Marketing plan course project

Completing

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Week 3 - Demographic Site Analysis

The demographic site analysis provides a summary of a specific market area. For this paper component, your team will choose a specific geographic area (locality, ZIP code, or census tract) and prepare a demographic profile of the people who live in that area from data available at the website of the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) or another reputable demographic sources (for example, the local Chamber of Commerce, a state hospital association, or another government source). For online courses, teams will agree upon a specific market to analyze and prepare a profile of that market. For blended courses, teams will analyze and prepare a profile of the local market. This profile should provide specific demographic information about the population, including relevant facts and figures. For example, your team might include information on population growth, gender, race and ethnicity, education level, marital status, age ranges, or income ranges. If available, your team might also include data regarding health characteristics of the market's population. Data are sometimes available from local or state health departments or from national health registries (such as the CDC). Your team is encouraged to include graphs or charts that help describe the demographics of the geographic area (at least one is required). Be sure to keep track as you go of the sources for any graphs, charts or images used in the the paper and later in the presentation. You will need to cite them in your paper and on your presentation slides, and keeping a list now will save you the work of recreating the information later.

Your team will also include a market profile - a brief overview of the healthcare organizations currently serving this market. Briefly identify and describe the hospitals, clinics, or other healthcare service providers in this area.

After preparing the demographic and market profile, your team will then analyze potential healthcare needs that one might anticipate in this geographic area. The analysis should address the following questions.

1. What does this demographic profile tell your team about potential healthcare utilization and health behaviors?

2. What does the profile tell your team about the needed healthcare services or products?

3. Are all of these needs currently being met by the existing healthcare organizations? If not, which needs represent a market opportunity?

Use Google Docs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to collaboratively write the paper and as a team, and invite your instructor as a contributor so she/he can view the progress of the paper online. The length of the demographic site analysis should be 600 to 800 words. Your team should cite all sources in APA style, both in-text and at the end of the document. Your team is required to have at least three sources to support this component of the Course Paper. Each member of the team must download a copy of the Google Doc and save it in MS Word for submission to their own Dropbox for grading.

This assignment is due in Week 3. The Course Paper assignments build upon each other and are compiled into the complete Course Project paper, due in Week 7.

Week 5 - Market Analysis

1. What is your team's product or service? Try to be as specific as possible.

1. If the product or service is new, what problem is it designed to solve?

2. If it is an existing product or service, what is its value for the target market? How is it better than what is already in place?

3. Is the product or service offered as part of an existing healthcare organization? For example, is it offered as a new or expanded service within a local hospital or clinic, or is it part of a newly formed healthcare organization?

2. Who is the target market? Try to be as specific as possible.

1. Describe the target market using demographic, geographic, psychographic, and healthcare variables.

3. What is the size of the market? Describe the methods used to determine the size of the market.

4. What are the specific needs of the market in terms of the product or service?

5. What trends in the external environment may impact the proposed product or service? Some examples include technological, economic, socio-demographic, legal or regulatory, and environmental trends.

6. What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the product or service? Base this on the needs of the target market and on any applicable trends in the external environment.

7. Who are the competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

Use Google Docs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to collaboratively write your team's paper and invite your instructor as a contributor so she/he can view the progress of the paper online. The length of the market analysis component should be 700-1,000 words. Your team should cite all sources in APA style, both in-text and at the end of the document. Your team is required to have at least four sources to support this component of the paper. One of these sources may be the course textbook. Each member of the team must download a copy of the Google Doc and save it in MS Word for submission to their own Dropbox for grading.

This assignment is due in Week 5. The Course Paper assignments build upon each other and are compiled into the complete Course Project paper, due in Week 7.

Week 6 - Marketing Plan

In this final piece of the Course Project paper, your team will develop a brief marketing plan for the product or service. In this section, the paper should do the following.

1. Identify the overall marketing goals.

2. Identify three to five specific marketing objectives (these should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and have a time element).

3. Identify specific marketing strategies for achieving these objectives and goals, including

1. product strategies (what the product will look like);

2. distribution strategies (how your team will distribute the product or service to the target market);

3. promotion strategies (how your team will promote the product or service); and

4. pricing strategies (how your team will price the product or service).

4. Your team should clearly articulate how its intended strategies satisfy the needs of the target market.

Use Google Docs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to collaboratively write your team's paper and invite your instructor as a contributor so she/he can view the progress of the paper online. The length of the marketing plan component should be 800-1,600 words. Your team should cite all sources in APA style, both in text and at the end of the document. Your team is required to have at least three sources to support this component of the paper. Each member of the team must download a copy of the Google Doc and save it in MS Word for submission to their own Dropbox for grading.

This assignment is due in Week 6. The Course Paper assignments build upon each other and are compiled into the complete Course Project paper, due in Week 7.

Let's visit the boardroom of Garfield Memorial Hospital, a very typical, 250-bed community hospital in the Midwest, and understand the development of its Healthcare Marketing Plan.

Transcript

Let’s visit the boardroom of Garfield Memorial Hospital, a very typical 250 bed community hospital in the Midwest. In the boardroom today is the senior management team of the hospital, and joining them is Pam, a Marketing Consultant from Nashville. She has been engaged to help the hospital with its marketing plan. Pam has 26 years in healthcare management. She holds a BS in Health Service Management from DeVry University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. Prior to entering the consulting field, Pam worked as a Marketing Director for University Hospital.

The hospital Chief Executive Officer Brian is also in attendance. Brian holds an MHA degree and is currently working on a Juris Doctorate in healthcare law. He has 18 years in the field and this is his third year with Garfield Memorial. Brian came up through the clinical career pathway. He was a Physical Therapist first, and then Vice-President for Clinical Services. Brian is a Certified Healthcare Executive (CHE) by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The hospital’s Human Resource Director Ed is present. Ed is new to healthcare, coming over from the automotive industry. He has 12 years in the Human Resource field and a BS degree in Human Resources.
Nancy joins the meeting to represent the finance side of things. Her background is Patient Accounting, and she was recently promoted from Business Office Manager to Chief Financial Officer. Her undergraduate work was in accounting, and last year she completed an online MBA to enhance her leadership skills. Nancy is very active in the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

And the final team member is Sherri, the Chief Nursing Officer. Sherri was an ICU nurse for seven years before getting into management. She is working on her BSN degree right now, with emphasis on administration. She hopes to earn the Certified Nursing Administrator (CNA) credential someday.

Let’s listen in as the meeting begins….

Pam: Folks, thanks for the opportunity to speak with you about marketing for your hospital. So many healthcare facilities neglect this aspect, and that is a real shame. The community cannot utilize your services unless they know what is available. And you can bet that patients drive right by your hospital to a larger facility each day, for services which are provided right here. They may not even know. I congratulate you for deciding to proactively produce a Marketing Plan.

Brian: I am sure of it Pam, and that limits our effectiveness here. We’ve never been good at marketing. What we are good at is taking care of our patients. We really want your help to improve the other piece. To expand our services and promote them to the community.

Pam: Well, it all starts with the Demographic Site Analysis (DSA) folks. That term scares the heck out of healthcare people. It sounds so corporate, so statistical. But it is just crucial to what we are doing in marketing your hospital, and I think that you will actually find it quite interesting. As we complete this step, you are likely to learn some new things about your community, things which will surprise you. DSA is just understanding your geographic market better than ever before. Let’s consider the pieces of the DSA separately.

Really excellent data is available these days to help us in defining the hospital’s market. The State
Hospital Association provides data for Patient Origin. For each hospital, including yours, this tells us
where the patients come from by county. Also available is Market Share data for each county of the
state. This tells us about migratory patterns of patients. And in particular, it tells us this…..when patients
leave your own county for healthcare, where are they going. We can at least surmise from such patterns
why they might be leaving. And we can research those reasons more fully. After we analyze all of the
data, we will need to come to a group decision about what we really want the hospital’s market to look like
geographically.

Nancy: Pam, I serve on the Data Committee of the State Hospital Association here, I am sure that they
can be helpful to us with this next step.

Pam: Absolutely Nancy, we will take full advantage of your connections there. The State Hospital
Associations all collect essential data on admissions, patient migration, market share and other key
variables. We will also use the Census data, local Chamber of Commerce statistics, our own admission
data, and any other sources which we can find along the way.

I have found that the way in which we present our DSA data is just crucial, especially at the Board of
Directors level. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is so true with Board
members. We need to show them a few key tables and graphics which really tell the story. If we bury
them with stacks of numbers and pages of writing, we will lose them.

Sherri: That is so true Pam! I have seen that happen all too often in Board meetings. These folks are
teachers, ranchers, bankers, business people……………they want a big picture of their hospital,
information they can really use. When we ‘dazzle them with analysis’ we lose them completely.

Pam: The next step is the one that I get excited about. What unmet healthcare needs are there in this
market, and what might we do as an organization to meet those needs? Whenever we satisfy an unmet
need in medicine, our market share grows, our service to community improves, and yes……….our
profitability goes up. Nothing at all wrong with making a profit so that we stay afloat, improve our
technology, and perhaps even provide raises and better benefits for our staff members. Agreed folks?

Brian: I think we all agreed! You bet Pam!

Pam: With the DSA complete, unmet healthcare needs and opportunities have been identified. The
Market Analysis is a more detailed study of proposed healthcare services to be offered as part of the
Marketing Plan. For example, does your hospital need to open a Long-Term Care facility or Assisted
Living to meet the needs of Baby Boomers. Or perhaps a Dialysis Center is needed. Is it time to offer
invasive cardiology services? Or is there a physician specialty which is lacking in the market area, or
perhaps a specialty with too few providers at this time. Should the hospital enter Complementary and
Alternative Medicine? These are just a few ideas which hospitals are considering these days.

Ed: I just know that we are missing the boat on some services, but I don’t know how to prove it. I guess
that’s what this process is all about, right?

Pam: Could not have said it better Ed. And I concur, this hospital, and most hospitals are leaving way too much on the table. They can do better for themselves and for their communities.

Brian: I’m enthused about seeing that happen here Pam. We can be much more for our community than we are today.

Pam: So, understanding what we want to offer, we next consider who the target market really is for the service. Is it our seniors? Is it women? Is it children? Is it residents of a neighboring county? Is it local industry? How about doctors, they are customers too……..is it the doctors who should be targeted for our marketing of the service. Or, likely, is it some combination of the above.

Nancy: Glad to hear you mention industry. I know for a fact that we are losing some occupational health business to larger hospitals.”

Pam: Next, knowing that we have a target market for the service, we need to gather objective data to see if there is a realistically large enough market to support the service. And we need to understand whether that marketing is growing or shrinking. In the case of senior services, the market for all healthcare services is growing rapidly over the next several decades as you know. This is the Age Wave effect which is just beginning to hit in the US.

Sherri: And it is hitting here harder than many other places Pam, we have sooooooooo many senior citizens here.

Pam: Next, we need to get as specific as possible about the service(s) to be provided. For example, if the need is for Assisted Living services, then exactly what scope of services is needed? Where should the AL facility be located? What potential census can we expect for the facility? And how will the success of our facility be judged by patients, doctors and the community.

Sherri: That is actually a good example Pam, Assisted Living would be a real benefit here.

Nancy: Yes, but I understand many of the AL’s are losing money. That worries me.”

Pam: One step at a time folks, that is exactly the kind of thing which we will evaluate together. As we move forward. No more snap decisions.

Pam: And then we need to do a SWOT analysis. For our proposed service(s) what are our strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats. This is a key part of any planning process as you probably know.
And we must look at our competitors for the particular market and particular service(s). What are their strengths and weaknesses. If we wind up in a battle for this market, can we win? And we must also be forward thinking about other threats in our lives such as technology, local and national economy, legal risks, regulatory factors such as accreditation ……and others.

Ed: Man, lots of things to consider.

Pam: Agreed Ed, and I wish I could tell you that something could be skipped, but we dare not. All of this is important.

Pam: So, all of that leads us to the service Marketing Plan. Believe it or not, less than half of US hospitals have a formal marketing plan. And it shows………. The Marketing Plan will identify overall marketing goals, and just 3-5 specific marketing objectives. It is essential that the objectives be measurable, achievable, realistic and time sensitive. For each goal and objective, we will be identifying specific
marketing strategies. Notice that ‘promotion’ which is what most people think of as marketing, is just one small piece of the puzzle. I like to see all of this presented in an Action Plan with Who will do What by When. The Marketing Plan should be brief, bulleted and easy to follow. Progress reports on the Action Plan at each monthly Board Meeting keeps everyone’s feet to the fire, moving the plan forward.

Brian: So how do we actually attack this Pam. What is the next step?

Pam: The next step is yours Brian, you are the CEO and you must lead this process. Your Senior Managers share the responsibility, and your entire hospital staff has a role. I will help you at every step of the way, but from the time you say ‘go’ I want to see the Marketing Plan presented at Board Meeting within 90 days. Progress reports need to be made at every major meeting here, including Board of Directors, Management Team and Medical Staff. This prevents the effort from stalling. The basic problem is that hospital leaders are very busy people. They get so busy managing the business of today, putting out today’s fires, that they forget to do the absolute most important thing………plan the future of their organizations. I am excited about working with you to do just that through a solid Marketing Plan.

Brian: Thanks Pam, just great, really appreciated. This will be fun. High time that we did this.

Week 7 - Final Paper and Presentation

Paper

Your team's completed course paper will bring together all three previous components and should incorporate any needed changes based on suggestions or feedback from the instructor. You should also include an introduction to the paper, which previews the components, a conclusion to the paper, and a complete Reference list at the end of the paper. The total research paper should be 2,100-3,400 words in length, with at least 10 references.

1. Writing style:The paper should represent your team's best professional writing and work. Pay careful attention to paragraphing, sentence structure, quotation conventions, spelling, punctuation, citation protocol, and other aspects of grammar. Remember to proofread, correcting any typing or printing errors. All papers written for this course should follow the standards that are applicable in the business environment. This includes a business-appropriate writing style and no misspelled words or grammatical errors. Presentation and organization, while not as important as content, will impact your grade. Always write as if the reader is unfamiliar with the material you are presenting.

2. Physical preparation of the paper: Use Google Docs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to collaboratively write your team's paper and invite your instructor as a contributor so she/he can view the progress of the paper online. The paper should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around. Font should be size 12, Times New Roman style. Paper should include a title page that contains the student's name, class, date, and paper title, as well as a separate references page at the end to include scholarly references used in developing the paper. Each member of the team must download a copy of the Google Doc and save it in MS Word for submission to their own Dropbox for grading.

3. Citing work in the body of the paper: This paper will be written using the latest publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). There are two steps in the APA style of documentation: (1) works are cited, in an abbreviated form, in the body of the paper, and (2) full information about all works cited in the text provided at the end of the paper in a section entitled References. APA training resources are located in the Syllabus and provided by DeVry library services.

This assignment is due in Week 7. Remember, each member of the team must download a copy of the Google Doc and save it in MS Word for submission to their own Dropbox for grading.

Presentation

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1. Presentation style:The presentation should represent team members' best professional writing and work. Pay careful attention to consistency among slides in use of text, images, background, etc. Use a business-appropriate writing style with no misspelled words or grammatical errors.

2. Physical preparation of the presentation: Use Prezi (https://prezi.com) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to build the presentation and provide a link to your instructor for grading.

3. Citing work in the presentation: Cite all information in the presentation on the slide on which the information appears. Be sure to also cite sources for any images, charts, graphs, data APA training resources are located in the Syllabus and provided by DeVry library services.

This assignment is due in Week 7. Remember, each member of the team must email to the instructor a link to the presentation for grading.

APA Tutorials