Writing short informative articles that educate your reader on a topic that's important to them is an inexpensive way to get in front of your target audience, get published, and position either yourself or your organization as an expert. Hospitals, writers, and small business owners alike can benefit from this inexpensive method of marketing. Whether you are a hospital positioning yourself in front of doctors or a copywriter teaching your clients about marketing, writing articles in targeted publications is an inexpensive way to meet your marketing goals.
One of the best and sometimes easiest places to publish articles is with a networking or business association. Remember, we're looking at places your clients would go, not places you go. So if you are a hospital and your goal is to position your facility to cardiologists, you should publish in the local academy of cardiologist’s newsletter. If you're a podiatrist and your goal is to get in front of family Practitioner's that may refer to you, write an informative article on foot care for the American Academy of Family Practitioner's. The same is true if you are a copywriter or designer and want to get in front of marketers. Write a marketing article and get it published in a targeted marketing association's newsletter.
This is very easy to do and has many benefits. It's relatively inexpensive-especially if you write it yourself. Most non-profits, especially the smaller local chapters, are scrambling for good material to publish. Keep in mind they have a responsibility to their membership. Continuing education and being a valuable resource for their members is a part of that.
Articles are more likely to be read than an advertisement. The key to making this technique work for you is to write from a place of giving. Don't talk about your organization and how great you are and all the ways you can help. Write to educate or inform the readers on a specific topic that's important to them. Include a short "about the author" or "about Sunshine Healthcare" at the bottom and let that be it. The fact that the information is coming from your organization makes you a leader or an expert on that topic without saying a single word.
You can also use this article again. If you're a copywriter you now have writing samples to show clients. Many organizations will reprint articles and reuse them as marketing materials later on. You can post the content on your Web site or include a link in the article to your site (which has an added benefit of increasing your search engine ranking).
About the author
Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, "5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits" at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.