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Before you can focus your external marketing efforts, you must know your target market inside and out. Your target market consists of the subgroups of people with similar characteristics that cause them to consider an urgent care center for their needs. These subgroups can be defined by age, gender and geography as well as various socio-economic and lifestyle variables. As an urgent care provider, you are likely in a neighborhood clinic serving residents within a 10-minute drive time. Or, if you are in a more rural area or an area where there are limited health services available, your practice may pull patients from larger distances. Identifying your target market goes beyond the scope of this article, but let me assure you that if you try to reach all people, you’ll soon burn through your marketing budget. Read More
Reproduced with permission of Immediate Care Business, May/June 2008. |
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…Instead of spending so much time responding to your competitor's agenda, Spolsky says, you should spend more time focusing on your own. Sure, you need to know what your competitors are up to, but many organizations focus more on their competitors than they do their own customers. Here's an example: About a year ago, two large Boston hospitals announced their plans to partner with the New England Patriots and open a sports medicine and outpatient surgical clinic in Foxborough, a town 30 miles from Boston and home to the Patriots' stadium. Community hospitals in the area had mixed responses. Learn More
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As an owner or operator of an urgent care business, you’re justifiably enthusiastic about the services you provide and the much-needed help you give patients. Your passion is correct, but don’t make the mistake of assuming that everyone shares your zeal or the knowledge of what services are available at your facility. When reaching out to new patients through advertising and marketing, be sure to carefully customize your efforts to reach your target market in a way that puts you in the best light and educates the public about the many services available in your clinic.
Ken Rabinoff-Goldman, DC, is vice president of Buxton HealthCareID, responsible for business planning, market development and sales focusing on superior site selection, targeted marketing and other strategic planning tools for the healthcare industry. He has served patients at his private practice in Albany, N.Y., for 22 years.
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