How To Create Grrrreat Marketing

DJ Smith / Mar 18th / Comments

Leo Burnett, the marketing genius behind advertising icons such as Tony The Tiger, Toucan Sam, and The Pillsbury Doughboy, once said about marketing, “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations never got that message. A great deal of healthcare marketing, if you can call it that, is complicated, forgetful, clunky, and meaningless. Most healthcare providers think having a Web site is simply having some text and images taking up space on the Internet. Still others think that the templates in Microsoft Word make for persuasive brochures. So here’s my take on what Mr. Burnett was trying to tell us and how it applies to healthcare:

1. Make it simple.
Many healthcare providers believe they need to give a college dissertation on the products and services they offer. Their marketing attempts look more like a Rube Goldberg machine than effective communication. By the time they are finished explaining their offerings their targets have moved on to something less complex. Make sure that you are keeping things simple. Less is more. Don’t make your target work so hard to understand what you’re trying to offer.

2. Make it memorable.
In an overly connected world where information flies around at the speed of light (and in mass quantity), there is so much noise that your target is having to sort through. Consider how your marketing efforts are going to get attention over the competition. Sure, you think it makes sense or looks creative, but will your audience see it that way? You can’t think like you. You must think like your target. What does it take to get the grey matter between their ears to light up and react to your message? If you don’t make a cognitive impact on your target then you’re just wasting money.

3. Make it inviting to look at.
It’s widely accepted that most people are visual learners. Just the thought of having a Web site, brochure, or any other marketing collateral filled with nothing but text destines most pieces to the round file. People simply don’t have time to read a lot of copy. However, if you will take that same copy and provide visual breaks you will help your target digest your information better. Having a cohesive color palette, using a legible font, and utilizing images that support the copy are all very important considerations when creating effective marketing collateral. Additionally, if your marketing efforts look half-baked then YOU will be perceived as half-baked. A competitor need only look more professional than you to win. It pays to look good.

4. Make it fun to read.
As attention spans dwindle to seconds, you have a daunting task of getting your message across quickly. That doesn’t mean that what you say or do must be boring or stale. Give your target something hang on to. Let them into your organization in a clever way (note: by clever I don’t mean asinine or unprofessional). You have the opportunity to actually build a personality for your organization. Keep your headlines short and powerful. Ask a question to get the target to interact with your copy. Use an image that offers a unique slant to the meaning of the copy. Make your marketing engaging and you’ll pull more motion from your audience.

I wonder how Mr. Burnett would have marketed healthcare? Instead of a Jolly Green Giant selling peas would we have seen a Jolly Blue Doc heroically standing over a hospital selling service lines? I don’t know. I do know that keeping your marketing simple, memorable, pleasing to the eyes, and fun will certainly do you a better job than what most healthcare providers are doing these days. If you keep these tips in mind, your marketing efforts will be, in the immortal words of Tony the Tiger, “Grrrrrrreat!”