Marketing at Two Altitudes: Balancing Short-Term Promotion and Long-Term Branding in Health Care Marketing
A clear strategy gives you direction for where to invest scarce resources.
// By Matt Cyr //
In the dynamic landscape of health care, marketers face a pivotal choice: Should we invest in our brand or our business?
If you put it in simple terms like this, the answer is: both. Marketers need to allocate resources to promote services while building enduring brand visibility.
But health care marketers often struggle with how to come up with the right balance between investing in brand awareness and program-specific marketing. The answer isn’t easy or obvious.
On one hand, as a marketer you understand the value of building brand awareness. On the other hand, you are increasingly being asked to do more with less — and prove return on investment in marketing.
This article explores the short-term versus long-term dilemma in health care marketing and proposes a strategic blend that encompasses targeted promotion of specific health care services alongside efforts to establish and reinforce the health care brand.