Maximize Spend And Improve Engagement
Physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are working on the front lines of medicine, and their numbers continue to grow. It’s essential to reach these vitally important decision-makers; however, there is no “one size fits all” solution for healthcare professionals in various specialties, practice settings, and geographic locations. For targeted and cost-effective campaigns, it is crucial to segment audiences before moving forward with your marketing efforts.
Why Segmentation?
With so many individuals to reach, and multiple ways to reach them, defining your audience becomes even more critical. If you don’t define your audience, you commit yourself to spending more money – potentially ineffectively – as well as possibly endangering your reputation by sending messages to individuals who are not relevant.
By segmenting your audience into smaller groups, you can meet their specific needs, encouraging engagement and higher conversions. Thankfully, there are many ways to define your audience.
Consideration #1: Specialty
Are your targeted NPs and PAs aligned with a specialty, and where do they work? Our NP and PA Report, which looked closely at communication preferences and behaviors last year, demonstrated the importance of establishing specialties. Our research indicated that, while 39% of NPs and PAs who participated in the survey focused on primary care, the rest were spread across medical specialties, including emergency and urgent care (23%).
While a blanket approach may have proved successful for marketing professionals in the past, the industry is moving towards niche and specialty markets. This shift requires a new understanding of common diagnoses in each specialty, prescribing behaviors, and preferences.
Consideration #2: Gender
An under-discussed consideration is gender, and NPs and PAs are disproportionately female. Teams working on marketing materials should be aware of gender bias in messaging and should consider increasing female representation in imagery. In last year’s NP and PA survey, almost four out of five respondents were women.
However, segmentation still plays a part in planning, especially when gender is cross-referenced with specialty. For example, there are likely to be more female nurse practitioners working at OB/GYN offices than male, but that is less likely to be the case for urology clinics.
Consideration #3: Practice Structure
Where are your NPs and PAs practicing? It’s important to remember that where they work affects their role, prescribing patterns, and professional interests. For example, many NPs and PAs who work at smaller organizations find themselves more involved in decision-making and take on a wider variety of tasks. You may find email campaigns with a wider range of products and services to be more successful in these cases.
Segmentation also comes into play when email campaigns are designed to complement additional marketing tactics, such as in-person visits. Our survey last year showed that 64% of respondents allowed in-office visits from medical sales representatives, and a segmented campaign will allow marketers to concentrate on denser, higher-traffic, or underserved areas based on the availability of sales representatives.
Consideration #4: Payment Model
NPs and PAs working under specific payment models may also have different behaviors. For example, practices with fee-for-service models will operate differently than those in value-based care, and as a result, NPs and PAs will have differing quarterly and annual goals. Try segmenting your audience while considering what products and services align with the specifics of their facility’s payment model.
Bonus Consideration: Geography
Sometimes, even geography is an important segmentation. For example, it may come into play when marketing state- or county-regulated services, as well as medical products that vary in price by location.
Segmentation may seem complex, but thoughtful consideration of your audience can lead to great results. Our partners have reported advantages such as a maximized advertising budget, increased engagement, and enhanced reputation. As healthcare marketers align their strategies with the changing needs of NPs and PAs, they will continue to see results – and we can help.
We surveyed more than 200+ Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to unveil their communication preferences and interests. Download the report here.
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