Top Five Steps to Creating a Targeted List of Hospitals
Professional changes can happen quickly in the hospital sector, so it is vital that healthcare marketers keep up with these changes by using a quality hospital database and implementing smart marketing strategies to maximize the list.
A list of hospitals is ideal for marketing and advertising efforts for CME programs, association memberships, catalogs, diagnostic equipment, gifts, healthcare products and equipment, software and hardware, hospital-marketing programs, publications, and recruitment and training programs, seminars and videos.
Hospital job turnover averages about 18 percent a year, according to research from SK&A, A Cegedim Company, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research. This means that healthcare marketers need marketing lists that are maintained on an ongoing basis. Read on to find out the top five steps to creating a targeted list of hospitals.
1. Research the Hospital Database Audience
Understanding the healthcare product or service that is to be marketed is only the first step in effective marketing. Aligning product and service benefits with the appropriate hospital practitioner is the real task. This means that appropriate research on the hospital setting and its departments must be done to identify what individuals make decisions for what products and services. Sometimes the marketer must conduct primary research, but many times, it will be necessary to consult a salesperson or expert from a trusted healthcare data company to decide which decision makers the list of hospitals must include in order to be successful.
2. Partner with a Quality Hospital Database Provider
Deciding on a hospital data provider that will maximize the campaign can be difficult. It is important to do thorough research and find a company that understands the hospital market. Talk to healthcare data providers and ask questions about the types of lists they have, how they can be segmented and what measures they take to ensure quality. Many providers claim their databases are "updated," but look for a company that specifies that it telephone-verifies its list of hospitals at least every six months. Hospital lists that are telephone-verified by a live team of U.S.-based researchers will bring the best results. Also make sure the healthcare provider offers a 90- to 100-percent guarantee on the data. This is relatively standard with quality healthcare mailing lists.
3. Customize the List of Hospitals to Address Only the Best Prospects
Trying to reach a large blanket list of hospital decision makers will be a waste of the campaign's budget. Analyze the list of hospital job titles available from the healthcare data company. Learn exactly which staff members handle the purchases related to the product or service at hand. That way, decision makers who would not be interested in the offer will be dropped from the list. A hospital database can be built using various selects including hospital specialty type, number of beds, treatment types and program, and more.
4. Choose a Marketing Channel to Maximize the List of Hospitals
When conducting research about the hospital list decision makers, consider the best channel of communication for the campaign. The marketing channel will be dependent on the campaign's offer, budget and timeframe. Locating decision makers at hospitals can be tricky since there are so many departments. This is why it is important to define the exact departments and job titles for targets in the hospital database. Hospital department fax numbers and hospital business email addresses are very direct channels of reaching decision makers.
5. Personalize the Hospital Database Message
Once the list of hospitals has been carefully selected and the marketing channel has been decided upon, writing and designing the marketing creative is the final step. One general message that does not address each segment of the audience will not be as dynamic and successful as a targeted message. Within the creative, try to address the hospital decision maker by his or her name, title, specialty or hospital site type. This will make the message more relevant to the reader, which will encourage him or her to act.
A list of hospitals is ideal for marketing and advertising efforts for CME programs, association memberships, catalogs, diagnostic equipment, gifts, healthcare products and equipment, software and hardware, hospital-marketing programs, publications, and recruitment and training programs, seminars and videos.
Hospital job turnover averages about 18 percent a year, according to research from SK&A, A Cegedim Company, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research. This means that healthcare marketers need marketing lists that are maintained on an ongoing basis. Read on to find out the top five steps to creating a targeted list of hospitals.
1. Research the Hospital Database Audience
Understanding the healthcare product or service that is to be marketed is only the first step in effective marketing. Aligning product and service benefits with the appropriate hospital practitioner is the real task. This means that appropriate research on the hospital setting and its departments must be done to identify what individuals make decisions for what products and services. Sometimes the marketer must conduct primary research, but many times, it will be necessary to consult a salesperson or expert from a trusted healthcare data company to decide which decision makers the list of hospitals must include in order to be successful.
2. Partner with a Quality Hospital Database Provider
Deciding on a hospital data provider that will maximize the campaign can be difficult. It is important to do thorough research and find a company that understands the hospital market. Talk to healthcare data providers and ask questions about the types of lists they have, how they can be segmented and what measures they take to ensure quality. Many providers claim their databases are "updated," but look for a company that specifies that it telephone-verifies its list of hospitals at least every six months. Hospital lists that are telephone-verified by a live team of U.S.-based researchers will bring the best results. Also make sure the healthcare provider offers a 90- to 100-percent guarantee on the data. This is relatively standard with quality healthcare mailing lists.
3. Customize the List of Hospitals to Address Only the Best Prospects
Trying to reach a large blanket list of hospital decision makers will be a waste of the campaign's budget. Analyze the list of hospital job titles available from the healthcare data company. Learn exactly which staff members handle the purchases related to the product or service at hand. That way, decision makers who would not be interested in the offer will be dropped from the list. A hospital database can be built using various selects including hospital specialty type, number of beds, treatment types and program, and more.
4. Choose a Marketing Channel to Maximize the List of Hospitals
When conducting research about the hospital list decision makers, consider the best channel of communication for the campaign. The marketing channel will be dependent on the campaign's offer, budget and timeframe. Locating decision makers at hospitals can be tricky since there are so many departments. This is why it is important to define the exact departments and job titles for targets in the hospital database. Hospital department fax numbers and hospital business email addresses are very direct channels of reaching decision makers.
5. Personalize the Hospital Database Message
Once the list of hospitals has been carefully selected and the marketing channel has been decided upon, writing and designing the marketing creative is the final step. One general message that does not address each segment of the audience will not be as dynamic and successful as a targeted message. Within the creative, try to address the hospital decision maker by his or her name, title, specialty or hospital site type. This will make the message more relevant to the reader, which will encourage him or her to act.
