Where Health Care Marketers Should Focus in 2021
// By Danny Fell //
Marketers can help their organizations thrive in an increasingly competitive environment by introducing creative “outside the box” approaches that will help accelerate change.
Coming off an incredibly challenging 2020, health care marketers face a potentially rocky start to the new year. Positive factors, like revolutionary new COVID-19 vaccines, are coming up against the ongoing reality of a pandemic that is still very much with us across many parts of the country. The former offers a unique opportunity to engage consumers in the community and bring the pandemic closer to an end. But the latter will still threaten to prolong hospitals’ efforts to restore normal operations and convince concerned patients to return to in-person care settings.
Despite a likely unpredictable first half of 2021, strategists and marketing professionals can continue to help organizations survive and prepare for better days ahead. Here are six strategies you should think about now to make the most of the year ahead.
1. Leverage the vaccine rollout as part of a larger community health positioning.
Despite organizations putting more emphasis on population health and community wellness in recent years, research shows many still view health systems as a place for treatment, rather than prevention and support. One silver lining of the pandemic may be the role hospitals and health systems secured in the community as both providers and champions for community health. For many people, the pandemic has reminded them of the vital role health systems play in public health — and brands that leverage this fact will benefit from the halo effect.