Okay, you need to know up front that my hair is graying and I am a Baby Boomer – on the tail end of the demographic swath, but a Boomer all the same. I tell you this because I am going to complain about another comment I just read about on-line marketing. The writer was singing the virtues of in-bound marketing. And, there are many virtues, I agree! But, let’s not fall into the all or nothing trap.
Take hospital marketing as a tricky example. It is very important that hospitals have a significant on-line presence. I also think hospitals should be trying to develop community hubs on their websites and utilize a lot of what social media has to offer. But, an organization would be remiss if they did not integrate inbound and internet tactics with more traditional (yes, “old”) methods.
As I suggested…hospitals are tricky examples. Why? First, the “sales force” are typically physicians who operate their own small businesses (independent practices) and are not on the hospital’s payroll. Physicians guide their patients to particular services and particular hospitals. When a physician needs to send a patient somewhere, they don’t Google the service, they don’t use the Yellow Pages, they go where they have easy access and they go where they have a relationship. Yup, a relationship.
Developing that relationship with the physician starts during recruitment. But don’t let it stop there. There is a lot to be said and done in developing relationships that I will save for future posts. However, it is wise to use formal and informal mechanisms to work on that relationship development. And use both old and new methods to communicate. Just because the hospital recruited an excellent orthopedic surgeon after months of searching doesn’t mean your primary care physicians are even aware of the addition. And this is where using a variety of tools comes into play. Use your website, use formal direct mail announcements, send an email or a fax blast, set-up rounding opportunities, have a welcome event – do whatever it takes to make sure referral sources are aware of the good news and on the path of physician-to-physician relationship development. While Twitter can be one of the avenues for the announcement, don’t stop there. Don’t be caught up in the new thing that you neglect the old thing – or the thing that might get the message received.
