Elevate Healthcare Marketing with Print

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Elevate Healthcare Marketing with Print," underscores the integral role print accomplishes for healthcare marketing amid the pandemic.  It is understood that most industries are using digital destinations for marketing goals and objectives.  While strategies and tactics continue to evolve, some brands are investing heavily in digital marketing.  Healthcare is undoubtedly among those industry sectors that have leveraged digital marketing.  With the advent of more people online, internet traffic has slowed due to the number of people accessing social media, email, videos, blogs, and search. That said, digital marketing teams are reporting that they believe many of their targeted users are not seeing their digital ads.  The digital rush, in turn, causes marketing teams to consider either spending more on digital or finding a supporting medium that can direct or redirect consumers to the brand's sales offer destination.  Enter print, the almost forgotten medium that provides the highest engagement and response rates above all mediums, including video. 

Notwithstanding, we do acknowledge that video currently provides the highest conversion rates.  Conversely, print marketing is considered the highest trustworthy medium among all mediums.  Consequently, most marketers regularly will pair the two mediums.  They realize the benefits of a two-pronged print and digital strategy for various industries.  The dynamic duo, print and digital, offer an optimal marketing ideology that vastly improves personalized content and delivers higher response and engagement results.  The bottom line:

• A digital-only marketing strategy will produce a lower response and engagement rate per 100,000.
• A print-only marketing strategy will produce a higher engagement rate and increase trust per 100,000 but will need to direct recipients to a digital location for purchasing conversions.
• A print-and-digital marketing strategy will produce the highest rates of engagement, response, conversion, and trustworthiness.


The Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the healthcare marketing paradigm.  The ACA injected direct-to-consumer marketing, including the use of digital channels. That new healthcare marketing model demands better personalization, whether for selling medical services or health insurance.  As a result of the ACA marketing impacts, healthcare premiums and insurance offerings are now more complex than ever.  With more consumer options on the table, it's safe to assume marketers' challenges have increased, and they must do more with less. That's where print healthcare marketing can help to level the competitive field.

Quote of the Day: "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."
– Mahatma Gandhi


Healthcare Industry Marketing Challenges

This consumer-centric environment has placed healthcare delivery challenges at the forefront of a marketers' ability to target better.  This is especially true in the wake of new medical technologies and treatments brought to bear due to the pandemic.  Marketers who use print marketing can add real value by adding deep personalization and the ability to target recipients through a host of demographic and psychographic data created for an individual, a group, an ethnicity, a location, and more, all in a single run.

In addition, the healthcare industry remains under tremendous pressure to manage pandemic-related illnesses while managing ongoing health-related issues, including diseases, emergencies, elective events, along with ongoing research, discovery, and innovations.  These occurrences are simultaneously afoot, necessitating continual up-to-date communications for all customers, stakeholders, and prospects.  Keep in mind that the new Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the US, with hospitalization numbers rising to emergency levels and ICU beds reaching "unavailable" status for many hospitals.

While business will carry on for the foreseeable future, it may be necessary to prepare for yet another lockdown, making it very challenging for companies to operate as though the pandemic is under control.  Again, print marketing will take center stage to reach consumers who may resort to stay-at-home practices. 

 We are all aware that there are various tactics and strategies available for marketing and advertising.  That said, it's essential to keep in mind that many medical concerns and insurance providers are looking to attract new customers with their offerings.  Whether solo private practices, hospitals, urgent care centers, specialists, or other medical and insurance providers, all entities must manage limited marketing dollars to achieve effective targeting results.



Print Marketing


Most marketers and brands are aware that print marketing is on the upswing.  They may also be mindful that print uplifts digital response and engagement rates.  In this context, print marketing includes newspapers, magazines, direct mail, transactional documents, direct-to-consumer, circulars, inserts, books, and so forth.  Healthcare marketers can expand their reach when using a niche strategy for targeted marketing messages.  It is also critical to understand that every medium continues to market its offerings to every household, zip code, region, city, and multiple geographical zones.  Healthcare providers can place print collateral in periodicals, specialty magazines, and local newspapers to reach demographically sensitive targets.  Digitally printed marketing materials often can excel at targeting specific demographics.  This marketing form can contain content meant to influence or convert a specialist, a medical facility, or something as bane as scheduling appointments. 



Further, print marketing also makes a case for delivering documented changes in healthcare procedures, treatments, insurance, communique, and community announcements.  Now that print is digital, technological advancements allow one to create content for a single person, group, or region, depending on what is necessary. In this case, variable data printing, aka variable digital printing, or VDP, enables you to target the recipient with various attributes. 



Digital Channels 


The digital channels are the go-to default marketing platforms that provide quick access and tracking.  The healthcare industry has and will continue to take advantage of the online universe.  Due to the pandemic, more online traffic has emerged, and with people sheltering in place, online marketing initiatives have a captive albeit distracted audience. 

 The onslaught of internet traffic means that the audience is also highly engaged with digital ads, scrolling, and other distractions.  Unfortunately, once an ad is on a digital platform such as social media, the odds are high that many targets will miss the ad, as stated earlier in this post by a general consensus of digital marketers.  Therefore, marketers will need to consider spending more dollars in the digital universe to ensure that those targets see the ad. 


If you need a sure thing, then marketers should engage with a one-two slam dunk.  That is to say, print and digital.  When marketers opt to lead with direct mail marketing, they can almost certainly push folks to a digital destination.  The lift is exponential in that direct mail recipients will see and read the direct mail piece and then follow the call-to-action link to the digital channel, thus increasing engagement and response rates.



Print and Digital Solutions 


Interestingly, a print and digital marketing strategy will allow for new solutions that support both mediums working hand-in-hand.  For example, a significant health care provider or insurance company has to manage data from multiple entities and states every month.  A commercial print provider can allow for the automatic transfer of information with a customized data management solution.  After cleansing and formatting, the collateral can be digitally printed, allowing for individual customization in terms of name, colors, textures, photos, and other features.  A solutions provider can also provide automatic mail sort and delivery, leading to shorter turnaround times, more significant savings, and other resource-saving options. 

 Mixing print and digital is a slam dunk.  That is how print elevates the marketing game.  However, we also contend that video is another heavy hitter.  YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram also offer opportunities to upload videos.  These platforms allow you to build your brand and invite a following by adding a profile and using the channel to market and advertise your brand. 

 The YouTube platform is also perfect for industries that need to deliver complex information making it an ideal healthcare marketing tool.  Lastly, keep in mind that print collateral and social media channels, when used together, can push viewers and direct mail recipients to YouTube as well.  The more eyeballs to view a slam dunk, the better!




The Net-Net


Healthcare is a highly complex industry that can confuse people as plans change, new treatments become available, and new procedures move to the forefront.  Healthcare marketers will need to compete by targeting and converting consumers into paying clients while amid yet another COVID-19 surge.  If the country is heading towards another pandemic lockdown, marketing teams should look at print marketing.  Print is safer, much less hackable, and allows consumers to read the communications free from the bombardment of internet messaging and endless scrolling. Thanks for reading "Elevate Healthcare Marketing with Print!"


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