Photo courtesy of rharrison
By Jenn Riggle
Last year was the one of the worst years for newspapers since the Great Depression. Major newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer folded, while community newspapers across the country are reducing their size and cutting their staff as they struggle to survive and reinvent themselves.
While this isn’t news to anyone, it has huge implications for hospitals, which advertise heavily in newspapers as a way to increase visibility. So if newspaper ads aren’t the cornerstone of the marketing mix they once were, what is?
Some may want to jump on the social media or digital bandwagon, while others continue to embrace traditional marketing tools, such as billboards and direct mail. The right answer is probably a combination of both.
Newspapers are still a valid way to reach the 55 plus crowd. An Adweek Media/Harris Poll shows that two-thirds of people over the age of 55 still read a newspaper on a daily basis. And since Baby Boomer women are a primary target audience for hospitals, newspaper ads still make sense.
Facebook ads may also make sense to reach this group since Baby Boomer women are one of the fastest growing groups on Facebook. Not only are Facebook ads relatively inexpensive, they promise to provide more targeted reach than traditional ads.
Another cost-effective ways for hospitals to expand their reach is through Google ads. The great thing about these ads is that companies only pay Google when someone clicks on their ads. In addition, Google will let them know where customers are located so they can target ads to people in that area.
On the horizon: Expect to see more video ads, and rumor has it that Twitter will unveil search ads (similar to those offered by Google) in the near future.
Not only is online advertising more affordable – it can help hospitals reach out to Gen Xers and Millennials, who spend more time online. While most hospitals haven’t really made a concerted effort to reach these younger audiences, GenXers are the parents of today’s school age children, while their younger cohorts and Millennials are starting their families.
Both these groups spend a lot of time on the Internet, engaging in social media and conducting their own research. And according to a study conducted by Ad-ology Research, social media influenced 20 percent of 25-to-34 year olds who visited the hospital for maternity reasons. In addition, social media influenced 40 percent of recent hospital or urgent-care center patients.
Direct mail is important – especially when combined with online marketing. Michael Fleischner reference a study conducted by InnoMedia, NuStats, and Vertis, that reported Gen X and Y consumers rate 75 percent of the mail they receive as valuable and that 73 percent of Gen Y and 68 percent of Gen X have used coupons received in the mail.
But even traditional media has changed. Digital billboards are breathing new life into the billboard business. In 2009, PQ Media reported that spending on digital billboards grew to $551 million – a 15 percent increase. The firm also predicted that 2010 spending on digital billboards would grow to $657, or 19 percent.
And television ads, while they continue to be a great way to build hospital brand, have been affected by technology. There’s some talk about how Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) will change their impact, since people tend to fast forward through the ads when viewing their favorite TV shows.
With all these changes to the marketing landscape, hospitals can’t assume that sticking with the tried and true marketing approach is the right one. The best thing is to clearly define who you’re trying to reach and develop an integrated marketing approach that takes the best from both online and traditional marketing.
There are many organizations that need to rethink their marketing mix. This is a bad year for everyone other that shops that make signs that say “Going Out of Business.” When it comes to newspapers though, do you feel as if print will disappear entirely?