These are the slides from my presentation at the 2014 Conference of the New England Medical Group Management Association. "Healthcare Marketing Reform: Moving from Marketing Your Practice to Building Community"

1. Healthcare Marketing Reform:
Moving from Marketing Your
Practice to Building Community
Presentation by Dan Dunlop
New England MGMA
May 2014

2. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED…
THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE
WITH PATIENTS AND
PROSPECTIVE PATIENTS MUST
ALSO CHANGE.
2

3. Real Simple & Huffington
Post: 3,583 Women

4. Real Simple
Poll

5. Real Simple
Poll

6. Real Simple
Poll

7. The Connected Consumer
 Broadcast era is over
 Can’t simply buy people’s attention
 The consumer controls:
 What they view
 When they view it
 And how they view it (what screen)
 Community building is an ideal way to take
advantage of this trend
 Helps brands connect with their audiences in
a more human manner

8. Real Simple &
Huffington Post:
Real Simple
Poll

9. Marketing as Community Building
 New reality: population health management
 Need for healthcare marketing reform
 Moving from marketing “to” women (and
families) to marketing “with” women
 Making an investment in community building
 Must feel authentic
 Provide value via the relationship
 How do you enrich her life?
 Sense of community - belonging

10. What Does Value Look Like?
 Emotional connection
 Information resource
 Convenience
 Entertainment
 Sense of belonging
 Opportunity for self-expression
 Opportunity to be heard; to share
 All of these should be present within a
community

11. Community Building?
 Social networks are how we connect
 Communities of interest are why we
connect.
Chris Boyer

12. “As long as women feel safe in a
community, they will feel free to express
their personal viewpoints which adds
authenticity and attracts other women ‘like
them’, increasing a community’s value,”
Toby Bloomberg, Founder of the Diva Marketing Blog
and recognized by Forbes as a top social media blogger.
The Role of Community
12

13. Elements of Community
 Reciprocity
 Shared values or interests
 Commonality
 Listening – We want to be heard
 Valuing the opinions of others
 Support – emotional and informational
 Kindness/Civility
 Feeling valued and appreciated

14. Environments/Communities
 Blogs
 Social networking platforms: Facebook,
Pinterest, etc.
 True online communities (Inspire, Everyday
Health, etc.)
 Inspire.com: 5 million+ blog posts by
members (working with Stanford Medicine)
 Your website! What kind of environment have
you created? The low hanging fruit.

15. Community allows you to learn from
your constituents (patients,
prospective patients & family
members); these are listening and
learning platforms.

16. Online Communities
for Women
Health is a constant topic of
conversation.

25. A New Role for
Marketers: Creating
Environments for
Healing & Sharing

26. Marketing as
Community Building
 Fundamental Change:
Community Building
26

27. Isn’t Word-of-Mouth the best
advertising? Today’s word-of-mouth:
Key to Success

28. Why Is Social Media Important
for Your Practice?
1. Marketing is now a dialogue, not a monologue
2. Engagement is what we’re after; required in
today’s healthcare environment
3. It is your reputation that’s on the line. And online!
4. Being absent from social media is
conspicuous
5. The conversations are happening with or
without us
6. The quality of info being shared is suspect, so
we have an obligation to get involved
7. It is highly measurable!
Why Social Media?

29. Why Social Media for the Medical
Practice? Dr. Howard Luks’ List
 Spread knowledge (patient education)
 Improve communications
 Control your message
 Promote Health
 “Empower” consumers and healthcare
professionals alike
 Perhaps even kindle the fire to help fix our ailing
healthcare system
 Derive a tangible ROI and significant Social ROI
for your efforts

30. Dr. Luks – 17% of new patients come
through social media; More than
50% visit his website before the 1st
appointment.
 “Patients who discover me via social
media and my Web site tend to arrive far
better prepared and informed. They’re also
more comfortable with me, thanks to
watching my videos. All this makes my
time with them more productive and more
efficient.”

31. Facebook & Community

32. You’re Hosting a Dinner Party
 The same principles apply:
 Who do you invite? (People who will get along
and have commonalities to discuss)
 You welcome all guests and make introductions
 You are gracious and vigilant
 You facilitate conversation – connect people
 You work to involve everyone in the conversation
 You fill awkward silence with new topics
 You thank them for coming
 People leave the party and talk about what a
good time they had at your place!
32

33. Keys to Building Community
on Facebook
 Engagement! Should be participatory.
 You need to “feed” the conversation
 Profile clinicians – always generates
comments
 Encourage discussion and sharing
 Ask for opinions and photos
 Respond to comments and questions publicly
 Enrich the brand experience with photos and
videos

34. Blogs for
Community Building

35. Four Doctors Who Do
This Well:
 Dr. Natasha Burgert - http://kckidsdoc.com
 The Boogor Doctor – Dr. Russell Faust -
http://www.boogordoctor.com
 Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson – Seattle Mama
Doc
http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org
 Dr. Howard Luks -
http://www.howardluksmd.com
Engaging
Moms

40. SignatureMoms.com

41. Signature Moms Blog
 8 bloggers from the
community
 42,000 visits in 2012
 64,234 visits in 2013
 Surpassed 149,000
total visits!
 2,500+ subscribers
 600+ comments

42. Online Patient Support
Communities

43. Online Patient Support Communities
 “The proliferation of Web forums and
discussion boards and medical blogs all
speak to our inherent desire to seek out those
like us, to affirm the symptoms and
aberrations we’ve finally found a name for, to
assimilate into a community when we’ve felt
isolated from the larger world of the healthy
for so long.”
Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness In
Your Twenties and Thirties, by Laurie Edwards

52. Your Website as an
Environment that Invites
Community & Engagement

55. El Camino Hospital
Pelvic Health

57. Using Video to Provide
Value for the Consumer

58. Meet Michael Dern, MD

59. Meet Michele Finkle, MD

60. Meet Jan Paradise, MD

61. Creating Your Own
Community
 Private Facebook
Groups
 Ning
 Start your own
group on a platform
like Inspire.com
 Microsoft’s
SharePoint
61

62. Marketing Your Community or
Social Media Platform
 First, manage expectations. Slow growth is
normal.
 Tools for cross promoting your community:
 Website
 Other social media platforms (Google+)
 Signage within your facility!
 Handouts for patients
 QR codes in your exam rooms.
 Don’t rule out traditional tools: print ads,
posters

63. Remember the Hive
 Attract people with shared interests
 Make them feel welcome
 Encourage them to tell their stories and
interact
 Feed their interest with good information
 Position your organization as a resource with
a shared passion for the subject
 Let them become your ambassadors, telling
your story and inviting others to the hive.
63

64. Dan Dunlop, Principal
Jennings
Email: ddunlop@jenningsco.com
Twitter: @dandunlop
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dandunlop/
Blog:
www.TheHealthcareMarketer.Wordpress.com
Contact Information