There are many different ways to communicate a message to a patient or prospective patient. I find the most successful messages are those that resonate with your consumer. North Carolina based hospital system, Wake Med, is doing just that through their radio and print campaigns. Each ad tells the personal story of a patient and how the hospital made a difference in their life. The story is then continued on the hospitals website. The story piques the consumers interest and this emotional response drives them to take the time to visit their website to find out how the story ends. The increased web traffic helps with search engine ranking and helps consumers become better aware of the scope of services offered at this hospital system. Brilliant!
I have had great success using similar methods when promoting medical practices. I am currently working with an endoscopy client promoting colon cancer screening. We are having great success reaching out to both the community and the media with compelling and thought provoking statistics as well as real life stories. By telling a story, you bring consumers full circle and then, when done properly, motivate them to take the step you ask. This enhances consumer awareness, heightens an emotional connection with the facility and will lead to increased revenue. Knowing when and how to use emotional marketing is important as the consumer must be open to what you are communicating to be effective. Choose how each marketing campaign will be used wisely and then promote it to the fullest.
How do you know if you are emotionally connecting with your consumers? Ask yourself a few questions. Does my campaign elicit an emotional response in me? Does it provide a specific call to action? Does the message incentivize the consumer to act? In marketing, it is always wise to put yourself in your consumers shoes to see if the message fits. What works today, may not work tomorrow.
If your messages are not creating growth for your practice, give MindStream Creative a call at (888) 324-5559. We would be honored to help!