Use of B2B and B2C in Health Care

Use of B2B and B2C in Health Care

C. Villalobos

HCS/490 – Health Care Consumer – Trends and Marketing

May 14, 2018

Linda Williams

Use of B2B and B2C in Health Care

Business to business transactions occur hundreds of times per day within the healthcare system and so do business to consumer transactions – where patients are the consumers. Healthcare costs are steadily rising each year, and as the market changes, patient satisfaction is the leading method in which healthcare providers are eligible to attain available funds through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. But, how does a healthcare provider relay the message that they are the facility a patient should visit over the competition? We have determined the five key elements in healthcare marketing are: loyalty, target audience, credibility, technology, and appeal.

Loyalty

In today’s market patients have countless options when it comes to seeking healthcare and treatment. Patients are the consumers of the healthcare market, and there is an increasing demand to improve the patient experience. Providing a patient with an experience where they feel appreciated, comforted, and like an individual – although you may have many patients waiting to be seen – promotes a sense of loyalty to that patient. A patient will continue to return to a hospital or physician’s office where they have been content with medical care, as well as, how they have been treated. While you can almost always count on patient rates fluctuating if you can maintain the satisfaction of patients you see there will be little to no need in working so persistently to obtain new ones. “Reward the customers you have so you never open the door for consideration.” Ryan, S. (2012).

Audience

Another key factor with B2B and B2C is to promote attention to a certain audience. This helps the business get their products out so that a specific audience will use it. The more attention a business has with their product can help build the business. This can include using social media and maybe having a billboard to grab attention. In health B2B and B2C can help promote the product whether it is through a referral to another doctor or as simple as seeing a prescription ad in the doctor’s office. Both ways help the business get themselves known.

Credibility

Credibility is another key factor in B2B and B2C marketing. If the brand provided to the consumer does not seem credible, it will cast a lot of doubts and therefore push more gain to other competitors. For example, a healthcare product is deemed to be the best allergy medicine on the market. Well if you are getting a lot of feedback from consumers disagree with these statements, it will make expansion less likely to happen. Therefore, content marketing is a beautiful way to boost the credibility. Meaning, always finding ways to bring the product’s attention to different consumers in several different ways, upholding the cross-channel initiative (Ryan, 2012).

Evolving Technology

Because of the rapid advances in technology the lines between B2B and B2C have become blurred. The explosion of advertising and media channels has also added to the blurring of B2B and B2C. In pharmaceuticals, for example, we have seen the interaction between consumer and industrial marketing. Pharmaceutical firms have long focused on professional audiences such as physicians, hospitals, clinics and insurance providers. In recent years, however, they have recognized the need to combine this approach with extensive consumer marketing campaigns to build consumer awareness and demand for new drugs and treatments. Rather than relying on channels to drive awareness, these companies work from the consumer side and the industrial side simultaneously to create sales in the middle. Physicians, of course, also see and are influenced by the consumer ads and are showing an increased inclination to respond favorably to consumers’ requests (a development that has raised some concerns in the medical profession).

Appeal

When marketing to people whether it be B2B or B2C you need to make the product appealing to the person. Such as when you target a certain audience you must make sure that you are targeting properly. If your product if for people 65 and older, make billboards, commercial and pamphlets appeal to them, by using people their age in the aid, make sure that your pictures are something they would be doing at 65 or older. If you choose to market differently, you may lose out on business because you have targeted the wrong consumer for the product. Be sure when marketing Make sure your campaign is something that people can relate to rather than something they are not interested in, for instance, if you are targeting kids, open up your imagination to what kids like and go from there. Making sure to target properly will make the appeal factor get the attention you are seeking.

Conclusion

While no one has control over the direction in which the healthcare market is evolving, providers do have the ability to identify areas of opportunity and adjust themselves accordingly. By incorporating B2B and B2C methods, as well as, utilizing key marketing elements such as loyalty, target audience, credibility, technology, and appeal, healthcare providers can expect to endure whatever the future may hold.

References

Ryan, S. (2012, October). Five Keys to B2B and B2C Marketing Success

Retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/marketing/five-keys-to-b2b-and-b2c-marketing-success-0305293

Wind, Y. (. (2006). Blurring the lines: Is there a need to rethink industrial marketing? Journal of

Business & Industrial Marketing, 21(7), 474-481. doi:10.1108/08858620610708975