lori Moore

Healthcare Marketing: Social Media or Traditional Media? The Answer is “YES”

Pepsi committed to a heavy investment in social media and they not only lost ground to Coke, they fell to third place behind Diet Coke.

Coke or Pepsi?  That is an age-old question.  The battle between the two soft drinks has been the longest running and, at times, the most competitive marketing battle in the history of branding.  And last year the battle took an interesting turn.

Pepsi announced that after 10 years they were dropping their investment in the Super Bowl and were putting half their budget into social media.   The strategy was their Pepsi Refresh Project.   They committed to Facebook, Twitter, live Ustream video and iPhone apps and encouraged consumers to suggest social causes that would “refresh the world”.  Using social media, consumers could vote for their favorite causes and Pepsi would donate millions to the ones chosen and use social media to promote the positive impact of those donations.  Traditional media was used to promote the social media effort.

Mark Ritson recorded the results for Marketing Week  and they were impressive.

Eighty million votes were cast; Pepsi accumulated 60,000 followers on Twitter and 4 million “likes” on Facebook.  In contrast Coke stayed with traditional media and advertised in the Super Bowl and on American Idol.

Great success right?  Well after all the conversation about Pepsi’s revolutionary marketing approach, Pepsi’s sales began to decline.  And Coke’s didn’t.  Pepsi lost 5% market share which translated into a decline of a half billion dollars in sales.  And perhaps for the first time in history, Pepsi gave up the number two position and fell behind Diet Coke. 

So what does this mean for healthcare marketers?  Does it mean social media is worthless?  No.  There are far too many social media successes to make such a conclusion.  But I think it does mean the advantages of social media have been significantly exaggerated.  And it also means traditional media is not dead.

Social media is a tool, a very useful one – in a brand’s integrated marketing mix. It should be considered, and in many instances, part of the marketing mix.  But social media is not the ONLY real thing.


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Healthcare Marketing: Don’t Let the Volume of the Patient’s Voice Drown Out Yours

Although consumers have a louder voice than ever before, make no mistake about it, you still own and control your brand.  Marketers are still responsible for the brand’s narrative.   

“The consumer is now in control.”  You hear it often.  You’ve probably read it in some of my blogs.  But is it ultimately true?  Yes consumers have a louder voice.  Yes consumers have new and expanded ways to exert their influence on a brand.  But ultimately brands still control themselves.  And we must not forget that.

Look at some of the ways consumers can now influence a brand:

  • DVRs allow consumers to skip past television commercials
  • Use of social media to critique or criticize a brand
  • Provide content and produce ads for brands
  • The myriad of opportunities to give input and suggestions to brands
  • The many avenues available to hold brands’ feet to the fire and make them accountable.

So it is true, consumers can now influence brands in ways never before available.  And that’s probably a good thing.  But that doesn’t give them ultimate control.  It just requires brand managers and companies to be more responsible and more diligent.

True consumers can use DVRs to skip commercials but they have always had that right.  No advertiser has ever been able to force a consumer to see or watch or hear it ads.  It’s still incumbent on advertisers to attract and hold the attention of consumers to see and hear its messages.

Groupon saw and felt the backlash for it’s ill-advised Super Bowl spots.  The company was forced to pull the ad and apologize.  But is that an example of consumer control or thoughtlessness by the brand?

Consumers can now create content for brands.  Many brands are soliciting consumer assistance with the content of their advertising.  But would anyone just laud the brand building power of consumer directed spots for Doritos and Pepsi in recent years?  If consumers now have control of the brand, it’s because brands have given it over to them.

And some would point to consumer reaction to Gap’s effort to modernize its logo only to repeal its efforts at the appearance of consumer complaint in social media.  But was their backpedaling justified?  Only a very some percentage of GAP customers weighed in on the issue.  I contend the vast majority of their customers didn’t care.  And compare that to the Sci-Fi channel that would endure widespread disapproval when they changed their name to Syfi.  But the network did not waver and as result, now the network is setting new levels of viewership and success.

True, consumers have more voice.  A louder voice.  But that is no excuse for a marketer to give up control of its brand.  It requires more work, more accountability, more thoughtfulness and more discernment.  But the brand is still responsible for itself.   It’s a cop-out to concede ultimate control to the consumer.  Sure brands should react and respond to the needs and desires of consumers.  And letting consumers have input is essential in today’s marketplace (as if it hasn’t been before).  Ultimate control however still rests with the brand.

Mike Wolfsohn, Chief Creative Officer at High Wide and Handsome , contributed an article on this topic recently in Ad Age   and stated, “It’s critical to distinguish a consumer’s increased ability to amplify a brand’s successes and failures from his or her actual control over the story a brand tells.  In the purest sense, consumers have always wielded immense influence with their wallet.  That their votes are now cast on public websites long before the ballots are counted on confidential P&Ls only makes it easier for marketers to react more quickly.”  

For healthcare marketers, as well as all marketers, we still control our brand.   Yes it requires more work to shepherd a brand in a more complex media environment, but it is still within our control.  Unless we choose to give that control away.  But we must not.  Now more that ever, we should seek consumer input, listen to their leanings and use that information to have even more control over our brands than we have ever had before.


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Hospital Marketing: Word of a Bad Patient Experience Travels Fast…

Bad news travels fast… How fast? Who is most likely to talk negatively about your brand?

There is a renewed emphasis in healthcare today on patient experience.  And there should be!  Because if a person has a bad experience at a hospital, they will most likely spread the word.  Over 75% of consumers tell about bad experiences to their family and friends.  Certainly more than the 42% who would recommend a product or service they really like.  This according to LoyaltyOne’s COLLOQUY report.

The study also found that even 31% of loyal advocates of a brand would pass along information concerning bad experiences they’ve had with that brand.   “One lesson is clear, hell hath no fury like a Champion scorned,” stated COLLOQUY managing partner Kelly Hiavinka.  News about bad experiences travels and travels fast.  In fact, less than one-fourth of all bad experiences are kept quiet.  Affluents are more likely to spread the bad news than any other group.  Seniors are the least likely.  Young adults and women are strong spreaders as well.

There’s just little chance a bad experience won’t make the rounds.  So each bad experience is multiplied.  And a series of bad experiences can certainly damage a hospital’s image and reputation.  And note that it takes many more positive experiences to make up for the bad ones.

Marketing of your hospital is essential.  And very useful.  But it can’t make up for bad experiences.  And the consumer has so many avenues to share the bad news.  It’s not just word of mouth anymore; it’s all the conversations in social media that can quickly spread the unhappy news about a brand.  Hundreds or even thousands of others can read one bad word on a social networking site.   Much more than just a casual conversation with friends or acquaintances.

So the best thing a hospital can do for its brand is minimize the bad experiences. Even in healthcare, customer service is essential to a brand’s health.  A hospital can have the latest technology, the best doctors and the finest facilities, but if it delivers bad service the brand will suffer.  It will create a chain of conversation that will be difficult to counter and overcome.  Today’s emphasis on customer service and customer satisfaction is certainly well placed.

 

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Healthcare Marketing: Social Media Rule One – Start Small

Success in social media is not necessarily having a complex social media strategy with multiple tactics – but it’s doing ONE thing well.

The pressure is on.  Social media is here and here to stay.  It is a new way of doing business and if you are not doing it, you are behind.  And there are so many things to do. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, YouTube and viral marketing just for starters.  And as healthcare marketers we need to be engaged in all of these to be successful.  At least that’s what we are led to believe.

But the fact is that each of these social networking options requires time and effort but few of us have a larger staff or more resources.   Healthcare marketers still have all the responsibilities they’ve always had…and more – in most cases.  And social marketing requires time.  So we are left overwhelmed and confused.  We feel the pressure to become engaged but how do we get it all done?

A bit of advice is to relax a little.  And start small.  It’s impossible to do everything at once.  Even more impossible to do all of them well.  And still keep up with your other important responsibilities.   We all have the long list of things to do and the daunting task of getting them accomplished.  And that list includes multiple social media tactics. But maybe this is the wrong approach.  Perhaps the best thing to do is to start with one thing and do it well.

Brian Sheehan, associate professor of advertising at the Newhouse School Syracuse University gave this advice in a recent article in Ad Age, “since most companies have no new people, just do one thing.  And then do it really well. Once you have mastered this, then – and only then—think about doing a second social media program.”  Forget about the list of 10 things to do to be successful in social media or the seven steps in mastering social media.  For most healthcare organizations that’s totally impractical because it will lead to either paralyzation, because you can’t get it done, or a very weak effort, because you are spread too thin.

Social media is about engaging consumers in meaningful conversations.  That’s it!  And if you do a really good job of that, social networking can be very effective.  And if you don’t do it well, you are better off not doing social media at all.  If we are trying to do too much, more than we can handle, it will not be successful.

Choose what you think would work best for your organization.  The thing you think would engage your audience and best meets the needs of your organization.  The one thing that has the best chance of success.   Choose one thing and do it as well as you can. So let’s get started.  But keep it simple.  Keep it small. Do one thing and do it well.  And if you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all.

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Healthcare Marketing: To Reach Moms We Have to Get Smart…Phones That Is

Becoming a mom triggers more dependence on smart phones. 

 A young woman has a baby.  And gets a smartphone.   That desk computer or laptop is pretty hard to manage with a baby on your hip.  And especially if you have two or three children.  But staying connected and having access is even more important.  Sharing those pictures and daily baby updates with family and friends is certainly essential.  So what do you do?  You get an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or other smartphone…  Or maybe an iPad.

A recent study by Babycenter cited research that states over half of new moms purchase a smartphone as a direct result of becoming a mom. The camera is a necessity as well as apps for getting things done and staying organized, social sites to stay connected to friends and family, and games to keep the kids entertained.   In fact, a study by Morgan Stanley estimates that in 2011 there will be more smartphones and tablets shipped than notebooks and desktops.

So for healthcare marketers, reaching moms should include a mobile strategy.    “If you are not reaching them through their mobile device, you have less and less chance to reach them at all,” according to Matt Carmichael in a recent article in Advertising Age.  And the study by BabyCenter also indicated there was a sizeable correlation between having a smartphone and moving toward a more digital mix of media consumption.  Forty-six percent of moms with smartphones have taken some form of action after seeing an ad on their mobile device.  And as reported in the Ad Age article, on average, moms with smartphones spend over 6 hours a day with mobile media, which includes email, mobile, web, apps, SMS and voice messaging.

Few hospitals have a well-defined mobile strategy or have even experimented with mobile marketing.  But in the future, it may become necessary for reaching moms. Moms are a key target for hospitals. They are the gatekeeper for their family’s healthcare and control an enormous amount of healthcare dollars.  Mobile is where they are.  It is the communication device they depend on.  It goes with them, stays with them, is the most convenient and fits into their hurried lifestyle. To build a brand and a relationship with them will mean having a mobile strategy. To reach them, we have to get smart too.

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Healthcare Marketing: Television Having a “Senior Moment”

Television is now targeting older adults with its programming.  And is the place to reach aging baby boomers.    

For years television programming has been directed to the coveted 18-49 year olds.  They were the ones most likely to buy products and switch brands.  But that has changed in the land of television watching. The 80 million baby boomers are aging out of this demographic with the oldest ones turning 65 and the youngest ones reaching 47.  And this group is the segment of the market that has money and is willing to spend it on everything from cars to technology to vacations,  unlike other previous aging generations who decreased their spending as they got older.

Look at today’s primetime lineup with shows starring older actors like Tom Selleck, Kathy Bates and Mark Harmon.  And the inclusion of Steven Tyler as an Idol judge.   And older leading stars on House and Modern Family.  The networks are really catering to an older audience.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Amy Chozich cites that boomers average watching 170 hours of television per month, which is five to six hours per day, compared to the overall average of four hours and 49 minutes.  The average age for “NCIS” (the number one rated drama) is 57.  And viewers 55+ make up over 60% of the viewers for “The Good Wife” and “Dancing With The Stars.”

So what does this mean to healthcare marketers?  It means television is a very viable medium for reaching our target audiences.  We know the heaviest users of healthcare services are those who are older.  Boomers are a huge share of the market for hospitals and they will continue to be.  And television effectively reaches them.

Although there has been much talk about the demise of television and competition for screen time from other sources, for reaching healthcare’s largest audience, television is one of the mediums of choice. Sure television’s audience is fragmented but that is actually an advantage because it allows for even more specific targeting.

Seniors and boomers are our largest market.  And in front of television screen is where you will find them.  Boomers are indeed “the TV generation”.   And as they age, television programming is aging with them.

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Healthcare Marketing: The Future of Social Media for Brands May be in Question

 Only 6% of Facebook users ages 14-17 want to be friends with brands. 

Healthcare marketers are beginning to gear up and participate more fully in social media.  And they should.  There are now over 500 million Facebook users.  And those users are spending increasingly more time on the social networking site.

So it only makes sense that healthcare marketers are being called upon to be more active in social media, more proactive, more engaging.  More and more brands are seeing success utilizing social media.

But there could be concern about the long-term effectiveness of social media for healthcare brands.  A recent study by Forrester  evaluated attitudes of young people toward brands using social media and it did not brood so well for brands.  Only 6% of those 14-17 wanted to be friends with brands on Facebook.   And with those 18-24 the percentage is only 12%.

And perhaps even more alarming, almost half of 14-17 year olds don’t think brands should be allowed on Facebook.  Although 74% of them talk about brands on Facebook with their friends, only 16% expect brands to interact with them.

So what does this mean?  It could mean very little if attitudes change in consumers as they age.  Perhaps these young people will eventually accept the use of social media by brands and social networking will continue to be a powerful tool for marketing a brand.  However, if their attitudes do not change, the effectiveness of social media for brands could be very limited in the future.

Who knows what the future will hold?  It will be interesting to watch.  But there are two points to embrace today.  The first is that many of our patients and prospects are active on social media sites and are willing to have relationships with brands.  Therefore we should be engaged and build relationships.  The second point is that all brands have a responsibility to understand social media is about relationships and a brand’s role in this arena is to provide useful and meaningful information and interaction.  By doing so, we build credibility for our brand through social media and earn the respect of users of the medium. Not only is the future of brands ‘ use of social media at stake, the effectiveness and acceptance of brands on social networking sites today is in play. 


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Healthcare Marketing: Hospital Facebook Pages Passing the Test?

Most hospitals use Facebook very passively and therefore are failing to take advantage of the opportunities the social media provides. 

Ed Bennett, a social media resource for healthcare marketers, keeps a running tab on how many hospitals are active in social media, states that over 900 hospitals mange social networking sites.  And the numbers continue to climb.  However, a recent study indicates that of the 700 hospitals that have Facebook sites few are effectively using the medium.

Verasoni Ah Ha! Insights, a research arm of Verasoni Worldwide,  and the business-consulting firm Simon Associates Management Consultants  conducted a study of hospitals’ use of Facebook and found the effort to be woefully lacking.  The study examined the Facebook activity of 120 hospitals of various sizes and types in 50 states.

Here is a review of some of the findings:

         63% had no unsolicited feedback or questions on their pages

         Fewer than 40% of hospitals posted daily

         Only 5% used the wall to post upcoming events

         80% had no discussions on their discussion board pages

         58% did not allow members to share photos on their Facebook page

         Only 49 hospitals (40%) uploaded video directly onto their Facebook page

         92% did not integrate traditional advertising into social media

         Most hospitals (86% or 104) did not integrate blogs into their Facebook presence

         70% of hospitals had fewer than 1,000 likers/members

         Only 10 hospitals integrated Twitter into Facebook

         90 hospitals (75%) did not integrate their clinical services into Facebook

It’s apparent hospitals are not using their Facebook pages to engage patients and build relationships. Although Facebook can be a very effective tool to engage patients and enhance its brand it requires attention, creativity and work.

Some hospital marketers don’t understand social media.  Some marketers (or their administrators) are afraid of it.  And many just do not have the time resources necessary to utilize it effectively.

So it really doesn’t matter if the number Ed Bennett cites continues to rise.  That may not be a real indication of the effective adoption of social media.  Just to put up a Facebook page or tweet a message or write a blog doesn’t make a hospital successful in social media.  It seems many healthcare marketers have established a presence in social media but are not yet committed to tapping its power and potential.  Thus they are not passing the real social engagement test.


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Healthcare Marketing: 1 in 5 Use Social Media to Make Healthcare Decisions
Americans are using social media to gather information about their healthcare. 1 in 5 persons in a recent survey, confirmed they use social media to influence their healthcare decisions.
This according to research conducted by National Research Corporation of more than 23,000 Americans – the largest, most current research on the subject.
Summary of the findings:
  • 94% of the respondents said they had used Facebook as a source to gather information on their healthcare.
  • 32% had used YouTube as a healthcare information source.
  • Twitter came in third – tying with MySpace for 18% of respondents.
  • Location-based website FourSquare received a 2 percent response.

Additional findings:

  • 1 in 4 respondents said social media was “very likely” or “likely” to influence their healthcare decisions.
  • 32% said their trust level in social media was “very high” or “high”.
  • Only 7.5% said their trust level in social media was “very low”.

While consumers think highly of using social media as a source of healthcare information, it is not the premiere source however when considering all options. Fifty percent of the respondents replied that healthcare provider websites are the preferred source of online healthcare information.

Results of the study also provided insight into who is using social media for healthcare information. They are affluent and young – with the average age 41 and household income of $75k plus.

As healthcare marketers this provides current, up to date evidence that in order to be influential in patients’ healthcare decisions, we must be present in their world.

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Healthcare Marketing: Are We Taking Ourselves Too Seriously?

Some of the great advertising of the past would never pass muster today.  

I know in healthcare marketing we rarely get to be funny.  And certainly not edgy.  Maybe clever at times.  And sometimes cute.  But never outrageous.  So this is not written to healthcare marketers who almost always have to err on the side of safety.

But two recent incidents lately have really made me think we are living in a world that is far too sensitive.  And because of it, we have to be bland to be widely accepted and approved.  Now I don’t believe we should be insensitive.  But sometimes criticism of advertising just goes too far.  At least that’s my opinion.

There are many examples that could be sighted but here are two recent ones.  Diet Pepsi introduced a new “skinny can” during Fashion Week in New York.  The new can is tall and skinny.  From a marketing perspective it seemed very appropriate for a diet drink.  But apparently I’m wrong.  Critics have strongly chastised Pepsi for reinforcing dangerous stereotypes that women must resemble beanpoles to be attractive.  Now I agree that a woman doesn’t need to be skinny to be attractive.  And to promote such an idea is wrong.  But packaging a diet drink in a skinny can is over the line?  Isn’t it just good marketing?

The other example I will cite is an ad for the New Zealand Police Department.  They needed to attract young recruits to the force.  And an advertising agency came up with an all type ad with this head, “We’ve Got a Lot in Common With Cougars.  We Like ‘Em Young Too.”   An ad that very cleverly makes a singular point. A message that would be sure to resonate with the target. But it received heavy criticism and has been banned.  Now I admit the ad is provocative.  But it’s also clever and effective.  Is this over the line too?  Can we not be clever anymore? Can we not use commonly used slang words from our culture in our advertising?

Maybe I’m all wrong but I still believe clever, funny advertising is good.  I readily admit that sometimes, advertisers do go over the line.  Sometimes ads are harsh, rude and inappropriate.  But it seems special interest groups are drawing that line way too close to boring and bland.  There is no longer room for good marketing savvy.

It makes me think that many of the great ad campaigns of the past would receive heavy criticism today, as they would be interpreted in light of people’s colored glasses and extreme sensitivities.  I never want to be vulgar or create anything I wouldn’t want my children to be exposed to.  I never want to be insensitive to groups of people.  But I still want to create advertising that cuts through the clutter, that communicates, that makes someone notice. And yeah even makes them laugh sometimes.


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