Transcript Kevin Leitz
The Public Health Marketing Project Opportunities and Challenges for Communicators Kevin W. Leitz Director, Health Promotion & Communications Saginaw County Department of Public Health Why do we market ourselves? Recognition - brand identity Competitive advantage Force perception change Public Health Marketing Project -designed to provide the tools and framework for galvanizing a much broader public understanding of our public health function. Public Health Marketing Project The survey at a glance: 69% were “aware” of a public health department serving their community The majority of these people said they were “only a little/not at all familiar with specific public health programs (EPIC MRA, Nov. 2005) What does this tell us? Portrays a less than desirable education level of what the general public knows about why we exist and what we do! Identity Crisis! Create a broader knowledge base Goals: Present public health challenges Smarter constituents speak loudly to policy makers Force change = $’s for public health Will this alone provide each of you the “unique” branding you are looking for? The dreadful marketing task… Why? 1.) Takes time 2.) Prior bad experience (was it throwing away money???) 3.) I’m already good at what I do (sit by the phone) 4.) Please, no more “rubber chicken” networking events 5.) Don’t know how to start or what to do 6.) It doesn’t work! Why should I waste time and money Believe in it! Create a belief system for your local marketing -marketing is not “selling” -what you believe about marketing your organization and what it has to offer is profoundly important in your development efforts Base your marketing on a clearly defined mission and vision – who do you want to serve and how you are going to serve them. Focus not on “what’s in it for me, but “what’s in it for them”. How can you best solve a clients problem and provide/create perception of value? Believe in what? Define your niche capabilities -efficacy in targeting certain audiences -position yourself as the topical EXPERT! -the result will distinguish the organization Why should you believe so strongly? It’s your “natural” market defined by: -contacts, reputation, expertise, experience Web statistics - know where your web traffic is headed? Know what angers you… What motivates you to act will likely motivate others… …including stakeholders and others in your community. Also consider: Revenue generators (ROI calculations) Areas where there is solid collaborative support Who’s in charge! One person designated as the “go to” person Eliminates opportunities for: -fragmented message and delivery -message becoming diluted Create measurable tags… Lead generation and lead conversion Can you effectively measure your conversion results? Inform staff of marketing activities Are they asking customers how they reached you? Make sure they understand what you are measuring Communicate results back to “go to” person Use your web page to act as a gauge Create unique landing pages for campaigns Drive traffic to page through marketing Put logos on all material that leave your door Be consistent Create your “brand” identity www.saginawpublichealth.org [email protected]