Strengthening Your Hospital’s Brand Position to Market to Women
How to position your hospital’s brand with your female market
Whether they’re patients or caregivers, women make the majority of healthcare decisions, and they are busy consumers. When they research products and services, they expect to get the information they need quickly so they can make a decision and move on.
As a hospital marketer, you can lift your brand to the top of consumers’ consideration set by clearly explaining why your brand is the right choice and how it will meet the consumer’s specific needs. A strong brand position will help a hospital marketer clearly define:
- What your audience wants (or needs)
- The way you meet that need better than anyone else
- The competitive space in the market
To develop a brand position:
- Know your female audience. Put in the research hours to identify and understand the female consumers in your market. It’s an expense in time and effort up front, but it will pay off by allowing you to speak clearly and in an impactful way to your specific audience.
- Understand your point(s) of differentiation. Scour your market until you can clearly define the ways your brand is different from (and better than) your competition.
- Consumers gravitate to the brand that most succinctly answers their questions. Skip the flowery language in favor of clear answers to the questions you know your consumers have.
- Articulate your specific brand offering. Keeping your target audience and your point of differentiation in mind, develop a clear statement of what your brand offers the female consumer.
Throughout your marketing efforts, utilize your brand position as a grounding point to communicate to your female audience effectively. Avoid clichés or stereotypes when you position your brand to your female audience. As we learned when Bic tried to market pink “for-her” pens, you don’t need to dip your branding in pastel colors for a female audience. Women aren’t looking to be pandered to; they research hospitals for their own needs as well as the needs of those they care for. As long as they can gather the essence and offerings of your brand quickly and clearly, your message will be heard — no pink font needed.
