What Is A Healthcare Marketing Plan

12/16/2016 What Is A Healthcare Marketing Plan?
What I A Health Care Marketing Plan?
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What I A Health Care Marketing Plan?
Lat Updated on Augut 10, 2016 (http://www.healthcareucce.com/log/healthcare-marketing/what-i-marketing-plan.html) tewart Gandolf
(http://www.healthcareucce.com/log/author/tewart-gandolf)
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How We Develop Hopital, Medical and Dental Marketing Plan
A marketing plan i not a lit of marketing idea from which ou randoml elect di erent concept to tet or
comine for trial-and-error experimentation. That i jut random, epiodic, paghetti-on-the-wall marketing
activit – which i almot alwa a high-rik precription for diappointment, frutration and failure.
A marketing plan i a trategic document that i deigned to facilitate the achievement of peci c uine
goal and ojective over a peci c time period. 3
Would ou conider hiring contractor to uild out our new hopital, o ce or clinic without rt developing and approving the

architectural lueprint? Well, that’ eentiall what ou are doing when ou engage in random, reactionar marketing activitie
without rt developing a well thought out marketing plan.
Mot marketing plan are conceived to extend no longer than one ear efore the plan i reaeed for modi cation, addition,
utraction or entire reinvention depending on contantl evolving uine goal and circumtance. In fact, a properl
implemented marketing plan i contantl eing aeed  accurate and conitent tracking tem to evaluate the plan’
performance againt expectation. Thi continual evaluation i performed o that ongoing adjutment can e made to improve
the plan’ ield.
ene t of a Marketing Plan
A good marketing plan (http://www.healthcareucce.com/hopital/marketing-plan) allow ou to anticipate, ae, prepare,
uild a road map to follow, cover-our-ae, contruct necear upport tem, protect ourelf and dramaticall improve
our chance for marketing ucce. A plan i an eential uine tool for hopital, medical group or provider practice.
Critical lement of a Marketing Plan
Target Marketing – talihing Target Cutomer
Competition Anali
WOT Anali (http://www.healthcareucce.com/log/healthcare-marketing/wot-anali-reviited-harpen-our-
competitive-trateg.html) (trength, Weaknee, Opportunitie and Threat)
MART Goal
trategie and Tactic
http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/healthcaremarketing/whatismarketingplan.html 1/15
Marketing udget
Marketing tem
Target Marketing – talihing Target Cutomer
Your marketing udget i going to e mot e ective when it reache our elected target market. The ene t of target marketing
i imple—e cienc. olid target marketing i a method to more e cientl reach our cutomer*. Target marketing i a etter
ue of our mot valuale reource, i.e. time and mone, to generate additional revenue.
(* In thi weite, we ue the term “patient” and “cutomer” interchangeal. We do thi intentionall ecaue it i vital that ou
and our ta think of and treat our patient A cutomer and not impl a medical or dental chart and record. Apparentl,
thi i eaier aid than done if ou judge  the wa mot patient are often treated.)
Your goal i to get to know a much information a ou can aout our exiting or propective cutomer. The more ou know
aout our cutomer, the etter ou will e ale to make deciion that will enhance our ailit to communicate and connect
with them.
Who do ou conider will ene t the mot from our product and ervice? Think of the people and their mot common
characteritic and attriute. One of the et wa to identif our target market i to look at our exiting cutomer ae. Who
are our ideal client? What do the have in common? If ou do not have an exiting cutomer ae, or if ou are targeting a
completel new audience, peculate on who the might e, aed on their need and the ene t the will receive. Invetigate
competitor or imilar uinee in other market to gain inight.
Four Wa to Identif Target Market
Ue thee four categor area a ou collect information to identif and de ne our target market:
1. Geographic: The location, ize of the area, denit, and climate zone of our cutomer. 1
2. Demographic: The age, gender, income, famil compoition and ize, occupation, and education of our cutomer.
3. Pchographic: The general peronalit, ehavior, life-tle, rate of ue, repetition of need, ene t ought, and loalt
characteritic of our cutomer.
4. ehavior: The need and want our cutomer eek to ful ll, the level of knowledge, information ource, attitude, ue or
repone to a product of our cutomer.
Focu on ene t
One of the marketing fundamental i focuing on ene t. Thi perpective i critical to target marketing. talihing an
intimate undertanding aout the need and want of our deired target market i critical. How will our cutomer ene t from
uing our ervice or product?
What tangile or intangile ene t might cutomer realize, and i it poile to quantif thee ene t? What i our cutomer

reall uing? Thi much i certain: No one want to u urger! Or dentitr! Or phical 1 therap! Or invaive procedure!
People purchae ervice and product (including healthcare ervice) to realize one or more of the following life-improvement
ene t:
Pain relief
Productivit
Ailitie
Con dence
Appearance
Peronal relationhip
Peace of mind
aicall, ou all ell the ame product – a happier life. At leat, that i what our cutomer want to u.
The Target Market Pro le
The target market proce allow u to reak down thee group of people o we can etter undertand how to reach them. One
wa to do thi i to create a target market pro le. Here i an example of a target market pro le:
1. Geographic:
Live within the ZIP code 97401, 97402 and 97405.
2. Demographic:
Married.
etween the age of 21-35.
At leat one child.
Condominium or home owner.
ducation experience eond high chool.
arning a comined annual famil income of $50,000 or greater.
3. Pchographic:
Value time and conider it their ingle mot limited reource.
xcited aout accepting and uing innovative idea and product.
Conitent We uer. Prefer the Internet over magazine and newpaper for information the trut.
Increaing reource inveted into afet and ecurit iue.
eginning to plan for their future.
4. ehavior:
The are leader in product election and repond to the opinion of the “indutr expert” when making purchae deciion.
Thi group will rt look to the Internet to acquire thi information.
The defend thee deciion under mot an circumtance and will adamantl “ell” thoe that ak wh the ue the product
or ervice and wh the made the choice the did.
Thi group can e a powerful, unpaid ale force reulting from the referral network the uild and ue.
Target marketing allow ou to reach, create awarene in, and ultimatel in uence, that group of people mot likel to elect
our product and ervice a a olution to their need, while uing fewer reource and generating greater return.
The more detail ou know aout our “ideal” cutomer and client, the etter ou will e ale to make them aware of our
product and ervice, and how to purchae them through ou.
Target Audience Characteritic  Generation and Cohort
How much do ou know aout the characteritic and uing tendencie of peci c group that make up our target audience?
One wa that ma marketer evaluate their deired audience i through the tud of thee generational group.
A generational cohort ha een de ned a “the aggregation of individual (within ome population de nition) who experience

the ame event within the ame time interval” (Rder, N., The cohort a a concept in the tud of ocial change, preented at the
1959 annual meeting of the American ociological Aociation). The notion of a group of people ound together  the haring
of the experience of common hitorical event wa rt introduced  Karl Mannheim in the earl 1920. Toda the concept ha
found it wa into popular culture through well known epitome like “a oomer” and “Gen-Xer”.
Toda we ue the following decriptor for thee cohort. Di erent ource will provide di erent range of ear that comprie

each cohort, ut the following information repreent a reaonale cro-ection of thi information.
Depreion cohort (orn from 1912 to 1921) o Memorale event : The Great Depreion, high level of unemploment,
povert, lack of creature comfort, nancial uncertaint o Ke characteritic: trive for nancial ecurit, rik avere, wate
not want not attitude, trive for comfort
WWII cohort (orn from 1922 to 1927) o Memorale event: men leaving to go to war and man not returning, the peronal
experience of the war, women working in factorie, focu on defeating a common enem o Ke characteritic: the noilit
of acri ce for the common good, patriotim, team plaer
Pot-war cohort (orn from 1928 to 1945) o Memorale event: utained economic growth, ocial tranquilit, The Cold
War, McCarthim o Ke characteritic: conformit, conervatim, traditional famil value
a oomer cohort #1 (orn from 1946 to 1954) o Memorale event: aaination of JFK, Roert Kenned, and Martin
Luther King, political unret, walk on the moon, Vietnam War, anti-war protet, ocial experimentation, exual freedom, civil
right movement, environmental movement, women’ movement, protet and riot, experimentation with variou
intoxicating recreational utance o Ke characteritic: experimental, individualim, free pirited, ocial caue oriented
a oomer cohort #2 (orn from 1955 to 1964) (aka “Late oomer” or “Generation Jone” or “Trailing dge oomer”) o
Memorale event: Watergate, Nixon reign, The rad unch, Twiter, defeat in Vietnam, the oil emargo, raging in ation,
gaoline hortage o Ke characteritic: practical, pragmatic, le optimitic, ditrut of government, general cnicim
Generation X cohort (orn from 1965 to 1976) o Memorale event: Challenger exploion, Iran-Contra, ocial malaie,
Reaganomic, AID, afe ex, fall of erlin Wall, ingle parent familie o Ke characteritic: quet for emotional ecurit,
independent, informalit, entrepreneurial
Generation Y cohort (orn from 1977 to 1994) (aka cho oomer, cho Generation, Millenium Generation) o Memorale
event: rie of the Internet, 9-11 terrorit attack, cultural diverit, 2 war in Iraq o Ke characteritic: quet for phical
ecurit and afet, patriotim, heightened fear, acceptance of change
Competition
ucce i not achieved  ignoring our competitor ut rather  anticipating competitive iue and in uence o ou can
alwa have a proactive plan and trateg for taing ahead of our competition. There are man wa to compile good reearch
on our competition. Here we will lit the eaiet and mot e ective procee.
Internet Competitive Reearch
Media Competitive reearch
ar-to-the-ground Competitive Reearch
Analzing Your Data
Internet Competitive Reearch
In toda’ Internet ociet, acce to information ha never een etter or eaier.
For the primar competitor ou have alread identi ed, ou can conduct a imple Google earch with the name of the health
tem, hopital facilit, uine, practice or the name of the owner() and that will uuall lead ou to their weite. In man
cae, their weite will feature how the are attempting to poition and di erentiate themelve, a well a liting the cope of
program, ervice and/or product the o er.
In addition to a competitor’ weite, ou ma alo nd other intereting information aout the provider() or the facilit. Thi
information might include article the have authored, media interview, legal action that are pulic information, etc.
For a more comprehenive lit of our competitor, ou can do an Internet earch  our profeion or pecialt and our area,
jut like a propective patient might do. For example, if ou tpe “platic urgeon Lo Angele” ou will draw up a earch reult
that include:
ite that lit platic urgeon throughout the Lo Angele area
“ nd a doctor” ite
Yellow Page online director ite
individual ite of ome of our more ophiticated and aggreive Internet competitor who have managed to get a high
earch engine ranking for their weite through e ective earch optimization.
In man cae, the compilation lit ite include link to the individual weite.
Media Competitive reearch
There are man wa ou can tud our local media to get additional competitive information.
For example, even though Yellow Page advertiing (http://www.healthcareucce.com/advertiing/ellow-page) ha een
impacted omewhat  increaing Internet marketing, ou will till nd the mot aggreive marketing competitor through their
large pace dipla ad in our local Yellow Page directorie.
A with our competitive weite reearch, ou will learn from thee Yellow Page ad how our more amitiou competitor tr
to poition and di erentiate themelve, a well a the program, ervice and product that the o er, their hour of operation,
pecial feature and ene t, emergenc acce, etc.
You can alo can and collect competitive advertiing (http://www.healthcareucce.com/advertiing) from local newpaper
ad, direct mail, TV commercial, radio commercial, illoard or other media. When ou pa more attention, ou will alo egin
to notice an article, pulicit or other pulic relation expoure that our competitor ma achieve in the media.
If ou don’t live in the area where ou work, ou can enlit the help of other who do live in the area. Thi group ma include
emploee, friend, relative or even our patient (auming the are unquetional loal to ou).
ar-to-the-ground Competitive Reearch
Often, thi tpe of “in the eld” leuthing i the mot e ective wa to gain competitive intelligence, epeciall from thoe

competitor whoe marketing i not advertiing-aed or viile in the media. You can – and hould enlit a virtuall arm of
“pecial agent” who are conditioned to have their ear to the ground for anthing the hear or learn aout our competitor.
Thi group include pharmaceutical detail rep, vendor, loal patient, hopital ta , our emploee, friend and relative. You
ma e urpried at how much information i availale to ou if ou know how to uncover it.
Analzing Your Data
When ou ferret out valuale competitive reearch, ou need to take advantage of what ou learn. ucce in uine i aout
anticipation, planning and action. uine i not deigned to e fair and 80% of the uine will go to 20% of the plaer (The
80-20 Rule). The winner in that 20% group are ale to anticipate, plan and take deciive action efore their competitor even
know what hit them.
Analze our competitive reearch and put together our own deciive plan of action that i deigned to put ou (or keep ou) at
the top of the food chain.
WOT Anali (trength, Weaknee, Opportunitie and Threat)
WOT i an acronm for trength, Weaknee, Opportunitie and Threat. A periodic evaluation of our internal and external
environment i an important part of the trategic planning proce. ecaue WOT are inherentl ujective, it i alwa good to
get an external WOT anali from a well-informed ut ojective third part that can e compared to our own WOT.
trength and Weaknee are the internal evaluation component of the WOT. Opportunitie and Threat comprie the external
evaluation.
One of the more intereting de nition of marketing i that “Marketing i the proce  which reource are rought to ear
againt opportunitie and threat.” In order to determine which reource ou can ring to ear againt opportunitie and threat,
ou have to undertand our trength and weaknee.
trength are our capailitie and reource that can e ued a the ai for developing a competitive advantage.
trength could include:
our pecial expertie and/or experience
a new, innovative product or ervice
location of our uine
qualit procee and procedure
an other apect of our uine that add value to our product or ervice. Weaknee include area ou need to improve
and/or avoid. Weaknee can ometime e conidered a the aence of certain trength. In ome cae, a weakne ma
actuall e the ip ide of one of our trength.
Weaknee could include: – lack of marketing expertie, plan or tem (or all three) – undi erentiated product or ervice (i.e.
in relation to our competitor) – location of our uine – poor qualit good or ervice – damaged reputation In addition to
new or igni cant trend or other opportunitie ou ma alread know, additional opportunitie can pring up aed on our
external environment anali. Opportunitie could include:
a developing market (uch a the Internet)
a new technolog, ervice or procedure ou can o er
merger, joint venture or trategic alliance
moving into new market egment that o er improved pro t
a market vacated  an ine ective competitor
change in population pro le, ocial pattern, lifetle change, etc.
A threat could e anthing that tand in the wa of our ucce; mi or ignore thee threat, often at great cot.
Threat could include:
a new competitor in our home market
price war with competitor
a competitor ha a new, innovative product or ervice
competitor have uperior acce to channel of ditriution
economic lowdown
change in governmental policie and/or regulation
changing inurance plan and/or contract for major area emploer imple rule for ucceful WOT anali
e realitic aout the trength and weaknee of our facilit, ervice line or practice
anali hould ditinguih etween where our organization i toda, and where it could e in the future
e peci c. Avoid gra area.
alwa analze in relation to our competition i.e. etter than or wore than our competition
keep our WOT hort and imple. Avoid complexit and over anali Once ke iue have een identi ed, the feed into
marketing goal. You can alo appl WOT anali to our competitor. Thi ma produce ome intereting inight!
MART Goal
You are proal familiar with popular quotation like “You can’t hit a target if ou haven’t even decided where to aim” or “You
don’t have to e great to get tarted, ut ou have to get tarted to e great.”
Well, it ma e familiar ut it alo happen to e true.
o man uinee fail to thrive ecaue the have never reall etalihed MART goal. MART i ued a an acronm in goal-
etting dicuion.
=peci c, igni cant, tematic, nergitic

M=meaurale, meaningful, motivational
A=achievale, agreed-upon, action-aed, accountale
R=relevant, realitic, reponile, reult-oriented, rewarding
T=tangile, time-aed, thoughtful
Long-term v. hort-term goal
Mot uinee that conider goal erioul etalih oth hort-term and long-term goal. Marketing plan are generall real-
time exercie in goal-achievement, o mot marketing plan emphaize hort-term goal (achievale within one ear or le).
Rememer that marketing plan are organic, dnamic and contantl evolving, o the are well-uited to hort-term goal.
If ou are jut etalihing or reinventing our marketing tem, ou ma alo etalih long-term goal in our initial marketing
plan ecaue ou will need to include long-term tem infratructure in our initial marketing plan. However, with ongoing,
ear-to-ear marketing plan, hort-term goal will tpicall e the primar focu.
Marketing trategie and Tactic
After ou have identi ed our goal, ou need to evaluate, prioritize and organize the comination of peci c marketing

trategie and tactic that will e et uited for ou to ue in puruing our goal.
A well contructed marketing plan i a perfect illutration of a whole that i greater than the um of it part. The elected
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trategie and tactic work nergiticall to complement one another for exponential poitive reult.
Goal v. trategie v. Tactic
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Goal are peci c, meaurale, achievale, relevant and tangile uine ojective. (MART, rememer?)
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trategie are the idea and approache that are developed to achieve the goal.
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Tactic are the peci c action, detail and activitie that mut occur in order for the trateg to ucceed.
Here’ one good example of the relationhip etween goal, trategie and tactic. Thi example repreent onl a few of the
poile trategie and tactic for the ample goal.
Goal: Increae new patient volume  20% in the next ear
trateg: Improve patient experience to inpire more word-of-mouth referral
Tactic:
Intitute quarterl cutomer ervice training eion for ta and owner
Create incentive program for ta aed on increaed referral volume
Devote one ta meeting per month to new idea for improving patient
experience – Create and dipla framed poter in reception area de ning our unwavering patient atifaction commitment
trateg: Leverage relationhip with etalihed patient and improved patient experience for more word-of-mouth referral
Tactic:
Develop and intitute new patient atifaction urve. Leave pace on urve for happ patient to refer other.
Ak patient for referral at opportune time (a appropriate)
ta upport owner() with additional encouragement to patient to refer when the opportunit preent itelf
Pot “Thank You For Referring” ulletin oard in reception area with name of patient who have referred other
trateg: Develop and tet targeted external advertiing campaign
Tactic:
Tet new print ad erie in local newpaper
Tet direct mail program (http://www.healthcareucce.com/advertiing/direct-mail) to new reident uing overized
potcard
In an optimall implemented marketing plan, all trategie and tactic are implemented comprehenivel. At the ver leat, each
trateg in our plan hould e implemented in the ame comprehenive and nergitic manner that it wa conceived.
For a more detailed lit of common trategie and tactic, review Marketing trategie and Marketing Tactic.
Marketing udget
Healthcare uinee etalih udget for variou categorie of operational expene ut rarel for marketing. ven thoe who
frequentl engage in marketing activitie and expenditure will often have no pre-etalihed udget for marketing.
Unle the develop and take advantage of the man ene t of an annual marketing plan, the determine their marketing
expenditure on a cae--cae ai, a proce conitent with random marketing activitie. 
Unfortunatel, random nancial deciion made out of context of a real trategic plan frequentl ield diappointing reult.
In a marketing plan, a pre-etalihed and committed udget i eential to auring the plan’ viailit. Rememer, in
etalihing MART goal, the “A” tand for “achievale” and the “R” tand for “realitic” (among other attriute). How can ou
know that ou are developing an achievale and realitic plan if ou don’t know what udget reource ou can or will commit?
Cot Center v. Revenue Center
Mot practice owner (http://www.healthcareucce.com/practice) and hopital adminitrator put mot of their focu on
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udgeting for operational cot center. A cot center i an accounting term ued to refer to a department in a uine that
incur expene ut doe not generate revenue directl.
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aicall, our cot center cover the expene that are required to ervice and operate our uine.
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A revenue center, on the other hand, refer to department and/or activitie engaged in  the uine that generate revenue
directl into the uine.
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In other word, mone in our uine ow out of our cot center and mone ow in to our revenue center (or hould).

Another wa of undertanding the relationhip i that without u cient revenue coming into the uine, ou will not e ale to
a ord to fund our cot center without operating in the red, which eventuall lead ou into the lackhole of ankruptc.
Revenue center alo incur expene for the peci c purpoe of timulating and generating revenue into the uine – unlike
cot center, which are required to operate the uine ut do not generate revenue directl.
Revenue Center Pro t In uence v. Cot Center Pro t In uence
ecaue cot center ervice the revenue generated  the uine ut don’t contriute directl to that revenue, the ke to
increaed pro tailit in cot center management i aed on e cienc. The more e cientl the uine function to keep
operating cot a low a poile without compromiing qualit, the more pro t that i left at the end of the proce.
ince mot of the focu of owner, adminitrator and management i on cot center, it i common for owner and manager to
aume that keeping cot under control i the ke to all pro tailit for the uine.
To operate the uine with thi mentalit i often a critical mitake ecaue the cot center pro tailit model doe not work
for revenue center. In fact, the exact oppoite model applie to revenue center pro tailit.
Revenue center require “fuel” in the form of invetment capital in order to timulate and generate the deired revenue. (The old
axiom that “it take mone to make mone” de nitel applie here.) If ou don’t put enough fuel in our engine, ou’re going to
run out of ga!
Marketing i a Revenue Center – NOT a Cot Center
ecaue marketing i primaril concerned with generating and protecting ource of revenue, a marketing udget elong in a
revenue center, not a cot center. Marketing udget hould e evaluated in the context of upporting our MART goal.
If ou don’t have the nancial reource or the willingne to commit them to thi categor of invetment in the growth and/or
protection of ou, ou ma need to rethink our goal and poil etalih le amitiou ojective.
Marketing udget aed on Month-to-Month Cah Flow are NOT udget
 ective marketing i a conitent, ongoing proce aed on olid tem, good planning and excellent implementation. If ou
attempt to fund our marketing udget aed on a month-to-month aement of poitive cah ow, ou will nd that ou
cannot maintain conitenc in our marketing plan and our reult will e erioul compromied – ometime diatroul.
A marketing udget mut e taken erioul a a nancial commitment to our uine ucce or our e ort will almot

certainl e doomed to diappointment and failure.
Doe thi mean that ou have to have our entire annual marketing udget ecured in ome eparate account efore ou egin
our implementation program? Not necearil.

You ma not have all of our necear udget funding et aide when ou tart, ut ou have to know with con dence that ou
will have acce to thoe fund a ou need to utilize them without having to rel on the hope that our cah ow will e
continuoul poitive enough to upport our udget without compromie or interruption.
udget Model
There are man di erent udgetar model ou can conider. Here we lit the mot common, in order from the mot highl
recommended the deciion maker who are eriou aout their goal to thoe model that are not recommended ut do exit.
Ojective and Tak udget
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Thi method i proal the “puret” udgeting method for a marketing plan. Here the udgeter mut pecif exactl what goal
and outcome are expected. udget are then aed on thi expected outcome. (For example, the primar ojective could e to
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increae overall revenue  20% over a 12-month period.)
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The following tep are followed in developing an Ojective and Tak udget:
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a. pecif the marketing ojective() to e achieved. Ideall, thee goal mut e quanti ale and meaurale.
. pecif the marketing trategie and tactic necear to achieve the tated ojective (i.e., rand development or
enhancement, advertiing, pulic relation, networking, internal marketing, training, etc.) including quantit and frequenc of
activit and aociated cot.
c. valuate pro tailit of marketing plan if goal are achieved at the expected cot.
c. Auming pro tailit level i acceptale, aign udget aed on anticipated cot aociated with trategie and tactic
necear to achieve the goal.
d. Launch plan, monitoring and tracking cloel to adjut trategie and tactic a necear to achieve, maintain or exceed
anticipated pro t level.
ROI-aed udget
In thi model, the marketing udget i etalihed aed on a ratio of anticipated return-on-invetment for the udget and it
aociated marketing activitie. The challenge in ROI-aed udget come in identifing a reaonale expectation for return.
Mot ROI-aed udget work from a ource of quanti ed data on performance of imilar marketing plan or activitie in imilar
ituation and circumtance to thoe of the udgeter. The di cultie in thi model are a) limitation on availailit of tatiticall
meaningful comparative data; and ) there i no guarantee that the performance of the new udgeter’ marketing plan will mirror
thoe whoe data wa ued for the ROI modeling.
There are man variale that a ect the performance of a marketing plan which are di cult or impoile to meaure and

compare. Thee include peronal initiative, attitude, ale kill, focu, etc.
till, ROI-aed udget are emploed in certain ituation – auming the data i availale – where a marketer want ome level
of reaurance, however uncienti c, that the odd of ucce are in their favor.
Percentage Method
In uing thi method, the udgeter impl allot a predetermined percentage amount for marketing. That percentage might e a
percentage of pro t, a percentage of revenue, a percentage of ale, etc.
Although thi method i ea to adminiter, there are ome prolem aociated with it.
For example, how do ou determine what percentage to aign for marketing? I 5% too much? I 2% too little? The aignment
of a percentage i tpicall ujective or even aritrar, aed on advice of nancial advier, experience, “gut feel” or other
factor.
Alo, with thi method, the marketing udget increae a pro t, revenue or ale go up or are expected to go up. What
happen to a new product with few ale? Alo if there i a receionar period, ale generall go down. If ale go down, 
advertiing dollar alo decline. In thi ituation, it ma e wier to increae marketing udget to generate additional market hare
and ale rather than letting the marketing udget have le nancial upport.
The percentage method of udgeting doe not necearil correpond to goal achievement, even if it worked uccefull during
a previou period.
Zero-aed udget
A zero-aed udget i one where ou tart with no predetermined or authorized fund. In a zero-aed udget, each activit to
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e funded mut e juti ed – or re-juti ed – each time a new udget i evaluated.
The prolem with zero-aed marketing udget i that the aic concept of the model compromie conitenc, which i
24
eential for long-term ucce in marketing. For mot mall uine owner, zero-aed udgeting mean that each marketing
expenditure, even though previoul aigned to the plan and marketing udget, i contantl eing re-evaluated and re-juti
9 ed
a the mone need to e committed.
5
Mot mall uine owner nd it di cult or impoile to avoid econd-gueing their previou commitment due to fear or
nancial train of the moment or uncertain circumtance or an comination of thee factor, mot of which are contantl
preent in a mall uine environment.
Often, therefore, previoul committed marketing activitie and aociated funding i withdrawn or reallocated. Thi interrupt or
even detro the conitenc of the marketing e ort and the chance for ucce of the plan a originall conceived.
WAG udget
WAG i de ned varioul a everthing from “uper wild a gue” to “ophiticated wild a gue” to “cienti c wild a gue”

to “ill wild a gue.” Regardle of our preferred de nition, pleae note the common word in all the variation.
WAG udget are anthing UT cienti c. Uuall, thee udget are aed more of emotional elief, perception,
miperception and comfort level. Rarel and onl accidentall do WAG udget have an relationhip to ucce in achieving
one’ goal.
All-ou-can-a ord udget
In thi method, the udgeter look at the fund that remain after all other udget have een developed. Whatever i left over i
pent on marketing.
Thi i uuall a model for diappointment and failure of the marketing plan ecaue marketing ha alread een determined to
e of relativel low importance and priorit to the uine.
On-the-  udget
Thi i the mot common method for aigning marketing cot in mot mall uinee – particularl in healthcare. It i alo the
mot conitentl unucceful.
On-the-  udget are not reall udget at all. Marketing expenditure are determined on a cae--cae ai a a marketing
opportunit i identi ed. There i no real plan, no trateg – jut reactive, pontaneou ehavior. It i not di cult to undertand
wh the margin for error i o high and the odd of ucce o low with thi method.
Marketing tem
The qualit of implementation of a marketing plan i certainl a critical a the qualit of the plan itelf to the chance for a
ucceful outcome.
While the ucce formula here ma not exactl correpond to the Thoma dion quote that “Geniu i 1% inpiration and 99%
perpiration,” it i clear that e ective implementation of a well conceived marketing plan i at leat half the attle. Dramatic
di erence in the outcome of imilar or identical marketing trategie and plan, executed in imilar or identical ituation,
reinforce thi realit.
Like o man other uine procee, marketing implementation i far more ucceful with a olid marketing plan with the 
upport of a tructured tem. We have the experience to create a highl e ective trategic marketing plan
(http://www.healthcareucce.com/log/healthcare-marketing/what-i-marketing-plan.html). Call u toda at 800-656-0907,
or connect with u here (http://www.healthcareucce.com/contact-u).
For additional reading: What i a Marketing YTM (http://www.healthcareucce.com/log/medical-advertiing-
agenc/what-i-a-marketing-tem.html)? for extenive detail on how to tructure and manage a ucceful, ongoing
implementation tem to upport our marketing plan and get the mot ield from our e ort.
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ucrie to the Healthcare ucce Marketing log
Join 19,000+ fellow healthcare marketer! Get Healthcare ucce' latet marketing article traight to our inox. nter
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tewart Gandolf (http://www.healthcareucce.com)
Chief xecutive O cer and Co-Founder at Healthcare ucce trategie (http://www.healthcareucce.com/)
tewart Gandolf, MA, i CO of Healthcare ucce, a medical marketing and health care advertiing agenc. He i
alo a frequent writer and peaker. Mot importantl, he i happil married and a "rock-n-roll dadd" to two
wonderful girl.
Comment
6 Comments Sort by Oldest
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Lucky Olivier Murekezi · Designer at Lucky & Zogu Wear Design

amazing report proudly
Like · Reply · Jan 28, 2016 11:48pm
AbdulKarim AlMakadma
Wonderful
Like · Reply · Sep 7, 2016 10:43pm
Esther Isaacs · Brampton, Ontario
Can somebody list free marketing ideas for healthcare staffing company? Please leave a comment on www.genovea.com
Like · Reply · Sep 8, 2016 6:44am
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Esther Isaacs · Brampton, Ontario
Genovea HealthCare Services provide staff for HealthCare industry at at affordable cost
24 Like · Reply · Sep 8, 2016 6:45am
Siva Kumar · Senior Software Engineer at Golden Group Of Companies
9 good one
Like · Reply · Sep 19, 2016 8:06am
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Would ou conider hiring contractor to uild out our new hopital, o ce or clinic without rt developing and approving the

What tangile or intangile ene t might cutomer realize, and i it poile to quantif thee ene t? What i our cutomer

A generational cohort ha een de ned a “the aggregation of individual (within ome population de nition) who experience

Toda we ue the following decriptor for thee cohort. Di erent ource will provide di erent range of ear that comprie

Often, thi tpe of “in the eld” leuthing i the mot e ective wa to gain competitive intelligence, epeciall from thoe

=peci c, igni cant, tematic, nergitic

After ou have identi ed our goal, ou need to evaluate, prioritize and organize the comination of peci c marketing

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Revenue Center Pro t In uence v. Cot Center Pro t In uence

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There are man variale that a ect the performance of a marketing plan which are di cult or impoile to meaure and

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