The formation of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965 resulted in a dramatic shift in how healthcare is issued in the United States. In 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was effected, resulting in innumerable changes for not only healthcare customers but also the insurers of the same. ACA has made health insurance a public commodity because it requires all US citizens to carry health insurance or faces a penalty. As a result, thousands of health insurance customers are purchasing their first-time health insurance while others are in search of new and better plans. It is, therefore, quite obvious that ACA is set to impact the marketing programs of health insurance companies ( Marketing, 2018).
While the Affordable Care Act requires all the US consumers to have a health insurance coverage, it gives them maximum control over the kind of plans they wish to use. Therefore, consumers are no longer tied to the plans offered by their employers. If the customers feel that the plans offered by their employers are not the best for them, they now have the privilege to shop around in search of plans that better fit their financial and medical needs. Besides, it is pretty normal to find first-time shoppers of an insurance plan looking around and comparing providers based on the quality of care, medical services provided the perceived value of the plan, and the price. For this reason, health insurance marketing is now mostly consumer driven, whereby healthcare insurance Companies are forced to put up a competition for customers ( Protection & Act, 2010).
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With there being so many insurance options for both potential and current customers, healthcare marketers are now shifting their focus to both securing new customers and retaining the ones that they already have. To efficiently achieve this, marketers need to come up with a new and wholesome marketing strategy that is more consumer-focused. First, it is worth noting that most of the new customers who are in search of health coverage are most likely uneducated when it comes to health insurance. They, therefore, need a better understanding of the type of plans available, and which ones are the best to suit their needs. For this reason, it is crucial for marketers to come up with highly targeted marketing and enlightenment strategies that address all the typical consumer needs and wants as far as health insurance is concerned.
It will be crucial for health insurance marketers to come up with a marketing plan aimed at enhancing their brand recognition to win the hearts of new customers. Marketers need to come up with a brand-recognition strategy that will help them stand out from the competition and ensure that customers who are not familiar with this industry note and remember their company name. There are several insurance providers today, which means that marketers will need to work extra harder if at all they are going to capture the attention of the new customers.
With the implementation of ACA, retaining current customers is also as important as acquiring new ones. With the freedom that this policy comes with, current health insurance customers will be able to shop around comparing the different plans available. At this point, it is not an unusual phenomenon to see current insurance customers looking around for plans beyond those offered by their employers in search of something that will better fit them financially and medically. It is, therefore, vital to come up with a marketing plan that will focus on retaining such customers. In this case, your marketing strategy will go through the products that you have on offer, convincing the customers why you are the best fit for them, and why they should stay on board ( Huntington, Covington, Center, Covington & Manchikanti, 2011).
While it is a requirement for all uninsured US citizens to get themselves a health insurance plan, some consumers who do not wish to purchase one might opt to pay the penalty. Use of demographic data can be helpful in predicting the individual who would rather pay the penalty instead of purchasing a plan. This analysis will help the marketers narrow down their target scope to the market that is worth pursuing.
A key strategy that health insurance providers can use in their marketing is to incorporate big data. An analysis of consumer data can be very helpful in determining the type of coverage that is most popular among the customers. This strategy will make the marketing efforts much easier for the Company. Furthermore, data will be helpful for healthcare marketers in profiling the current customers with the aim of getting a clearer understanding of which coverage suits which client. With this kind of information, it will be possible for the marketers to reach more healthcare customers with similar profiles.
The healthcare industry is currently facing dynamic changes, which leaves it to the marketers to fight for their fair share in the market. With the implementation of ACA, it is time for the marketers to come up with a fresh marketing strategy that will better position them to compete in this flooded market. Whether the inflow of healthcare consumers are in search of first-time health insurance plans or they are in search of alternative plans, marketers should take advantage of big data to make their marketing plans effective ( Blumenthal & Collins, 2014).
References
Blumenthal, D., & Collins, S. R. (2014). Health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act—a progress report.
Huntington, W. V., Covington, L. A., Center, P. P., Covington, L. A., & Manchikanti, L. (2011). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: reforming the health care reform for the new decade. A pain Physician , 14 (1), E35-E67.
Marketing, T. (2018). The Affordable Care Acts Impact on Healthcare Marketing . MarketingProfs . Retrieved 7 March 2018, from http://www.marketingprofs.com/opinions/2013/23982/the-affordable-care-act-s-impact-on-healthcare-marketing
Protection, P., & Act, A. C. (2010). Patient protection and affordable care act. Public law , 111 (48), 759-762.
