Focus Fall 2018 Conference

May 14, 2009

How to Successfully Niche Marketing

Your Sleep Services

Kathryn Hansen, BS, CPC, CPMA, REEGT

Integration Consultants, LLC

Sleep Education Partners

Executive Director – Kentucky Sleep Society

Executive Director – Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine

Agenda • Sleep Lab Attraction Quiz

• What is Marketing?

• Why Market?

• Six ‘Must Implement’ Attraction Principles

• Target Markets

• What is a niche?

• Twelve Sleep Niche Market Opportunities

• The Basics of Marketing

• Use the 7 Step Sleep Market Pyramid

• More Techniques of Marketing

• Promotions You Can Easily Do

• Enhancing Your Referral Network

• Measuring Your Success

• Tips for Success

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Sleep Lab Attraction Quiz

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Is there a written sleep lab marketing plan?

Yes No

Has your sleep team done a focused ‘walk through

the sleep lab in the patient’s shoes’ internal audit in

the last twelve months?

Yes No

Has a member of your sleep team contacted each of

your top twelve referral sources for their feedback

within the last six months?

Yes No

Sleep Lab Attraction Quiz

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• Have you had a sleep patient ‘focus group’ provide feedback within the past twelve months?

Yes No

• Does your sleep lab have a website?

Yes No

• Is there one team member designated and accountable to monitor and grow your sleep lab’s street appeal?

Yes No

Quiz Results

Key:

Yes’s

5-6 – Excellent! Get even better!

3-4 – Good! But missing a lot of opportunity

1-2 – Poor. Needs immediate attention and commitment!

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What is Marketing?

• Marketing is EXPOSURE – Internal & external communications

– Build a reputation in your marketplace

– Create awareness among physician referrals

– Compete against other sleep centers and labs

• Marketing is also EDUCATION – Teach physicians about the effects of sleep disorders

within their specialty

– Educate the public on the symptoms of sleep

disorders and the benefits of good sleep hygiene

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Marketing

is a

DIALOGUE!

What is Marketing?

• Marketing is A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

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RESEARCH

STRATEGIC

PLANNING

ACTION

MEASUREMENT

The

Process

of

Marketing

Why Market?

• Attract more patients and referral sources

• Protect existing patient and referral relationships

• Beat competition

• Build your reputation

• Achieve financial goals

• Negotiate better reimbursement rates with MCOs

• Increase patient compliance rates

• Strengthen relationships with staff

• Support your community

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Six ‘Must Implement’ Attraction

Principles

• Passion for Mission - You’ve got to

believe in it!

• You cannot NOT market

• Marketing is a Continuous Cultivation

• Perception Rules the world, not facts

• Consistent Communication is Key to

Successful Relationships

• Action Produces Results!

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Target Markets

• Don’t waste your marketing efforts by

trying to be all things to all sleep

patient markets. Concentrate on one

or a few sleep market segments.

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What is a niche?

• Webster’s dictionary says a niche is:

“a place, employment, status, or

activity for which a person or thing is

best fitted”; “a specialized market”

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Twelve Available Target Sleep

Markets and More

1. Family Medicine

2. Women’s Health

3. Cardiology

4. Bariatrics

5. ENT

6. Diabetes and Sleep

7. Stroke and Sleep

What role does ‘portable monitoring’ play in your target market services

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Twelve Available Target Sleep

Markets and More

7. Sedation Apnea Management (SAM)

8. OB/GYN

9. Hospital In-Patients

10. Dentists

11. Pain Management and Sleep

12. Business and Industry

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The Basics of Marketing

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Analyze Results

Measurement

Implementation

Strategic Planning

Research

Gather Information

• Market Analysis

• Competitive Analysis

• Managed Care Review

• Industry Overview

Create a Marketing Plan

• Set goals & objectives

• Select marketing strategies

• Identify marketing tactics

Take Action

• Implement marketing plan

Measure Your Efforts

• # of new patients

• # of new referrals

• Increase in patient flow

• Staff performance

Update Marketing Plan

• Change based on results

One Plan DOES NOT Fit All

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Marketing Planning

Patients Referrals Staff MCOs

Segmentation

Positioning Positioning Positioning Positioning

Marketing

Strategy

Marketing

Strategy

Marketing

Strategy

Marketing

Strategy

The Basics: Your Brand

• Your Brand Includes: – Market positioning

– Logo

– Tagline

– Tagline Modifier

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LOGO

TAGLINE

TAGLINE MODIFIER

NAME OF CENTER: Sleep Solvers

MARKET POSITIONING: Quality. Comfort. Trust.

Your Brand Ensures A Consistent Image

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The Basics: Your Brochure

• Brochure – Information to identify with patient

• Excessive snoring

• Insomnia

• Restless Leg Syndrome

– How your services benefit patient

– About you

– Credentials

– How to schedule a sleep study

– Map & directions

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The Basics: Signage

• Signage – Office signage

– Posters

• Schools

• Hospitals

• Companies with shift-work

• Local businesses

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The Basics: Directory Listings

• Yellow Pages

• Medical Directories

• Digital Markets – Linked In

– Twitter

– Instagram

– Facebook

• Online Directories – www.aasmnet.org

– www.citysearch.com

– www.webmd.com

– http://yellowpages.msn.com/

Search Engines – Yahoo http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html

– Google http://www.google.com/ads/

– MSN http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=WSDD2 20

Colleagues

Community

Patients

Health fairs

The Basics: Website

• Informs, educates and PERSUADES

• Explains your services

• Showcases experience and credentials of staff

• Answers questions of potential patients

• Attracts new referral sources

• Conveys quality and level of service

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CAUTION: Your website is NOT an online

brochure! What will keep your patients and

referral sources coming back?

Sleep Website Tips

• Be easy to read

• Have conversational format

• Be easy to navigate

• Have substantial/helpful sleep information

• Offer confidential email, informational

resource

• Simple way to contact your sleep lab for

appointment or more information

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Customizing Your 7 Step Sleep

Market Pyramid

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Patient/Referral Relationships

Target Market

The Marketing Self Audit

Public Relations

Understand Your Environment

Determine Your Goals

Advertising

Understanding Your Environment

• 4 Controllable Elements

– Fees

– Services Offered

– Location

– Promotion

• 4 Uncontrollable Elements

– The legal and political environment

– The social and cultural environment

– The technical environment

– The competitive environment

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The Marketing Self Audit

• What is a self audit?

– A comprehensive list of questions about

your sleep lab

• What is its purpose?

– To identify your sleep lab’s strengths

and weaknesses

Walk through your referral process and patient

services in the ‘referrer’s shoes’ and in the

‘patient’s shoes’.

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More Techniques of Marketing

• Word-of-mouth Marketing

• Asking for a Referral

• Patient Satisfaction Surveys

• Direct Mail – Introduction of center (lab) + free consultation offer

– Welcome Kit

– Postcard “appointment reminder”

– “Thank you” for visiting our center (lab)

– Asking for Referral

– Patient reactivation (new services announcement)

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More Techniques of Marketing

• Online Marketing

– Website

• Search engine optimization

• Key words

– Email campaigns

– Newsletters/Blogs

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Action

Sponsor

events and activities

that relate to sleep.

It is your opportunity

to educate the

public.

More Techniques of Marketing

• Public Relations – Column in local paper

– Regular press release distribution

– Articles in sleep & sub-specialty

publications

– Speaker on relevant news / talk radio

– Panelist on relevant discussion topics

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More Techniques of Marketing

• Special Events

– Open House

– Educational in-service meetings

– Speaking engagements

– Free seminars

• Community Outreach

– Sponsorship of foundation & charity events

– Active participation in relevant support groups

– Active participation in business associations

• Advertising

– Print

– Radio

– Television

– Online

– Billboards

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Action

Time Tested Marketing Promotions

You Can Easily Do

Visit regular and potential referral sources

Provide ‘patient sleep screening’ for family medicine groups at their practices

Consistently provide once a month ‘lunch and learn’ at selected group practices in your area

Return sleep study result reports to referring physicians within 48 hours. Always assure you will return their patients to them

Ask patients for referrals

Offer a ‘sleep health and disorders’ program to your community in a community meeting room at a library, church or other meeting venue

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Time Tested Marketing Promotions

You Can Easily Do

Speak to civic clubs (Rotary, Lions, etc.), PTA’s, churches, special interest groups, medical rounds.

Provide sleep screenings in churches, synagogues, shopping malls

Write special sleep article or column for community newspapers, neighborhood publications

Advertise your website with special, confidential sleep evaluation quizzes and inventories.

Do ‘community sleep health spot’ on local radio and TV stations

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Enhancing Your Referral Network

• Identify your best source of referrals

– Review existing referral sources

– Identify new referral sources

• Geographic location

• Sub-specialties

• Community

• Hospital

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Action

REFERRAL

DATABASE

Enhancing Your Referral Network

• Marketing Liaison

– Build relationships with referral sources

– Educate on sleep

– Host educational in-service meetings

• Create joint marketing opportunities

– Multi-specialty promotions

• Brochure

• Website linkage programs

• Special events

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Action

Measuring Your Success

• Spend your promotional dollars wisely – Based on goals

– Based on capacity

– Based on market need

• MEASURE every tactic – Establish metrics for all marketing programs

– Track the success / failure of programs

– Understand your Return On Investment (ROI)

• RE-EVALUATE your programs regularly – What may work for others may not work for you

– Discover your best practices

– Use findings to refine marketing programs

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Measurement

Tips for Success

• Start with the basics

– Increase efforts with targeted marketing

• Strategic planning is key

– ONLY implement the programs that directly match

your goals and objectives

– Understand your capabilities

• One-size DOES NOT fit all • Target your marketing efforts to make them count

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RESEARCH

STRATEGIC PLANNING

IMPLEMENTATION

MEASUREMENT

The Marketing Process

Action Planning

ACTION

PRODUCES

RESULTS!

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Questions?

???

859 312 8880

Email: kathrynhk

@msn.com