An effective PR and marketing communications program does not have to be cost prohibitive. If you employ the right methodologies, your company can conduct an effective marketing program at very reasonable costs. Careful planning and use of targeted, integrated resources are critical to the implementation of a cost-efficient marketing program. Your objectives should be:

• Increase your company’s name exposure on the web and in healthcare trade journals; therefore, building your company’s identity and expertise in the minds’ of potential prospects.
• Build the identity of your company’s brand names and your products’ capabilities in the minds’ of prospects.
• Produce sales leads

The first step is to develop your marketing message(s) with the most compelling value proposition statement(s) possible – what’s in it for your prospects. You must then put these messages into a series of cost-effective marketing communication activities/media. These marketing messages should be delivered on a carefully planned, ongoing basis, to your target audiences.

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The old adage: “It is more important to do the right things than doing the wrong things right,” makes perfect sense when applied to marketing planning and execution.

Many people working in healthcare marketing today continue to do the wrong things very well, because they execute without a well-developed plan, and — because they have always done things this way.

The first step is to set realistic objectives. Setting objectives entails working closely with key stakeholders — your executive and business development teams. As the chief marketing person, you need to be keenly aware of your company’s business goals. In most organizations, marketing doesn’t drive the company. The company’s business goals are usually set/driven by the CEO and the chief sales officer. You cannot set your objectives in a vacuum; you must have their input.

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There are many reasons to consider outsourcing some of your marketing and PR activities. Here are just a few:

• You can augment your present staff’s capabilities without hiring additional direct employees.
• You can accomplish your marketing and PR activities without the hassle and expense of hiring direct employees.
• You can hire very experienced talent at a fraction of the cost of hiring them directly.
• You get immediate healthcare industry expertise with very little training needed to get up to speed on your company’s technology niche.
• You pay no fringe benefits.
• You can cancel with a simple 60-day notice and you pay no unemployment benefits or separation package costs.
• Your payroll costs will be lower and more predictable.
• Your staff gains years of healthcare knowledge and expertise immediately.

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Customized market research and analysis can provide critical knowledge for your company’s success. Several companies provide general marketplace analytics for the healthcare IT industry. However, what most companies really need to be successful is customized market research. We help our clients discover what their customers and prospects believe to be their future IT needs. This is the kind of data you cannot get from canned analytics. We consult with our clients to find out what they want to know and from whom they want to know it; we then construct survey instruments — with our clients’ approval — that produce the data they are seeking. We handle all the client/prospect contacts and compile detail reports that will help you make informed decisions about future product direction and enhancements, your competitors’ true capabilities and other pieces of crucial marketplace business intelligence. If you need customized market research, contact River Bend Marketing.