The Marriage of Art & Science

"Stop thinking about what you want and start thinking about what people need."
  [design by ilovedust]

During my junior year of college, it was an advertising professor who first told me that marketing was both a science and an art — and those words have proven to be true in each new project I encounter. Combining linear scientific logic with creatively analytic brainstorming is the formula for a marketing sweet spot.

The science aspect of marketing is about the quantifiable process. It involves analyzing the measurable details to draw logical conclusions: 

• What is your marketing goal?
• Who are you trying to reach with your message?
• What is your budget and/or timeline?
• What tools are available to you?
• Does my plan conform to Medicare guidelines?

The art aspect is about the intangible, gut feelings in marketing. Being able to understand how your customers think and feel is important for motivating a call-to-action:

• What does your patient want?
• What does your referral source want?
• How can you make your company "easy to use?"
• Who do you need on your marketing team?
• Can I get my staff to participate?

Content Marketing: Your Secret Weapon

"What really decides consumers 'to buy' or 'not to buy'
is the content of your advertising, not its form."

David Ogilvy

Ok... maybe it's not that secret, but content marketing has been growing in popularity for one very important reason: it works.

If content marketing is a new term for you, have no fear, it's a simple concept. Rather than purchasing flashy tools or distracting giveaways, content marketing is a strategy of focusing your marketing efforts around quality, informative, relevant messages to your consumer. It doesn't mean that some giveaways aren't also important; they just shouldn't be the workhorse of your marketing plan. The idea is to create deeper connections with your current and potential consumers to facilitate long-term relationships. For example, a monthly newsletter filled with relevant content is much more valuable to the middle-aged sleep apnea patient than a pillow shaped stress ball with your company logo on it.

This article from Entrepreneur (written by Ann Handley) does a nice job of outlining some basic tips for developing your own content marketing. Here are a few of the suggestions from the article:

Compare: Why are you better than the next provider? That's what your potential customers are asking when they visit your website for the first time. Does your website give them an answer? Try including a downloadable PDF with your features, benefits and why you are better than the HME down the street.

Use Resources Wisely: This happens to be an old Girl Scout motto (at least when I was a Brownie!) but it works in business, too. The success stories of your current patients - and referral sources - are great stories to tell about your company. Use them.

FAQs: This an opportunity for you to create some transparency and share how you do business. Especially in health care, sometimes there are more questions than answers and giving some of those answers up front can help potential customers feel more comfortable from the get go.

Celebrate the New Year with a... Marketing Calendar?

I get the impression that most people view marketing plans as something they know they are supposed to have but probably gets pushed aside until very last minute... or until never. I'm willing to bet that most small businesses don't have have one that they actually use.
(If your company still doesn't have a working marketing plan, please send me an email. I will send you an easy, 5-step guide for creating a marketing plan!)


Today, I'd like to focus on a very under-used part of a marketing plan: the marketing calendar. Even if you're still struggling with the details of your marketing plan, a marketing calendar can help you turn talk into action.


Start by gathering your marketing team to talk about what you need to accomplish in the upcoming year and be sure to include talk about how your year is structured. For example, we know that patient deductibles are renewed in January and (usually) met by December, which means Q4 is a great time to focus on accessories and follow up with patients. We know holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day and Grandparent's Day are great times for gift giving and may be a good time to target cash sales to caregivers/families. Also think about how your company operates: are there times of the year when certain products sell more? Are there any big events taking place this year that may require marketing? Take advantage of that information in your marketing!


Once this discussion gets going and ideas are flowing, start plugging details into the calendar. Put the important and non-flexible dates in first so you can work around them. Be sure to note holidays, marketing themes, product focuses and sales. List the marketing materials you will need, including how much production time you will need to execute them. (For example, if you are running an ad in the newspaper be sure to find out when the ad is due to the publication and how much time you need to put it together.) This will be a living document for you to use as a tool - don't be afraid to move things around and change your mind a few times in the process!


Your marketing calendar can be nothing more than a theme for each month or detailed enough to contain the whole year's media buy. The important part is to include enough information to keep your team on task and make sure it keeps you on top of your marketing. And if you have any questions, call me: 248.227.6930