Spend your advertising dollar where it counts
January 1, 1998 3 minutes read
Spend your advertising dollar where it counts
Education services can work better than ads
Dreaming of building rock-solid loyalty to your facility? Then put your energy into a teaching program. Sure, it’s not flashy like an ad blitz, and fine-tuning it takes a lot of grunt work. But the payoff is pure gold. In time, your clients even will refer their daughters to you.
"This is how women find their health care, by going to facilities their families and friends trust," says Ashley Zwick, marketing communications specialist at Masonic Medical Center’s Women’s Health Resources in Chicago.
But don’t even think of going public before you make sure you have an exceptional program, Zwick cautions. "Don’t start something and publicize it, then try to take the glitches out as you go. That’s inviting women to come to a work in progress."
As advertising showcases your best features, it subtly invites comparison with the competition. And you could come out on the bottom because judging who’s best is quite subjective. Besides, the savvy consumer swallows ads with a dash of skepticism. Education, on the other hand, is a gift to the recipient.
"You teach someone, and you increase their sense of power," explains Judy Kneece, RN, OCN, president of EduCare, a breast health education company in Columbia, SC. "Empowering someone etches you in their memory. Then you don’t have to tell them how great you are. When they need care, they’ll remember you."
If you’re in a managed care market, education is a clean word, Kneece continues, "and it had better be your No. 1 marketing tool! It can reduce costs by improving psychological health and reducing morbidity."
Perhaps your customer base for education programs is out there among the women catching the commuter bus on the street corner, but it also could include the providers down the hall. Once you identify your customers, listen to them.
In rural Fortuna, CA, for example, attendance at breast cancer prevention programs was sparse, while the annual Candle Lighting to memorialize cancer victims and raise cancer awareness grew from 79 to 375 attendees in four years. The event features testimonials from women with breast cancer, a religious ceremony, and a mass candle lighting. Janet Pecorella, RN, director of the Fortuna Women’s Resource Center of the St. Joseph’s Health System of Humboldt County, CA, thanks the local advisory board for identifying the educational potential of such an event.
Elaine Hanks, RN, staff nurse at the Fortuna Women’s Resource Center, explains that the board includes local women from all backgrounds. At monthly meetings, they design programs by reviewing the nature of phone inquiries at the center and insights from informal health discussions with friends and co-workers.
In gaining provider trust and confidence, you lock in a key referral source, says Jean Harry, RN, administrative leader at Fletcher Allen Health Care’s Breast Care Center in Burlington, VT.
Harry and her staff designed an educational service for their patients facing invasive breast procedures such as biopsy or lumpectomy. They provide information sheets, including one on needle localization excisional breast biopsy. (See pp. 5-6.) Additionally, each patient receives a pre- and post-procedure phone call to answer questions and give reassurance.
"At first, providers didn’t realize the Breast Care Center was preparing its patients in that way," Harry relates, "but when they found out, they said it made all the difference. Women who came through our program were less anxious, and the procedures went more smoothly. Now they [providers] refer their other patients to us for preparation."
Who needs an ad budget?
The Center for Women’s Health at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City has "no budget for anything except salaries," says Eva Anderson, MPH, administrative director. Depend-ing on the size of a given patient or provider education offering, she works alone or enlists the help of up to three other staffers. All events are self-funded. "Industry can be an important partner in supporting your educational programs," she says, referring to pharmaceutical and medical suppliers and corporate wellness programs.
While Zwick buys a few ads with her advertising budget, "the bulk of it is spent to keep our patients informed through our quarterly newsletter. Our women are our advertising vehicle, not a glossy ad."
(Editor’s note: For how-tos in designing educational events, see Women’s Health Center Management, November 1997, p. 143. In next month’s issue, we’ll tell you how to measure the outcomes of educational programs.)
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