As the owner of an independent community pharmacy, you may pride yourself on greeting your patients by name, remembering their prescriptions and knowing details about their personal lives.
Although your current patients may already know about the personalized service your pharmacy offers, how do you make potential patients aware?
If you’re currently trying to attract new patients to your pharmacy, focus on promoting the special one-on-one treatment your pharmacy provides in your marketing efforts. This personal touch differentiates you from your competition.
Here are a few tips to make the unique qualities your pharmacy has to offer evident in your marketing.
Starting out
The beginning of the marketing process is about getting to know your patient base. It goes beyond what you already know—or think you know about your patients.
Researching the demographics (age, gender, etc. ) and psychographics (interests, opinions, lifestyle, etc.) of your patients should be the first step in understanding your patient base. You can hire a marketing company or dig through your point-of-sale and prescription data to uncover this information. From there, you’ll see what types of patients account for the most scripts at your pharmacy. You may be surprised by the results.
Setting your strategy
Whether on social media, newspaper ads or your website, it’s important to showcase who you are. For example, you won’t stand out from the crowd if you only include information regarding the services you offer on your website, and don’t demonstrate your identity and personality as a business.
Consumers make purchasing decisions with their emotions, so be sure to emphasize emotion in your marketing strategy. Why did you become a pharmacist? Why did you open an independent community pharmacy? Tell your story, but always keep your patients in mind. How can they benefit from a pharmacy with a personal touch?
Determining your tactics
Once you’ve defined your strategy, it’s time to set your tactics. How are you going to accomplish your strategy of showing you’re a pharmacy that offers personal treatment and one-on-one care? Here are a few ideas.
A collection of surveys conducted by TechValidate, a web-based marketing content automation software program, looked at the successes and challenges of marketing strategies of various marketing professionals. The surveys revealed that customer testimonials are one of the most beneficial marketing strategies.
Your pharmacy can apply this strategy to your marketing by including patient testimonials on your website, in brochures and even on signage. Testimonials can catch people’s attention and create a personal connection to your pharmacy before patients even step foot into your store.
Another tactic to showcase your pharmacy’s personal care is to use pictures of people in your marketing and promotions. A study by the Nielsen Norman Group, an online research and consulting firm, revealed that people respond positively to images of real people on webpages.
Hire a professional photographer to take pictures of you and your staff. Ask patients if they would be willing to be featured in a testimonial about their experience at your pharmacy. Showing real people on your various marketing platforms will give potential patients a taste of the experience that awaits them when they come to your pharmacy.
Once you get patients in your store, don’t forget to create an unforgettable patient experience that keeps them coming back again and again.
