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Building a Business Plan: Part 4 Changes in the healthcare system, such as the emergence of health savings accounts (which give healthcare consumers greater power to choose what type of treatment they want), and the growth in the popularity and use of complementary and alternative medicine offer DCs many new opportunities to market their services. However, it’s still important to do research (here’s where the external and internal assessments of your business plan come in handy) and plan well. Research shows that people filter and ignore large amounts of information; they have a tendency to ignore signals that contradict their preconceived notions. The ideal marketing approach exposes the potential patient to information, entices them to pay attention, and helps them to understand and retain the message. There are multiple marketing approaches available, and you should consider each in the context of your situation and your needs. For example, doctors of chiropractic can use marketing to successfully launch a practice, make inroads into new referral sources or tap further into an existing patient base. Marketing can also help develop brand identity – which links a doctor’s name and practice to a unique scope of services – helping to distinguish the practice from the rest of the marketplace and generate customer loyalty. Review the assessments of your practice strengths and weaknesses, and your potential patient base, conducted earlier in your business plan; this will help you to choose the most appropriate and effective approach for your marketing plan. It all comes down to the question: "Who do I fight for?" |
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| Determine Your Marketing Objectives When outlining your marketing objectives and strategies, be sure to explain the rationale behind your decisions. In addition, state goals and performance standards in measurable terms. For instance, your plan may include:  |
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Capturing a certain percentage of the market share; |
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Charting the percentage of growth (measured by the amount of services provided or new patient visits) against a time line; and |
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Outlining tasks to be performed by specific dates. |
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| Select the Target Market According to the logic behind target marketing, no single healthcare approach meets the wants and needs of all consumers. Typical healthcare consumers vary with respect to their preferences for treatment approaches and services. Messages won’t work if healthcare consumers aren’t open to them. Identifying your target market – the people who may be most interested in the type of services and care you provide – and tailoring your promotional message to that audience is the real key to success. As part of the process of identifying and selecting a target market for your marketing plan, be sure to do the following: |
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Identify what the potential patients in your target market want and/or need. |
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Identify what must be done to satisfy their wants and needs. |
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Determine the size of the target market and its growth potential. |
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| Develop the Marketing Mix Once you outline your objectives and select a target market, the next step is to figure out what exactly you are selling – your “marketing mix.” The marketing mix encompasses not only the type of care you provide but also the cost of your services and your office environment. All the things that set your office apart are important elements in establishing your brand identity as well as a potential competitive advantage. These may include office systems that maintain communication with patients even after treatment has ended (through, for example, birthday cards or newsletters), cater to potential patient concerns (perhaps with follow-up calls after the first adjustment) and generally give patients more value than they expect. Formulate a Promotional Mix Advertising is a paid form of communication about your services and can utilize all forms of mass media to deliver the message – newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the Internet. Public relations (PR) is simple publicity, a non-paid form of communication. The main difference from advertising is that in PR the message is placed in the media as part of the news, and not in a purchased advertisement. A doctor might generate publicity by volunteering his services at a charitable event, raising funds for a worthy cause, writing a health column for a local paper or being active in the community in some other way. Direct marketing and personal selling are both personal methods of communication with potential patients. Their goals are to provide information, generate requests for further information and persuade people to utilize your services. While a direct marketing appeal might be made via a post card or brochure mailed to a target market, personal selling involves simply communicating clinical competence in all settings and being able to address people’s questions about chiropractic as they arise. Using the appropriate media – in the right amounts and at the right time – to reach the right target market is the result of good planning. Timelines, costs and budget considerations will all play a part in your decision-making process. There are a variety of ways to determine how much money to invest in your marketing plan. Some of the most common approaches include calculating a percentage of total services, using a per-patient expenditure, matching the budget of the competition or applying the “all you can afford” method. Track Your Progress Marketing is a tool for growth. The ultimate goal of your business plan’s marketing program is to develop a competitive advantage for your practice. Your strategy should aim to attract patients to your office by offering a demonstrably better value than your competitors. |
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