Contrarian Mental Health Advocate | CEO | Expert in Behavioral Health Strategy, Marketing, & Growth | Recovery Exec Podcast Host
"We don't need marketing" says the business owner. I've heard this at one time or another in every healthcare vertical. This is a valid statement in 2 contexts: 1) The program is small with an excellent reputation. In this case, they simply don't need many patients and so the small volume they get from word of mouth is enough. 2) They're the only, or one of only a few, games in town. There's not enough choice, so they get patients by default. This was the norm with many MAT providers for a long time, but is true of many healthcare providers at various stages or in various geographies. What happens is then competiton comes in or they need to grow to compete. Now they haven't developed any competency in marketing, while competitors have. Competitors come in and start getting the lion's share of the patients and the provider then wonders what's hit them. As I always tell providers, you need to dedicate a percentage of your revenue to marketing at all times, even if you "don't need it." This creates a defensive moat and an internal competency that will prove invaluable because we live in a capitalist economy and competition with ALWAYS come in. #marketing #strategy #healthcare
