Marketing Software to Healthcare Staffing Companies Part 1
This is the first of articles discussing the issues and opportunities that may arise when marketing software to the healthcare community. In Part 1, we will explore the foundation of how we begin the marketing process by a unique discovery and assessment process. In future blogs I will discuss the actual strategies that we have employed.
CONTENT MARKETINGBUYERS' JOURNEY REPORTSAAS SALESMARKETING STRATEGIESHEALTHCAREBUYERS' SENTIMENT REPORTBUYER PERSONA REPORTDISCOVERY AND ASSESSMENT PROCESSHEALTHCARE MARKETINGTECHSTRATEGIC BUYERS INSIGHT REPORTSOFTWARE
Bill Arnold
2/12/20247 min read
State of the Healthcare Staffing Industry
The healthcare industry is facing an unprecedented staffing crisis. Shortages of nurses, doctors, technicians, and other critical personnel are straining hospitals and health systems across the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues, leading to widespread burnout and attrition among healthcare workers.
At the same time, an aging population and the rise of chronic conditions are driving up demand for medical services. This perfect storm forces healthcare organizations to rethink their workforce strategies and find innovative solutions to attract and retain top talent.
The Scope of the Problem
Medical staffing is a $17.1 billion industry in the United States, providing temporary and permanent healthcare professionals to hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities.
The healthcare staffing industry provides temporary and permanent solutions to healthcare organizations such as hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities. This includes staffing for various healthcare professionals, such as nurses, physicians, allied health professionals, and support staff.
The global healthcare staffing market was valued at $36.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to expand at a 6.93% CAGR from 2023 to 2030. While this provides staffing companies with a tremendous upside opportunity, the staffing business remains highly competitive, and these organizations are looking to technology for that competitive edge.
With the rise of temporary and travel healthcare positions, companies that can adapt and scale those hiring models have a competitive edge. Staffing companies that leverage technology for more efficient recruiting, onboarding, and workforce management provide added value. These will be the organizations that capture market share and survive.
This article will discuss how we helped a software company create a go-to-market strategy for a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company to enter the market and sell to medical staffing agencies.
Discovery and Assessment
Every engagement begins with a deep dive into the industry and the competitive landscape of key competitors. It includes an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors, which will allow you to better understand and develop an offensive and defensive strategic plan to address both opportunities and threats. You are not looking to duplicate what your competitors are doing but to establish a blue ocean approach that will generate cost-effective results.
Several important deliverables from this exercise will set the course for the following marketing efforts. The reports include:
Strategic Buyers’ Insight Report
Buyer Persona Report
Buyer Sentiments Report
Buyer's Journey Report
Marketing Plan
Marketing Reporting Scorecard
Strategic Buyers' Insight Report
This is a detailed examination of all industry, company, and competitive factors that might impact your growth. While each report’s contents will vary depending on the company, the typical areas analyzed are:
To learn more about the process that we take to become experts in the industry and competitors, check out the following:
Buyer Persona
Understanding your buyer personas is the heart and soul of your marketing program. It will determine whether your website, content, and demand generation will resonate with your buyers or fail.
Every aspect of your marketing and sales program should be tied to what a specific buyer persona needs to see at a particular stage in the buyer’s journey. This includes your website's UX/UI, the subject matter of the content, the type of content, and the distribution of that content. The company that understands and implements this approach usually wins.
We have a well-defined process to determine who your targeted buyer personas should be. We discover what they need to see at each stage of the buyer's journey and where they go for information, education, and entertainment. We also learn about the individuals or groups who can influence their buying decisions. To learn about this process, see:
Here is what we discovered about different stakeholders' needs and pain points within the healthcare ecosystem. It is essential to understand that titles, gender, and education are nice demographics to capture, but if two people need to see the same information to move down the buyer's journey and will look for it in the same place, they are the same persona at that point in time. Key buyer personas to target may include:
Decision Makers:
Staffing Agency Owners/C-suite executives (CEO, COO, CNO, CHRO): These are the top-level decision-makers who oversee the overall strategy and direction of the staffing firm. They are focused on big-picture issues like financial impact, revenue growth, profitability, and competitive differentiation. When evaluating software, they want to know how it will help them achieve their business goals and provide a strong return on investment.
Key pain points:
Growing revenue and profitability in a competitive market
Cost Savings
Staffing Shortages and Reputational Risks
Attracting and retaining top talent
Streamlining operations to increase efficiency
Ensuring compliance with complex healthcare regulations
Type of Content:
The art and science of getting the attention of the C-Suite and/or business owners cannot be distilled down to a few sentences. We have written five blogs about the Holy Grail of Marketing - the C-Suite. Here are the links to those blogs:
Influencers and Solution Gatherers
Recruiters, Human resources, and talent acquisition professionals are on the front lines of the staffing process and are responsible for sourcing, screening, and placing healthcare professionals. They need tools to help them work more efficiently and effectively and fill open positions quickly with high-quality candidates. Tools and services that can help them source candidates more efficiently, streamline onboarding, and improve employee engagement will be of interest. Thought leadership content around best practices for healthcare hiring and retention could also be valuable.
Key pain points:
Sourcing enough qualified candidates to meet client demand
Screening candidates to ensure they have the right skills and credentials
Keeping track of candidate and client communications
Managing the end-to-end recruitment workflow
Type of Content:
Thought leadership content around best practices for healthcare hiring and retention could also be valuable.
Clinical leaders and Account Managers (department heads, medical directors, nurse managers) who are on the frontlines of care delivery. They are acutely aware of the day-to-day challenges of staffing gaps and may feel the strain of increased workloads and responsibilities. They are is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with healthcare facility clients. They need visibility into the staffing pipeline and tools to help them communicate with clients and resolve any issues. They will seek solutions that can provide immediate relief and longer-term stability for their teams. Case studies and testimonials from peer organizations can be powerful proof points.
Key pain points:
Ensuring clients' staffing needs are met in a timely manner
Looking for longer-term stability
Maintaining regular communication with clients
Tracking key performance metrics like fill rates and time-to-fill
Identifying opportunities to expand business with existing clients
Type of content:
Case studies and testimonials from peer organizations can be powerful proof points.
Back-Office Staff: Back-office employees handle critical administrative functions like payroll, invoicing, credentialing, and compliance. They need software that integrates with their existing systems and automates manual processes.
Key pain points:
Managing a high volume of administrative tasks
Ensuring accurate and timely payment of healthcare professionals
Maintaining compliance with credentialing and regulatory requirements
Integrating front- and back-office workflows for greater efficiency
Policymakers and industry influencers who shape the regulatory and economic environment for healthcare staffing. This may include legislators, government agencies, accreditation bodies, and professional associations. While not direct buyers, these stakeholders can impact demand for workforce solutions and create opportunities or barriers for adoption. Engaging them through advocacy efforts, research partnerships, and public relations campaigns can help build credibility and awareness.
To understand how best to utilize industry influencers, please explore the following blogs:
Creating Compelling Content
Once you understand each buyer persona's pain points and concerns, creating content that resonates with them becomes much easier.
Compelling content will be critical for reaching and engaging these busy healthcare professionals. This may include: When crafting marketing messages for these audiences, leading with empathy and a deep understanding of their challenges is essential.
Acknowledge the complexity of the staffing crisis and avoid overpromising easy fixes. Instead, focus on the specific ways your solutions can help alleviate pain points, drive measurable results, and support the organization's mission of providing high-quality patient care.
It is vital to address the benefits and solutions that your software will provide rather than focusing on the product features.
Nobody cares about your product's features; they only care if the benefits will solve a pain point, issue, or concern that they are encountering. The content must be developed in long-form and short-form text, video, and audio formats. Some of the typical content that will be created includes:
White papers and research reports that provide data-driven insights on staffing trends and best practices.
Case studies that demonstrate the impact of your solutions in real-world settings
Thought leadership articles and blog posts that offer practical tips and advice
Infographics and videos that break down complex topics into easily digestible formats
To better understand how to create content that will resonate with a targeted persona and compel them to take action, see the following articles:
Distribution of Content
If you build it, they WON'T come. Creating the content is not enough. It is important that it be found where your target audience is going for information, education, and entertainment. To reach these buyer personas, it's essential to understand where they go for information about industry trends, best practices, and potential software solutions.
Channels for distributing this content may include industry publications, professional association websites, social media platforms, email campaigns, and targeted advertising. How do you know where to distribute the content? This information will be learned when you do your discovery and assessment review and will be reported in the following:
Buyer Sentiment Report
Buyer's Journey Report
You have now laid the foundation for building a marketing program. In our next article, we will explore our marketing techniques for a client. Our strategies drove unprecedented success and increased sales by over 300%. If you are faced with marketing software needed by the healthcare industry, you will not want to miss our next blog on the subject.
Contact:
prevailer@prevail.marketing
(424) 484-9955