How do you sort a big marketing effect with a small budget? Using social media, also B2B. Where do you start and where do we still fail if we have already started? Last week, several speakers at MARCOM12 shared the secret of their successful strategy.
Wednesday 13 June and Thursday 14 June MARCOM12 took place in the RAI in Amsterdam. Come share and create opportunities! That was the slogan of the event. The turnout was high: the counter on the site was at 13,939 registrations, of which 7,000 were ultimately present. The number of exhibitors and speakers was also correspondingly high. Sometimes there were nine sessions going on at the same time and still the part of the audience that had to stand was larger than the number of available seats. Here is the report of three sessions on Wednesday 13 June.
Marketing communication as a change instrument
Speaker: Celia Noordegraaf – Communications Woman of the Year 2011.
Celia NoordegraafCelia has been (among other things) Manager Marketing & Communication at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital since 2007. She was given a tough assignment: “Develop professional healthcare marketing against the background of the changing healthcare system.” How do you tackle that, if you can’t rely on a large budget for traditional research and campaigns? Celia gave us her assets. Below is a selection of the options that were deployed.
The JBZ moved into a new building in the spring of 2011. Much had already been achieved in the period leading up to that. Through relationship management and a proactive press policy, the marketing communications team worked (and works) to put the hospital on the map.
Attention
It started with the driving of the first pile. Not a one-time event, a whole 'first pile week' was devoted to it. The press picked it up and the first positive attention was a fact.
Knowledge platform
Businesses and medical management meet(ed) each other on a knowledge platform . The objective is to stimulate innovation, establish an entrepreneurial climate.
Press
A proactive press policy was introduced. Every week a press release had to be delivered, news or no news. A transparent approach was pursued by also being open about the negative aspects, such as avoidable mortality figures. All new developments and innovations were measured, whether it was a new treatment method or a new doctor. It was summer time, silly season, the newspapers picked it up: free publicity galore.
Service area and 'Friends of…'
A beautiful model was created and there is a monthly lecture on developments in health care. The Friends of the JBZ foundation was also established. In this way, people in the hospital's care area are approached in a positive way in various ways to think along about the developments. Which projects are important? Becoming a friend and making a donation comes later, the aim was to first create a fertile soil.
Queue for the busCharity
A bus was sent into the province, along squares and markets, with hostesses who talk to people in the region. It triggers all kinds of initiatives. Schools bake cookies for patients, there will be a sister run and a gala. A lunch with Guus Meeuwis will be auctioned off and there will be a poker night with Fatima Moreira de Melo. All this raised so much money that a budget has been created for art as part of the communication mix.
Results
This approach is paying off. Opinion polls by the Brabants Dagblad (2012) show that pride in the hospital has grown enormously, three quarters of residents have already been to the new hospital, patients rate the hospital with a 7.7 and only philippines telegram data 6% do not know the Jeroen Bosch Hospital.
The secret
Don't just invest in your personal network, but in your organization's network
Analyze what the most important strategic challenge of your organization is and what you can contribute to this through communication
Think broad, everything is communication
Think visually, what do you want on the front page of the newspaper?
Think in possibilities
Inspire
And she does the latter! More than I can capture in a report, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the possibilities that exist, even on a limited budget.
Social media strategy and planning
Speaker: Hans Molenaar, Director Beeckestijn Business School and Chairman of the Platform Innovation in Marketing
We all have to do something with social media. Hans Molenaar's message was: think about it carefully in advance. Because what do we want to achieve? Most of us use social to recruit. But we can also retain customers with it (relationship maintenance) or reactivate them.