DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN FOR YOUR SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTER

Presented By:

Deborah Costin, Executive Director

Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care

May 2, 2013

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES

There are no relevant financial relationships with any

commercial interests to disclose.

HOW TO APPROACH DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN

A marketing plan should serve as a road map for the growth or sustainability of your SBHC.

It is a living, breathing, succinct document backed up by data.

It should complement your business plan.

WHERE TO BEGIN? TASK ONE: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

You must have an understanding of where your SBHC is

now – who you are serving, what your community

partners bring to the table, what marketing is currently

being conducted and who on your staff has marketing

expertise - before you can identify where you want to go

in the future.

DEFINE YOUR ELIGIBLE AND ACTUAL POPULATIONS

Start by outlining which students are eligible to receive

services at your SBHC and who you are CURRENTLY serving

so that you can compare the two groups and understand

who you are not reaching.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS (cont.)

Use market segmentation by gender, race and ethnicity,

age, etc. to refine your analysis. Are you capturing

elementary school children but not adolescents? Female

students but not male students?

Ultimately, who do you want to reach through the

execution of your marketing plan?

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS (cont.)

You may also want to look at your patients’ zip code of

residence. Are there new service areas for your SBHC?

Frequency of patient diagnoses and your payer mix can

help determine new areas of opportunity. Are you

providing mostly acute care? Should you be promoting

well-child exams or preventive oral health services?

A HELPFUL TOOL:COMPLETE A SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and

Threats.

Your Community Advisory Committee can assist in examining

where your SBHC is now (strengths & weaknesses) and

where you want to be in the future (opportunities &

threats).

TASK TWO: DETERMINE THE GOAL (S) OF YOUR MARKETING PLAN

How should your SBHC be positioned in 2-3 years? More

utilization? Different case mix? Reaching specific groups?

Offering wider array of services? Bigger facility? More or

different partners?

Clearly state the purpose of your marketing plan and

develop goals that are quantifiable and time-framed.

EXAMPLE: MEASURABLE & TIME-FRAMED GOAL

Raise $250,000 by May 1, 2014 in order to start construction

by June 1, 2014 on an exterior door from the SBHC to the

parking lot so that the SBHC can remain open June – August

2015. The result will be an increase in patient visits: 2,150

patient visits between September 1, 2014 and August 30,

2015 (400 more visits than previous year).

DETERMINE THE GOAL (S) OF YOUR MARKETING PLAN (cont.)

Increase utilization of the SBHC.

Strengthen relationships with parents and/or other

community stakeholders such as local businesses.

Strengthen relationships with current or potential SBHC

partners.

Increase awareness of the SBHC in the community and/or

improve its reputation.

TASK THREE: ACTION PLAN POTENTIAL STRATEGIES

Advertising

Media Relations

Web/Interactive

Community Outreach

Brand/Collateral Development

EXAMPLE: USE OF STRATEGIES

During school year 2013-14, increase the

utilization of SBHC services among adolescent

males from 38 percent of total utilization to 45

percent.

ADVERTISING Ads in monthly school newspaper

Banner ads on school website

Ads on district school buses

School signage (on building or in sports venues)

Mobile text message campaign

Morning announcements

Monthly, automated robo-calls

MEDIA RELATIONS Media talking points

Regular health columns in school newspapers

Interviews by youth ambassadors on high school

television programs

Podcasts posted on SBHC website

Placement of stories in local media (feature stories,

health columns, letters to the editor)

The Internet offers your SBHC both owned and paid marketing

opportunities.

Website development or refresh

Video production and creation of YouTube channel

Electronic newsletters

Social media campaigns

WEB/INTERACTIVE

Social media tactics should focus on quality engagement,

not volume of likes or followers.

Healthy Me Facebook and Instagram contest

YouTube videos developed by SBHC youth ambassadors

Snapchat photo contest

Facebook and Pinterest to reach moms

LinkedIn to attract business and community leaders

Web/Interactive (cont)

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Launch of patient-to-patient youth ambassador programs

Hosting quarterly health fairs at middle and high schools

Sponsorship of school health/wellness challenges

Staff and student surveys

Community partnership development

BRAND/COLLATERAL DEVELOPMENT

Logo development/refresh, graphic standards, SBHC

messaging, template PowerPoint presentations

Posters, flyers or brochures

Design for back of school ID cards or lanyards

Thursday/Friday folder announcements

TIMELINE

All strategies and tactics should include a timeline for

development and execution.

Be realistic – build in time for materials to be approved

by staff and/or stakeholders as well as factors that may

impact execution (school breaks, staff turnover, billing

cycles, etc.).

TASK FOUR: INTERNAL CONTROL

Decide what data analyses and reports need to be

prepared in order to measure progress toward

marketing plan goal (s).

Assign specific people to complete these reports.

Determine who should receive the reports and

how often.

BUDGET Once goal (s) and strategies are outlined, determine financial

aspects of marketing plan:

Identify staff person who will be responsible for

marketing efforts.

Number of staff hours that will be allocated to

executing the plan.

Note if current resources are insufficient to execute

certain tactics.

OPPORTUNITY The Colorado Health Foundation is offering technical

assistance through The Bawmann Group to SBHC programs

that have received an implementation grant through their

SBHC Initiative and can demonstrate need for marketing

assistance.

Up to 8 technical assistance awards available

Must submit a brief application by June 14

Awards will be made on a rolling basis

See www.CASBHC.org for application instructions

QUESTIONS?