The Need for Compassion

Why Compassion as a Brand Strategy Can Lead to Greater Success in Healthcare Marketing

Fear is a powerful emotion, especially when combined with healthcare decisions.  It can be both the catalyst for treatment (“I’m afraid there’s something wrong so I should see a doctor”) and the reason for avoiding care (“I’m fearful of my diagnosis because it may be life-altering”). Making the decision to receive medical assistance during frightening or uncertain health situations is surely a difficult decision, fraught with feelings of fear, doubt, and vulnerability. So, does your healthcare brand help individuals feel comfortable and encourage them to make the decision to seek the care they need?

Put yourself in the patient’s shoes for a moment. When a diagnosis is received or a tough medical decision needs to be made, an average of 90 percent of people turn to Google for advice. They listen to their neighbor, they ask their family, and all the while, they are gathering information based on other’s experiences, hearsay, or perceptions. During this exploration, the patient is most likely experiencing feelings of fear, anxiety, and panic. So how can we effectively reach these individuals and families when they choose to seek medical care? The answer is compassion.

Compassion is the ingredient in marketing that is sometimes overlooked, but often a top priority for consumers when making healthcare decisions. Compassionate messaging helps build trust within the audience, ensuring that they are seen, and their concerns are valued by the organization they choose to trust with their care.

What are three ways compassionate marketing can positively impact your brand?

1. Compassion earns trust.
As people begin to read your content, understand your values, and interact with your brand, they begin to believe that they are seen, heard, and valued.

2. Compassion builds a community.
With an effective healthcare marketing strategy, word gets out fast that you are an organization that people can relate to. Patients are then more likely to share their experiences with others, increasing loyalty and adding to your patient base.

3. Ultimately, compassion may change someone’s life.
Over time, the small messages of compassion embedded in a letter, social media post, or webpage may encourage someone to participate in your organization, receive a treatment, or join a community that may change their life.

At Crawford, we partner with organizations that provide medical and social services for a variety of needs – such as Prisma Health, The Queen’s Health System, and FAVOR Upstate. We understand the importance of knowing your target audience and finding ways to compassionately reach them to influence how they make their healthcare decisions. How you choose to communicate with those who need medical care is critical for the success of both their healthcare journey and your organization. Do you need to consider weaving in more compassionate messaging into your communications?