Healthcare occupies an important part of the day to day activities of the society thus making its marketing an important part of the economy. Marketing of healthcare products can be hard as opposed to other goods since it's not only the purchasing that is being looked at but also the health of the consumer (Bonabeau, Bodick, & Armstrong,2008). Health marketing may also include offering education and creating awareness which might be time-consuming and challenging especially with changes taking place in the society and the problems that come with them.
For effective marketing of healthcare products, it is crucial to consider the negative impact that a drug can have on consumers in its early stages of launch into the market. The negative impacts are several. First, direct consumer advertisement may affect the pricing of a product. As a result, this may lead to prescription drug cost rising rapidly without even the evidence of its health benefits. Second, the launch of a drug in its early stage may lead to inappropriate and excessive prescribing and in some cases the benefits may not outweigh the risks making it unsafe for the consumer. Additionally, excessive prescribing might also lead to overuse especially antibiotics which is harmful to the consumer (Herzlinger, 2006). Lastly, Advertising information may also be biased and misleading since it is designed to persuade the consumer rather than inform of the side effects of the product, whereas some new drugs may be inferior for use on older treatments.
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Marketing strategies can also be employed to help in the achievement of goals for the products commercial success. Such strategies are vital in offering great service delivery to consumers, which in turn improves the consumer experience thus broadening a firm’s customer base. Marketing strategies for a healthcare product entail developing advertising campaigns to create awareness of the product by stating its health benefits towards the life of the consumer. The marketer should also create a good understanding relationship with the customer to help facilitate a good marketing environment for the product thus increasing its commercial success.
Because of the fast-changing pace in the industrial sector, it is recommended that a company stays ahead of its rivals to remain competitive by employing a competitive intelligence strategy. The strategy helps in analyzing the competitors’ objectives, strategies, assumptions and capabilities. It can also reveal past mistakes to be avoided in the present and the future, show the market response to new agents launched into the market, help identify and adopt to changing standards of care, predicting the most likely competitors in the future and also monitor the regulatory authorities.
The government oversight and control also play a very important role in ensuring that pharmaceutical products are safe first before being brought to the market. Policies entailing lengthening the process of bringing new pharmaceuticals into the market ensure quality and integrity in marketing the products (Garber et al., 2014). Lengthening the process enables the Food and Drug Administration to have the new drugs tested thoroughly for safety and also human trials conducted before being released into the market.
Conclusion
To sum it up, a great marketing strategy allows one to prepare and equip him/herself with a procedure to follow to improve and increase the chances of a market success. One should know the ins and outs of a product, who uses it and why and the problems it can solve. The government should also conduct an oversight to ensure the products are tested and declared safe for the consumer before they are released into the market.
References
Bonabeau, E., Bodick, N., & Armstrong, R. W. (2008). A more rational approach to new-product development. Harvard business review , 86 (3), 96.
Garber, S., Gates, S. M., Keeler, E. B., Vaiana, M. E., Mulcahy, A. W., Lau, C., & Kellermann, A. L. (2014). Redirecting innovation in US health care: options to decrease spending and increase value. Rand health quarterly , 4 (1).
Gilligan, C., & Lowe, R. (2018). Marketing and Healthcare Organizations . CRC Press.
Herzlinger, R. E. (2006). Why innovation in health care is so hard. Harvard business review , 84 (5), 58.
