A bit of unorthodox hospital marketing, but it illustrates a point: hospital ad agencies need to be clear how they're solving business problems.
In the previous “Interview with a CFO” post, I discussed how finding new revenue streams is a big part of his job. This time, I’ll discuss how the chief financial officer and the hospital marketing department intersect. I’m breaking away from the theme with this post, since it’s not precisely relevant to health care B2B marketers, but it will be relevant to marketing professionals who sell their services to hospital marketing and communications teams.
My CFO friend isn’t a marketer, but he is a business man. He understands that bringing in revenue isn’t just about offering services; he needs to generate demand within his community for those services. That’s where his marketing department comes in.
Most hospitals are dependent on physician referrals, and that’s true of physician-owned hospitals like the one my friend helps to lead. Most of his marketing time and money are spent reaching out to local physicians, educating them on his services lines and just generally developing relationships. His marketing department supports this effort by developing sales support materials: brochures, sell sheets, presentations, etc.
That’s not to say that sales support is all his marketing department does. Community and public relations are a big part of their budget; they place strategic sponsorships and host events that help them stay in the good graces of the public and their opinion leaders. They have also found that advertising does make a difference in some specific service lines; due to competitive issues, I won’t divulge which ones.
Why is all this important? If you’re an ad agency wanting to do business with a hospital, especially a smaller hospital, you need to understand who’s writing the checks. Not every hospital has the same business issues as my friend’s, but they all have challenges. You’re more likely to be successful if you understand their business issues and how your services can help solve them.
Next post: Tips for approaching a CFO.
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