Healthcare Branding
What is branding?
Branding is how a company or individual creates, applies and maintains an identity that meets its business objectives. For example, the aim may be to generate a brand that will support patients to feel better.
The brands that stand out from the pack have an angle that is unique and compelling and creates a story into what it means to “feel better”.
The key to branding and will help you stand out in the market.
If we think about Apple as a brand, its identity is that of a premium product, with cutting edge design and modernity. When you think about the emotional experience associated with Apple, it’s one where “you get to be cool”.
Thinking about Fisiocrem as a brand, its identity is leading massage and pain relief gel for both athletes and everyday people. They promote that they have complete control of processing natural active ingredients, and physiotherapists, chiropractors, and massage therapists all use the gel. When you think about the emotional experience associated with Fisiocrem, it’s one where it “works to support body tissue repair and relieve mild joint and muscle inflammation”.
Can you think of other brands that compete with Apple and Fiocrem?
If so, what are your perceptions about these companies?
Benefits of branding
With the right branding, you can make it easier for people to find your practice and refer others.
When marketing your message, it can help focus on specific groups of patients who need what you have to offer. With a targeted approach, they will be more likely to remember you when the time comes for them to recommend you.
To get you started, here is a list of target markets:
- Over 60s
- Athletes
- Pregnant Women
To reach your target market, you need to know what type of person they are, determining what resources and tactics you use when marketing your practice.
- Over 60s – Might be living retirement villages, retirement homes
- Athletes – Gyms and sporting clubs that cater for athletes as well
Now, to reach these demographics, it can be easier to think about who you might know or other modalities they might attend locally to find them.
For example, suppose you are marketing to pregnant women and care about their health during pregnancy. In that case, it may be worth getting in touch with local childbirth educators or doulas who can help spread your message more effectively.
When it comes to SEO, how does this fit?
SEO has one objective-to rank in Google and drive traffic to your site.
If you have a solid targeted message, you may not get 1,000s of people flocking to your website, but what you will get is the correct type of people coming to your website.
The big takeaway I want you to understand is, the objective here is we want a higher number of patient enquiries from your website. And a strong brand message will ensure this.
Further Reading & Tools
- Here is an article I wrote that lists out questions we ask in our strategy sessions: https://localhealthmarketing.com.au/questions-before-website-redesign/
- Brand Personality Type Quiz: http://brandpersonalityquiz.com/
- The tone of voice generator: https://www.portent.com/tools/tone-of-voice-generator
Actionable Tasks
- Think about which patients you’ve enjoyed treating the most in the last few months.
- Jot down your ideas. Even happy for you to reply to this email with your thoughts.
- Take the brand personality quiz and tone of voice generator
- If you’re running a Google Ads account, update the copy of your ads and test whether the new targeted ad gets more clicks
- Update your website copy to include this more specific targeted content.
