Patients have more options than ever before.  With so much information available online, these patients no longer feel the need to visit a hospital or medical practice. Rapid changes in the healthcare industry markets require agility and focus. 

Print marketing when used along with digital marketing has been proven to be the best way to stand out in the crowded online world.  Combining print marketing and digital marketing can be the perfect way to generate new leads and increase brand awareness in the healthcare sector.

With print marketing, prospective customers can get more details about your products and develop an emotional and subconscious desire for your service.  The well-printed advertising materials can help you connect with a broader audience and showcase your company’s credibility and a lot more.

First, develop a marketing strategy that captures the attention of your target audience and convinces them to trust you for the best and most excellent service. You must use consistent healthcare branding because to a patient, one white coat looks just like the rest.  Evaluate the online patient experience by putting yourself in a patient’s shoes.  When online, you have 5 to 10 seconds to get their attention. Follow-up with patient feedback, especially when you have received a negative review on Yelp.  Build your referral base by using a physician liaison.  Referrals are some of your best organic marketing strategies for bringing in new patients.

You will also need to know four things about print marketing.

1. Print marketing boosts your credibility as a company. Investing in high-quality printed materials like brochures, rack cards, booklets, and personalized direct mail, goes a long way in proving to your audience that you are trustworthy and a legitimate business.  Your printed materials will help inform your target audience about your organization’s activities. They will also provide them with answers and clarifications when they visit your company.

The keyword here is Quality.  When it comes to print marketing, quality leads the way. High-quality creates a positive image of your professionalism.   Poor printed materials and a pixelated image give your company a non-professional look.

2. Print marketing compels more action. Studies show that prospective customers trust print marketing more than all other forms of marketing.  It may seem archaic in this digital age, however, people like the touch and feel of a printed marketing piece, especially in a world where touch has been absent for the last 18 months.

When a healthcare company chooses to advertise using digital marketing alone, they are contending against other prestigious healthcare organizations with vibrant social media followers and profiles on their websites.  It is sometimes difficult to thrive in this competitive condition at getting the attention of potential clients.

Prospective customers will skim your website or digital ad in less than 2 minutes without being convinced enough to order your product or click to contact your office.  On the other hand, when prospective customers read your printed marketing piece, they are more engaged for a longer time.

3. Print marketing appeals more to a wider audience. Digital marketing targets a particular demographic audience.  Print can serve all at the same time, it can appeal to a wide range of archetypes.  Print marketing can reach out to both young and old who might not be privileged to see your digital ad.

There is current research showing how millennials like to receive letters and cards in the mail more than text messages.  The importance of touch should not be underestimated.  “Keep in touch” and “on the other hand” are two of the many phrases that reflect primacy.  Internet shopping accounts for less than 9 percent of global retail sales; one of the many reasons for this is the absence of touch.

4. Print marketing makes more impact today. In an era where most companies are taking their advertising completely online, the old has suddenly become new again.  Print marketing has become the latest trend specifically in healthcare.  Today companies have more information and data to create compelling content and sales copy.  When customers and prospects email in-boxes are full of sales letters and digital ads, they tend to go unread.

A high-quality printed marketing piece usually lays around a house or business for several days.  It can be a constant reminder of their need to make an appointment, pick up the phone or reach out for help.

In conclusion, print and digital are the perfect pair, build them both into your marketing strategies for a successful marketing campaign.  A prospect may not be fully convinced to buy or make an appointment just by visiting your website.  When you make a printed product, you get something tangible.  Not true with computers, you can’t even open a file you were emailed if you don’t have the right software. If you go to a zoo or museum, you can take away a small printed booklet that will remind you of that trip forever, you have an emotional response.  Digital makes the need for printed things even more important.  Even with CTA and a dynamic site, there is an archetype that is more likely to respond to printed material.  Printed marketing materials cannot be overemphasized in the healthcare industry.   

Let’s create a printed marketing campaign that will excite all the senses of your prospects and customers.