Sharpen your focus through community research

Effective marketing is a true blend of art and science. People tend to remember the "art part" — the creative elements of a campaign. But art's role is to make communications distinctive and memorable. The role of science is to pinpoint and assess the topics that need to be addressed in the first place. Finding out what your market really knows — or doesn't know — about your hospice organization is critical. And that's where scientific research comes in.
 

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VOLUME 2MAY 2009

Make no mistake. Research done properly is a true science. That's why we highly recommend hiring an independent research firm skilled in its disciplines. (Transcend works regularly with a couple of such firms with hospice experience, and we'll gladly pass along those names to you upon request.)

By conducting scientifically significant surveys of your particular market, you'll be able to identify, quantify and prioritize which messages to tackle first. Plus, the data you gather on those topics will provide a baseline to measure future progress against.

While each market is unique in several important aspects, we see certain trends nationwide when it comes to knowledge about hospice care. Some interesting trends include:

  

Little knowledge about how hospice care is paid for, or that it's covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
Low understanding of what is included in the hospice "package," including equipment and meds.
Wide perception that hospice care is mostly for cancer patients. "Cancer" is consistently the most stated answer when survey participants are asked what illness they associate with hospice:
Cancer — 78% average unaided response
Heart disease — 18% average unaided response
Old age — 6% average unaided response
 
About 50% of respondents typically say their first source of information about hospices should be their doctor.
The majority of respondents think of hospice as a place, not a philosophy or service. When asked to recall the name of the community's hospice, they will often refer to the physical location of the hospice house.

One trend that we see differ from market to market is the terminology that the community feels comfortable with when it comes to considering hospice. Some markets are more comfortable saying it's appropriate to contact hospice at the point of a terminal illness diagnosis, while others are more comfortable stating when the "health condition worsens":

SITUATION
Market A Ranking
Market B Ranking
Terminal illness diagnosis
1
3
Health condition worsens
3
1
Caregiver can no longer do it alone
2
2
     
 
 

With just these few examples, consider the implications if you discover such trends hold true for your market. You would have a clear understanding of crucial topics that need clarification. You would know to empower the community to contact your hospice directly for information and to give your physician referrers the tools that share consistent messaging. You would even have a sense of the types of wording that resonate with your community.

The power of scientific research can't be overestimated. It's the solid foundation on which to build your marketing communications campaign.

  

 
TranscendHospiceMarketing.com419-241-2247

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