Print's persistence in healthcare marketing
Hospital print marketing campaigns deliver real value, even in a world dominated by digital techniques. Find out why.
Your healthcare marketing budget is tight, and you've been asked to account for every dollar you spend. Should your hospital print marketing program be on the chopping block? Isn't print marketing going the way of payphones and typewriters?
Not exactly.
Print remains a powerhouse for healthcare outreach. In fact, print products could be just the tools you need to reach key decision-makers in your community.
Need a little convincing? Here are five reasons that print persists as a viable hospital marketing solution.
1. Printed pieces remain visible.
Hospital newsletters, disease-management newsletters and other healthcare printed outreach pieces are public. Digital outreach methods, although effective, are only visible to one consumer at a time, on a person's phone or computer screen. Printed pieces, on the other hand, are "out there" for everyone in one location to read, no matter who they're addressed to. And, they can sit on coffee tables or bookshelves in a doctor's office or in patients' homes for months after they're received.
Why does that matter? Because anyone who sees that piece can pick it up and start reading. Something can catch the eye, and that reader may be intrigued and want to learn more. That means your one piece could reach more than one person at a time.
2. Print can be targeted.
Looking for a way to reach a small subset of readers who all share something in common? Print works wonders here. Grab a list of readers who all have the same medical diagnosis, and send them a publication to help them manage that condition. Or, be choosy in selecting a rented mailing list, and reach out to a very specific group of readers who have never used your services before.
Targeted campaigns like this can be extremely effective when they're delivered to a reader's mailbox. Your readers may think: "This was sent to me for a reason and I want to look at it and see why. I want to see what's in it for me."
3. Printed content stands out.
Mail is personal. It comes into your home, and your readers must physically interact with the piece you send. That makes print outreach "sticky" and hard to ignore. It's there for your readers to interact with in their own space on their own time.
4. When done right, printed pieces are read in full.
People read print and digital content differently. When readers are online, they skim, looking for key bits of information. In print, that skimming urge is lessened. People tend to read in a more focused manner—and that gives you the opportunity to discuss an idea thoroughly.
5. Print and digital can work together.
Even though your key message might be the same in your print and digital outreach programs, your readers, the way they read and where they are while reading might all be different. Combining your print and digital campaigns gives you the opportunity to present a key message in a few different ways. And that could give your message an added power it might not have, if it was presented on just one channel.
Making hospital print marketing work for you
We've been in the print healthcare marketing business for decades. We know just how to design a piece that gets results, and we know how to meld print and digital campaigns together. We'd love to tell you more about what we can do. Contact us and let's get started.
