Hackvertising: What it is; How to Use It

The next step is to study the rules of healthcare marketing so you can bend or break them without breaking the laws and regulations that are in force.

This step is one where many generalists and dabblers who own marketing, advertising, branding and public relations agencies come up short. They forget that healthcare marketing regulations constrain tactics and strategies because the laws and regulations are enacted to protect vulnerable consumers.  For example, they create campaigns with words like “better” or “best” and other superlatives without externally or independently validated substantiation. They talk about cures and treatments as exact sciences. The make claims that look good in ads, but providers can’t consistently deliver what’s promised. That which is nefarious is not their intention. But it becomes so out of laziness and ignorance and stepping far beyond their competency limits in pursuit of accounts and revenues. Instead of “always be closing”, they should invest some time in learning healthcare marketing craft before selling providers something that looks good while breaking the laws.

The third step is to find a relevant way to insert your brand into the conversation. To do this requires clarity on your brand point of view and clear objectives.   A strong and well-developed point of view gives your brand, services and products (such as a domestic or near-market medical travel program) personality, authenticity, and individuality and makes it easier for customers to decide to engage with you.

Point of view begins with examining your overall advertising environment and the options the provider would like to exploit through a sound marketing strategy. First examine advertising trends within the local, regional and national healthcare marketplaces. Select the ones that are most viable for your brand. Examine target markets of each media vehicle to determine if viewers, readers, listeners and subscribers are likely to respond to the advertisement and its placement. Create comparable options and evaluate the pros and cons of each option.  This will elucidate the most cost-effective opportunities. 

Review production costs and budget considerations to deploy your marketing and advertising hackvertising plan.  When I prepare these POV reports and proposals, I advise clients about how much they have to invest, plus ways to shift around current advertising tactics to make funds available for the new opportunity they’re examining. If the advertising option is viable, but too expensive for the current budget, the media planning team may suggest adding the advertising option to the plans for the following quarter or year.  I let them earn revenues from their existing efforts and then encourage them to use some of the margins as a set aside for the future campaigns.