Brining It Altogether

Bringing IT Altogether

Distinguishing between the health care marketing approach and consumer goods marketing approach

There is a huge difference between the marketing approach of a health care marketer and consumer goods marketers. However, comparatively less attention is diverted towards the differences of market orientations. There can be a difference in the marketing approaches, but the core objective of both remains same which is to ultimately generate sales and revenue.

Health care firms previously did not realized the importance of the marketing function, but as the competition developed it became necessary to sustain the business by creating competitive advantage. The consumer markets require sensing the needs of customers and then providing them with the products or services wherever they want. It is not about designing the products or services, but ensuring that it reaches the target market.

Health care marketing approach

Health care industry has undergone a remarkable transformation in US. The advancement in health care is continuous and rapid. The health care industry is truly dynamic, and marketing is the core support function. The fact is that US spends substantially more resources on health care sector. Health care industry has become aware about the usefulness of marketing tools for promotional activities. The health care delivery systems are changing, and the markets are going under radical changes. Developing an effective marketing plan for health care institutions is not an easy task and requires significant efforts. Health care marketing strategies are directed mainly from consumerism and government legislation (https://docs.google.com).

The health care marketing is a process of management orientation towards the health care system to determine the needs and demands of the target market and establishing a system in such a manner that it delivers the desired level of satisfaction. The health care marketer connects the prospective patients with provider. The health care marketer task involves educating the prospective patients to choose the proper health care provider and provide them with knowledge. The health care marketer emphasizes more on personal selling mediums rather than mass marketing through advertisements. They try to create close and enduring relationships with their prospective consumers (Berkowitz, n.d.).

The growing tendency to go shopping between hospitals, access to information and awareness has made marketing a vital element for success in highly competitive industry of healthcare. It was never so important for the health care sector to understand the needs and wants of consumers.

The aim of health care marketer is more on customer satisfaction and less on a particular product or service. They want to serve customers in such a way that they are satisfied and come back again. Moreover, the marketer wants customers to be satisfied so that she or he may recommend the institution to others. To help the firms prepare a valuable offering, marketer uses the marketing mix tool different from the consumer good market offerings.

The health care marketing strategies are affected by many factors. Some of the factors are government regulatory changes, technological advancement and other environmental elements. Health care consumers expect relevant and easily accessible information (Berkowitz, ...