Speaker 1: How to Market a Hospital Marketing Strategies for Hospitals At the end of this video you'll find a free gift waiting for you. It's a package of useful marketing templates and tools, that you can download and use. It will surely make your marketing efforts much easier. This video is designed to help you market a hospital. It will walk you step by step, through all the essential steps you need to take while marketing a business. This is a complete business marketing system, that will also familiarize you with the marketing strategies and concepts that are being utilized by successful businesses. Feel free to adopt and modify any part of it, to fit your business's specific characteristics and needs. Successful marketing starts with you, the manager. You have to know your business and the needs of your customers. The narrative and work blocks that follow, are designed to help you work out a marketing plan for your firm. Phase 1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis. SWOT stands for, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a simple tool to help you work out the internal and external factors affecting your business. It is one of the most commonly used business analysis and decision making tools. A SWOT analysis helps you. S. Minimize weakness. W. Seize opportunities. O. Counteract threats. T. To get the most out of a SWOT analysis, you need to conduct it with a particular business objective in mind. For example, a SWOT analysis can help you decide if you should introduce a new product or service or change your processes. A SWOT analysis is often part of strategic planning. It can help you better understand your business and work out what areas need improving. It can also help you understand your market, including your competitors, and predict changes that you will need to address, to make sure your business is successful. It is also a particularly useful step in your marketing planning process. A SWOT analysis looks at internal and external factors that can affect your business. Internal factors are your strengths and weaknesses. External factors are the threats and opportunities. Building on strengths. A SWOT analysis will help you identify areas of your business that are performing well. These areas are your critical success factors and they give your business its competitive advantage. Identifying these strengths can help you make sure you maintain them so you don't lose your competitive advantage. Growing your business involves finding ways of using and building on these strengths. Minimizing weaknesses. Weaknesses are the characteristics that put your business at a disadvantage to others. Conducting a SWOT analysis can help you identify these characteristics and minimize or improve them before they become a problem. When conducting a SWOT analysis, it is important to be realistic about the weaknesses in your business, so you can deal with them adequately. Seizing opportunities. A SWOT analysis can help you identify opportunities that your business could take advantage of, to make greater profits. Opportunities are created by external factors, such as new consumer trends and changes in the market. Phase 2. Study the competition. Who are your competitors? By analyzing your competition you can find out what your competitors are doing, how you compare, and what potential threat they present to your business. You can identify your competitors from two main groups. Direct competitors. Businesses that offer the same products or services as you. And indirect competitors. Businesses that sell products or services that are different, but may satisfy the same consumer need. For example, a fish and chip shop competes indirectly with a pizza shop, but directly with another fish and chip shop. Once you have identified who your competitors are, determine their profile. What products or services do they sell? Do they offer a similar product or service? What do they offer their customers? How do they engage with their customers? Where are they located? How competitive are they? How much market share do they have? What type of media channels do they use, to market their products or services? What are their strengths and weaknesses? The more you know about your competitors, the better you'll be at identifying where you fit in the market, and the potential opportunities available for your business. Phase 3. Identify your competitive advantage. Your competitive advantage is what sets your business apart from your competition. It highlights the benefits a customer receives when they do business with you. It could be your products, service, reputation, or even your location. For example, do you offer home delivery, a money-back guarantee, a two-hour call-out service, or childcare facilities? To identify your competitive advantage, you need to understand your competitors and your customers. Ask yourself, why do customers buy from us? Why do customers buy from our competitors and not us? Why do some potential customers not buy at all? What do we need to do to be successful in the future? Customers buy benefits. When customers buy your product or service, they are buying the benefit that it gives them. It may be that your product makes their life simpler, or your service helps them to feel better about themselves. Think about how your competitive advantage benefits your customers. Thinking about how your business can benefit your customers will help you to pinpoint your competitive advantage. A strong competitive advantage reflects the competitive strength of your business. Is clear and simple. May change over time, as competitors try to cash in on your idea. Must be supported by honest and ongoing market research. Must highlight the benefits to customers, rather than boast of your business itself. After you have highlighted your competitive advantage, the best way to tell your customers about it is to create your unique selling proposition. Your unique selling proposition, USP, is the marketing statement you use to sell your products and services, to prospective customers. Unless your target market understands your USP, they may never know why yours is the business they should buy from. Clever design and copywriting in your advertising campaign will incorporate your USP to entice customers to buy from you. To develop your USP, you need to focus on your business. Consider. What do I do that no one else does? What is unique about my business? What is my unique story, e.g. product selection, service standards, staff training? How can this be made different from my competitors? Then consider your customers. What does the customer want? What need or want are they really trying to satisfy? What is the main reason my customers buy from me? What can I do to match or exceed those expectations? What can I do to make sure the customer gets what they want? Answering these questions will help you to establish your competitive advantage, the edge you have over your competition. Phase 4. Develop marketing strategies. When it comes to marketing strategies, we are talking about the 5P of marketing. The 5P are a set of recognized marketing tactics, which you can use in any combination to satisfy customers in your target market. They are. Product. Price. Promotion. Place. And people. The 5P are controllable, but subject to your internal and external marketing environments. Combining these different marketing tactics to meet your customers' needs and wants is known as using a tactical marketing mix. Product. Product refers to what you are selling, including all of the features, advantages and benefits that your customers can enjoy, from buying your goods or services. When marketing your product, you need to think about the key features and benefits your customers want or need, including, but not limited to, styling, quality, repairs, and accessories. Price. This refers to your pricing strategy, for your products and services, and how it will affect your customers. You should identify how much your customers are prepared to pay, how much markup you need to cater for overheads, your profit margins and payment methods, and other costs. To attract customers and retain your competitive advantage, you may also wish to consider the possibility of discounts and seasonal pricing. Promotion. These are the promotional activities you use to make your customers aware of your products and services, including advertising, sales tactics, promotions and direct marketing. Generally, these are referred to as marketing tactics. Product and service promotion is the most common form of marketing. Place. Place is where your products and services are seen, made, sold or distributed. Access for customers to your products is key, and it is important to ensure that customers can find you. You can set yourself apart from your competition through the design of your retail space, and by using effective visual merchandising techniques. If you are not a retail business, place is still an important part of your marketing. Your customers may need a quick delivery turnaround, or want to buy locally manufactured products. If you are starting a new business, finding the right business location will be a key marketing tactic. People. People refer to the staff and salespeople who work for your business, including yourself. When you provide excellent customer service, you create a positive experience for your customers, and in doing so market your brand to them. In turn, existing customers may spread the word about your excellent service, and you can win referrals. Give your business a competitive advantage by recruiting the right people, training your staff to develop their skills, and retaining good staff. Phase 5. Advertising, Promotion, and Selling. For your advertising to be successful you need to set yourself apart from your competitors and grab your audience's attention. You'll need to identify your target market and focus on connecting with those customers. You can then tailor your message to those who have a need for your product or service. When creating your ad make sure you use a powerful headline. Tailor your message to suit your target audience. Talk about the benefits, have a call to action, use exciting images, use testimonials if relevant, and always deliver on what you promise. Types of Advertising. With a range of media choices, finding the best advertising mix for your business can be challenging. The advertising you choose should depend on your business, your budget, and the types of media your target audience accesses. Traditional Media. Traditional media sends messages in one direction to a mass audience. It includes, television ads, radio advertising, print advertising, cinema advertising, billboards and off-site signs, mail order advertisements, cold calling, door-to-door sales, and transit advertising. Digital Advertising. Digital advertising is a popular form of online advertising for businesses. Digital channels allow you to reach your core customers in creative new ways, allowing customers to engage with you and your brand in a two-way format. Digital advertising allows you to reach a larger target audience and has the potential to reach customers all over the world. You can, track your customers, analyze their buying behavior, and customize your message to their preferences. Types of New Media Are. Online Advertising, Retargeting, Banner Ads, Display Ads, Keywords, Native, and, Video, Online Streaming, Radio and Television, Social Media Advertising, Mobile App Advertising, and, Email Marketing. With digital advertising, you can also focus your efforts on your ideal buyer and build a community around your product or service. While the internet is a powerful medium, you can benefit from using a mix of traditional and new media to reach your target market. Promotion Strategy. All advertising and other promotional activities should be in tune with the firm's stated position in the marketplace. This suggests that not only advertising themes, but also media selection, must be based on building and strengthening that position. Benefit Approach. Regardless of your media, to make your marketing concept work in advertising messages, you must analyze each product and service in relation to these two elements. 1. Product Point. Those features built into the product or service. Product points are usually highly touted in advertising messages, but they are relatively ineffective unless they are integrated with the second ingredient. 2. Benefit. The advantage a customer receives after purchasing the product. Your advertising should promise benefits and make those promises believable by naming the product points that will produce the benefits. For example, you'll feel better about your family's safety. Benefit. When they are riding on the new steel-belted radials from Armstrong, thanks to the interwoven blankets of steel embedded deep in the tread. Product Point. Selling and Persuasion. Your business's success will depend on your ability to persuade others to take actions that will help them while also helping you. This is referred to as a win-win situation. Both parties in the transaction must receive a benefit in value or in satisfaction. The key to successful selling is to determine which motives brought the customer to you, and then develop a sales presentation that will convince the customer that you and your product can meet those needs. This process can be broken down into a series of steps. Prospecting. This is the activity of identifying potential customers or running ads to entice people into your store. Free Approach. This includes planning what you will say to customers, and what evidence or displays you will need to enhance your presentation. Approach. This may include a greeting, statement of objective or series of questions to determine exactly what the customer wants. Learn as much as possible about the customer and his or her buying motive before you begin your presentation. Presentation. This is the opportunity to tell customers everything they need to know to make an intelligent buying decision. Show enthusiasm for your product or service. Proof. Words may not be enough. You may need to show facts and figures, endorsements, testimonials or other means of backing up your claims. Demonstration. If possible, let the customer experience the product. Many items are difficult to sell without a test drive. Trial Close. This is a statement or question, designed to let you know how close the customer is to making a buying decision. Uncover and meet objections. Find out why the customer is not ready to buy. Go back over your presentation to clear up misunderstandings or doubts the customer may have. Final Close. Ask a question that causes the customer to make a buying decision in your favor. Follow-up. This includes all the steps you take to write up the sale, arrange delivery, receive payment and ensure customer satisfaction. For many products or services, email and telephone selling can be used to complete the sale or to qualify prospects for a personal follow-up. Motivation is an essential ingredient in persuasion. You and your employees must maintain a positive mental attitude. You must learn to sell yourself, your company and your product. And your attitude must be one of serving the customer first, with the realization that your success depends completely on your ability to serve the customer. Many factors can impact your marketing results and it's important you're aware of them. Analyzing your results and keeping up-to-date with new marketing trends is important in keeping your marketing plan up-to-date and reaching your business goals. Now, here's your free gift. It's a collection of useful marketing templates and tools that you can download and use. It will surely make your marketing efforts much easier. Go to the description below this video to get it now. It is completely free, no strings attached. Thank you for watching. If you liked this video please share and like. Also subscribe, so you don't miss any of our videos.