Mayo Clinic's Marketing Strategy: Digital Growth and Impact

Introduction

Mayo Clinic is a healthcare provider renowned for delivering care to a large and diverse patient population. It has continued to experience tremendous growth and success at a time when the health industry — especially hospitals — faces significant pressure to reduce costs while enhancing service quality. Most hospitals have responded to this pressure by consolidating their operations in order to function more efficiently and provide cheaper care. However, Mayo Clinic has not pursued consolidation; instead, it has developed plans to expand its reach throughout the world. One of the crucial factors that has contributed to its recent success, and that serves as the cornerstone of its ambitious expansion plan, is effective marketing.

Direct Impact of Marketing for Mayo Clinic

The success and profitability of Mayo Clinic at a time when the healthcare industry faces considerable challenges is attributable to effective marketing strategies and initiatives (Nisen, 2013). Throughout its operations, Mayo Clinic has benefited from these strategies both directly and indirectly. The direct impact of marketing is a large customer base built through increased interactions between the health care provider and its patients. Through its marketing strategies, Mayo Clinic alerts consumers to potentially beneficial treatments or interventions, increases the number of patients taking necessary medication, and enhances discussions between providers and patients. This contributes to the growth of a loyal customer base, as patients receive quality care and come to regard Mayo Clinic as their preferred health care provider.

A further dimension of this expanded customer base is enhanced understanding of health conditions and treatment procedures. As customers increase their interactions with the hospital, they gain greater understanding of various health conditions and associated treatments. Marketing therefore enables Mayo Clinic to ensure its patients are better educated about their health and better positioned to take control of their own care and well-being. As a result, patient visits become more interactive and contribute to the delivery of higher-quality care services.

Utilization of Products and Services

Effective utilization of the products and services offered by Mayo Clinic is essential to its operations. The organization therefore needs a clear strategy for evaluating how its offerings are being used. Effective utilization reduces operating costs while enhancing the hospital's ability to deliver quality care that meets the evolving needs of patients. One key element of this strategy is examining patient outcomes and experiences — specifically, whether patients' health improves or deteriorates after visiting the hospital, and their level of satisfaction with the products and services they receive. Patient outcomes serve as a primary indicator of how effectively the hospital is deploying its resources to improve patient health and well-being.

A second element involves examining operational costs relative to desired goals and objectives over a defined time period. Healthcare costs are among the most important indicators of whether a provider is utilizing its products and services appropriately. By comparing actual costs against intended targets, the organization gains a clear picture of operational effectiveness. A third element is monitoring brand recognition among its patient population. Brand recognition not only reflects patient satisfaction but also indicates the degree to which resources are being used effectively to achieve positive patient outcomes.

Conclusion

Mayo Clinic has continued to experience tremendous growth and profitability at a time when the health sector is struggling due to increased consolidation. The company's success can be attributed to its effective marketing strategies and initiatives. The direct impact of its current marketing approach is a large customer base, built through increased patient satisfaction resulting from the delivery of quality care. Mayo Clinic can evaluate its utilization of products and services by examining patient outcomes and experiences, operational costs relative to desired goals, and the level of brand recognition among its patient population. In light of its ambitious plan to expand globally, the most suitable marketing strategies are digital marketing and search engine marketing. Finally, the provider can shape the buying decisions of its customers through expanded patient education, increased patient interactions online, and targeted messaging that reaches customers at their point of need based on their specific conditions.

References

Aiello, M. (2015, May 6). Mayo Clinic's digital marketing strategy drives engagement. HealthLeaders Media. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://healthleadersmedia.com/page-2/MAR-316083/Mayo-Clinics-Digital-Marketing-Strategy-Drives-Engagement

Nisen, M. (2013, February 13). Mayo Clinic has a radical plan to expand its reach across the world. Business Insider. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/mayo-clinic-ceo-future-of-healthcare-2013-2

Radulescu, V., & Cetina, I. (2011). The impact of health care consumer education on marketing strategies of health services organizations. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 388–393.