Since healthcare is an industry in high demand, it might be easy to overlook the importance of healthcare branding and marketing. However, keep in mind that in today’s world, people have a lot of options and competition is only increasing, so standing out from the crowd is imperative for your long-term success as a healthcare provider. Now is the best time for healthcare companies to invest in branding that sets them apart and helps establish loyalty with patients.

One of the ways healthcare brands can stand out is by focusing on the consumer experience. It’s time to shift from a metric focus to value-based assessments. Patient satisfaction will carry more weight than any other metric factor. Your patients have the power to influence others to choose your practice over competitors.

Creating a brand that is attractive, unique, memorable, and sends the right message to the right people will help you stand out, attract new clients, give your current patients a positive feeling about you, and build brand loyalty.

Don’t take branding for granted. There are far more pros than cons when it comes to branding in the healthcare industry. Building an entire brand takes time, but the time spent will be worth it in the end.

In order to fully grasp healthcare branding and what you can do to build and improve yours, let’s start by defining branding.

What is Healthcare Branding?

By definition, branding is a marketing practice where a company creates assets around a business’ identity, like its name or logo. It helps distinguish the company from other similar businesses and make it easily identifiable.

But that’s just the beginning. Your brand is everything from your website fonts to your value proposition. It’s your logo colors and your mission and vision statements. Brand is not just digital assets, it’s how you exist in the minds of your audience.

Having a strong, consistent brand can help you create an impression on your consumers that will last for decades. Your brand will also serve as a messenger by letting people know what to expect from your company.

Your brand will distinguish you from competitors, clarify what you have to offer, and highlight what makes you the better choice. The brand will represent your business and how you want to be perceived.

Why is Healthcare Branding Important?

Branding plays a crucial role in marketing, as it strongly influences how your prospective patients view your practice. Solid healthcare branding, or branding in general, can help with the following things:

• Improving brand recognition – Sticking in the mind of your audience is crucial. How else will they be able to pass on your information to their friends or come back years later? If your visual identity is strong and it matches your patient experience, you’ll have no problem getting referrals and gaining traction.
• Creating a consistent brand experience – Clients crave consistency when it comes to businesses. As we’ve mentioned, branding can control the way people perceive and experience your company. A strong brand subconsciously relays to your audience that you will consistently deliver high-quality services.
• Generating new clients – None of us can deny the marketing power of word of mouth. Having an established brand with a strong identity can help drum up referral business. A good branding strategy can increase positive impressions on customers, which will in turn lead them to refer your company to others. 
• Refining employee relationships and satisfaction – Employees like to work for companies that share their beliefs. A powerful brand that communicates what your organization cares about will motivate your employees and gain their loyalty. Your brand encompasses your entire business identity, including your company’s values and beliefs. The stronger and the more developed your brand is, the more your employees will feel a sense of belonging, trust, and satisfaction with their work. A business with a reputable brand will hold their employees in high regard, making the work more fulfilling.
• Building trust – Branding builds credibility. People are enticed by brands that look polished and professional. The better your branding strategy is, the more familiarity and assumed dependability there is.

Elements of Healthcare Branding

Branding in healthcare marketing has elements you have to create and cultivate in order to build and strengthen your brand. Some of these include: 

Mission, Vision, and Brand Values

Your company’s beliefs will be the foundation of your branding – the guidebook for how you want your brand to be. A mission statement is usually a short sentence that declares and describes the purpose of your business as well as what it stands for. Your mission statement is basically your past and present, while your vision is your brand’s future. Your vision describes your ultimate goal and what you want to achieve for your brand.

Brand Style Guide

Your brand style guide is the document that lays out the visual elements of your brand. Your logo variations, fonts, color palette and typography are all included. The brand style guide is the key to consistency – everything visual follows these guidelines so that there’s no wandering from the correct visual expression of the brand. Shown below is a page out of Simour Design’s brand style guide. 

Logo

This is what imprints on the minds of your audience.  People perceive your logo as the face of your brand. Logos are extremely important when it comes to branding. Your logo design should be able to represent your brand. Make sure its design aligns with how you want to be perceived by your audience and the message you want to convey. It’s definitely best to use the services of a branding expert to create the perfect logo for your practice.

Website

Websites are extremely important, especially during these trying times. People don’t have as much access to healthcare facilities as before, which is why having a well designed website is crucial. Your website should be treated like your clinic or office. It should be comforting, engaging, functional, and you. Your website is the digital extension of your clinic, hence it should be designed to represent your brand. Your branding identity should be consistent throughout all platforms, including your website. The logo, the color palette, the fonts, the layout, and the tone of voice should be consistent.

Examples of Healthcare Companies With Great Branding

There are a few healthcare companies that have stood out for adapting a more creative and unique branding strategy. They fused great service with creativity and have therefore created an unforgettable brand.

Take Sage Therapeutics for example. This is an example of medical branding done right. The brand expresses their identity with vibrant color schemes that are fun and exciting. Even their logo is cute. However, even with all of the vibrancy, Sage still remains true to its name. The name Sage means wise. It only makes sense that their copy is informative yet entertaining. Clients won’t lose interest in what they have to say. The visual elements support the copy and vice versa. 

Another example is Juno Therapeutics. Next to Sage, Juno Therapeutics is a stark contrast. Their brand uses grey as its main color and orange to accent or highlight important parts. Everything from the copy to the design and logo complement each other, making one cohesive brand. 

There’s also The Healthy Skin Coach. Their entire brand embodies tranquility and happiness. Their use of teal and green can induce a calm feeling for their audience, all the while using copy that has emphasis on long lasting results. Everything is endearing and youthful. 

As a digital marketing agency, we’ve also had our fair share of clients that have come to us to help them with their healthcare branding. 

For example: 

Pure Dermatology is a dermatology clinic in Denver who wanted to be able to compete against other dermatology clinics in the area. We created a logo and a website to help them do that.

First, the logo. We leaned toward a pastel color set to reflect the soothing and relaxing ambiance of the practice. The symbols in the logo suggest the words “delicate,” “soft” and “modern.” In the end, we decided to go with a minimalistic symbol in a typeface that embodied the same fresh, modern, and clean aesthetic form.

The website focused on close-up shots of the skin with images set in a cool blue or a gray background color palette. Furthermore, we selected photos with less background elements in order to convey that fresh, modern, carefree feel that is Pure Dermatology.

Another healthcare brand we’ve worked with is Cure Cardiovascular Consultants. This logo was very important to our client – he has always had a personal interest in the Archangel Michael, even from childhood. He requested a logo with a fighting angel that was neither cheesy nor cliche. We played around with three different themes: an angel, a heart, and armour. In the end, we were able to create a logo that stayed true to Dr. Bagheri and Cure Cardiovascular’s values.

How to Make Successful Healthcare Branding Strategies

If you want to be able to create a successful healthcare branding strategy or hospital branding strategy that lasts, then follow the 5 tips below.

Research, research, and more research

No branding strategy will be successful without initial research. You need to gather quantitative and qualitative data in order to create a branding strategy that represents you and connects to your audience.

Identify your brand’s position

You may notice how many healthcare brands position themselves to be “leaders” or “cutting-edge.” These aren’t bad things to be, but the thing is, it doesn’t set you apart from the rest. It won’t make you stand out from other healthcare brands.

Even though you do have leading physicians and are cutting-edge, you should position yourself as something a little different.

When positioning your brand, you should carefully consider your unique traits in order to distinguish yourself from other competitors. Ask yourself what makes you different.

Positioning your brand will help you create a strong message that can resonate with your people and your audience.

Brand values and patient experience

Once your practice declares its mission statement and core values, you’re going to have to make sure it’s communicated even in the tiniest details. 

Brands need to be consistent in order to produce a remarkable patient experience. 

Patients want to be handled with care. It’s the reason they reach out to you. Their experience with your brand starts from the minute they discover you, continues to the very first moment they reach out, and lasts even after the entire process of acquiring healthcare services from you is over.

Patients also want to be able to access your healthcare brand online, so it’s best to start improving your website. Add patient portals, online scheduling, and online consultations. 

Remember, brand consistency, especially in brand values, creates for better patient experience.

Create a brand story

Your brand story should resonate with you and your patients. People relate to stories, and will support a brand that speaks to their emotions. 

Instead of creating a brand story that’s all about you, create one that focuses on the reason for your brand. Why are you doing it for your patients?

Hire professionals 

You are going to have to be the one who decides what you stand for and what your main message to patients will be. You will carry out your values and mission every day. What you can get help with, though, is creating the digital assets that are going to define your practice for years to come. A professional brand identity and website company can give valuable insight into how to communicate your message, create a brand that looks great and says the right thing, and set you up for long-term brand consistency and success.

Conclusion

There is no shortage of ways to define and differentiate your healthcare brand. You have the opportunity to redefine and reinvent your brand to address the concerns of your audience and reflect your own beliefs and passions.

Everything mentioned above can guide and support you to align your brand with the wants and needs of your patients and stand out from the competition. 

Of course, if you need help with your branding or have any questions, feel free to contact us here.