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The 4 Ps of Marketing

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In the healthcare supply chain industry, a successful marketing campaign can include a variety of techniques and strategies. The world of marketing is dynamic and always changing, and there isn’t a “one size fits all” way that works to promote all brands.

It can be helpful when first developing a brand’s marketing strategy to have a framework, or outline, of what a brand hopes to accomplish through marketing efforts. This allows a brand to stay on track and successfully market its product or service.

One example of a framework that can guide marketing efforts is the four “Ps” or a “marketing mix.” A marketing mix is the different campaign strategies that a brand employs to market their product or service. The “marketing mix,” or the four “Ps” include product, price, place, and promotion. Strategies can include social media marketing, email campaigns, print marketing, and much more. Read on for a breakdown of each aspect of the four “Ps” marketing framework, and how businesses can integrate it into their business plans and campaign strategies.

  1. Product

Product is the goods or services that are being marketed by a brand to a specific audience. It is important for a company and its employees to have extensive knowledge and experience with the product or service in order to best represent it to customers in marketing campaigns.

  1. Price

Price is how much a product or service costs. Cost is a crucial aspect of the 4 Ps, as it determines who a brand’s audience is and the amount of profit a company can make from selling it to a specific audience.

  1. Place

Distributing or selling a product in a place that is easily accessible to consumers encompasses the third “P”. In the medical distribution industry especially, considering place is of utmost importance when selling products. Medical supply reps should have a thorough understanding of the needs of the hospitals or physician offices that they are working with, and how to best address those needs with certain products.

  1. Promotion

Advertising a brand’s product or service is the definition of promotion. Promotion includes print advertisements, TV commercials, and content marketing such as blogs, emails, and social media.

The 4 Ps can guide a brand’s preliminary marketing strategy. If your brand could benefit from further assistance planning marketing strategies or developing content specific to the medical distribution industry, contact Scott Adams at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to set up a brainstorming session. Share Moving Media has over 30 years of experience creating content for the medical supply chain industry and can assist your brand in developing creative healthcare marketing ideas.

Determining Your Brand’s Marketing Audience

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When determining how to make a brand’s marketing tactics more successful, businesses are often told to create campaigns that will appeal specifically to their “target audience.” What exactly is a target audience, and how does a brand determine who they are selling to, and what consumers they could potentially be selling to? Read on to learn about how businesses can determine their consumer audience, improve marketing tactics, and appeal to specific consumers.

A brand’s target audience includes all of the consumers they are trying to reach and engage with their marketing campaigns. Consumers that businesses should target may include a wide range of demographics, ages, genders, socioeconomic status, etc. A company should market toward consumers that have goals, interests, and purchasing capabilities that align with the company’s product or service offerings.

Unique, tailored content created specifically to appeal to the audience’s goals and interests has the potential to boost a brand’s success and sales.

To learn about your business’ audience:

  1. Gather Information on the Existing Audience

When determining your brand’s target market, start by tracking sales data related to individual customers. Gathering this information can include tactics such as talking to a business’ salespeople about trends they have observed in customers, or implementing a data-based survey after sales calls that gives a business an understanding of their current customer base.

  1. Identify New Targets

Once a company establishes who their target audience consists of, they can move on to attracting new customers. Customer groups that may be interested in a business can be determined based on their demographics, interests, needs, wants, and budgets that align with your company’s product or service. By directing company marketing efforts toward people that need, want, or can afford a product, it is more likely a customer will view content and make a purchasing decision.

  1. Follow Trends & Distinguish Brand from Competition

Brands that stand out from their competition appeal to their consumer base with marketing tactics that differ from the industry competition. Keep in mind that trends, such as social media and technology, can impact marketing tactics. Leveraging current trends can help your business determine how to market to its target audience successfully.

If your company in the medical distribution and sales industry could benefit from implementing marketing tactics that are specifically designed to capture the attention of your brand’s target audience, Share Moving Media can assist you. With over 30 years of experience in the medical supply chain industry, our team can help your company create content for marketing campaigns that capture your audience’s attention and boost sales. For more information or to set up a brief session to discuss the needs of your business, please contact Scott Adams at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com.

How to leverage social media for your business

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In the last 10 years or so, social media has transitioned from a platform to keep up with friends and family to an invaluable tool for sales and marketing purposes. It’s a powerful way to connect with your target audience, while also reaching new prospects that you might not have been able to build a relationship with.

Here is a breakdown of the major social media platforms that businesses can use:

  • Facebook – Where it all started. Facebook was the pioneering social networking platform, giving friends and family members the opportunity to easily reconnect. It’s a great place to connect with customers and talk about what your company offers.
  • Twitter – Another one of the early platforms, Twitter is a better platform for exchanging information and connecting with your customers one on one.
  • Instagram – An image and video-based platform, Instagram is a perfect platform for marketing pushes with pictures and video.
  • LinkedIn – Built for businesses and professionals, LinkedIn is where businesses can leverage their employees as brand ambassadors to talk about what the organization offers to its clients.
  • TikTok – The newest of the bunch, TikTok is a video-based platform that can be incredibly effective for your business, if used correctly. To be most effective, you need a deep understanding of your brand and your customer base.

Use social media for marketing:

Incorporating your social media into your marketing plan will help you to reach customers and prospects right where they are. Make sure to post your content consistently to ensure a steady presence, develop a clear voice that will resonate with your audience and use your analytics to better understand your audience. Social media is a great way to generate leads and engage with your audience, so it’s important to know what kinds of content they are most interested in.

Use social media for customer service:

Part of what makes social media such a powerful tool is the immediate accessibility to your customers. Through social media you can respond to customer issues, which will make it easier to build and strengthen relationships with your customers. Hashtags are a powerful way to group your organization with some of the bigger topics that your customers care about.

Use social media to sell:

Through advertising campaigns on social media, you can increase sales for your organization. Brand ambassadors or social media influencers can help to boost the word-of-mouth buzz about your organization and boost sales. Social listening is another process where organizations can take a macro view of what their customers are talking about online.

How can your business leverage social media to generate revenue and attention for your brand? At Share Moving Media we help best in class manufacturers build relationships with 95% of the distribution reps in the US. Please contact us at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to learn how we can help you gain market share through distribution.

OhioHealth, Valley Health System, and UAB Medicine Ranked Among Most Empowering Brands in Healthcare

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Brand perception is an important aspect of sales and marketing success in the healthcare industry. Consumers across health systems and the healthcare supply industry desire to feel good about the decisions they make and know that the brands they are buying from are trustworthy.

Humanism in healthcare entails person-centered customer service, and that each customer is treated with respect and an understanding of their specific needs. Many health systems have found marketing success by highlighting the organization’s customer-focused goals in their campaigns.

In a 2023 study by the marketing agency Monigle, the 25 most humanistic and empowering healthcare brands were evaluated and ranked in a Humanizing Brand Experience Study, according to Becker’s Hospital Review and Monigle. Read on to learn about how three of the top ranked brands market successfully, and how marketers in the healthcare supply chain can emulate aspects of their campaigns in their marketing strategies.

  1. OhioHealth (Columbus, Ohio)

Trust between physicians and patients is part of OhioHealth’s vision statement that reads, “providing exceptional care for all through experiences that earn a lifetime of trust,” according to Sue Jablonski, OhioHealth’s senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer. Fostering trust in each interaction with a patient makes it more likely they will have a positive experience and continue to choose the brand for treatment needs going forward.

  1. Valley Health System (Ridgewood, NJ)

Valley Health System’s mission is to provide inclusive and respectful care to everyone, including individuals with diverse needs, in the Northern New Jersey and Southern New York Community. Through initiatives such as a social equity council, LGBTQ+- inclusive care, and spiritual care services, Valley Health ensures a humanistic healthcare experience by meeting each customer’s individual needs. The aspect of inclusivity in Valley Health System’s healthcare model resonates with consumer audiences from a variety of backgrounds.

  1. UAB Medicine (Birmingham, AL)

UAB Medicine strives to “make every patient encounter a positive one,” and maintain humanistic care throughout all patient experiences. The health system’s values include “always care, own it, work together, and do right,” which encourages physicians to take accountability, engage in empathetic listening, and do no harm in their practices. Each employee at UAB is encouraged to follow these principles, and as a result, patients experience a high level of humanistic care and continue to return to choose the brand for a variety of needs.

As a healthcare industry supplier, you can learn the best marketing techniques from your most successful customers in the industry. Along with health systems, brands in the healthcare supply industry can greatly benefit from highlighting their commitment to humanistic healthcare.

Companies in the healthcare supply chain industry have the potential to profit from conveying to IDNs and customers that they have personalized, humanistic solutions that can help them deliver on brand promises. Contact John Pritchard at jpritchard@sharemovingmedia.com to set up a time to talk about how your company can better market its values, mission, and goals to increase consumer trust.

Revisiting Dollar Shave Club Videos: Why Were They a Success?

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Dollar Shave Club videos have gained more than 28 million views on its YouTube-only ads since 2012. The advertisements were a huge success online and generated more than 12,000 new orders for the company within 48 hours, according to a Jilt blog.

The Dollar Shave Club videos revealed just how effective video marketing is in the modern marketing space. The video was successful because it was funny and engaging, kept attention on the product being offered, and identified a gap in the market.

Videos are a successful form of marketing because they have the potential to reach a variety of market segments and have a substantial impact. In the medical distribution industry, it is important to create videos and digital content that sets your brand apart from others.

Read on for why the Dollar Shave Club Videos were successful:

  1. Videos are an effective marketing tool: Videos reach a large market segment and allow a viewer to experience a product firsthand.
  2. Clear and direct marketing approach: The Dollar Shave Club marketing approach reiterates a clear sales pitch that razors are $1 a month, allowing viewers to understand exactly what the brand is offering for sale.
  3. Creative content: Creative content keeps viewers engaged, and the humorous tone of the Dollar Shave Club videos attracted a large following of the brand and product.

It can be difficult to devote time to content creation in the busy and fast-paced medical industry. Share Moving Media has more than 30 years of experience in the industry and publishes Repertoire Magazine and the Journal of Healthcare Consulting. Our team can assist your business in creating video and digital content that garners attention, increases SEO searches, and sets your brand apart.