Now you know who to target and what to offer them, it’s time to focus on your marketing messages. Channels are the various ways we communicate with people, and can include, for example, digital media, social media, direct mail, posters, radio, newspapers and TV. Consider which channel(s) your target audience is most likely to access.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics for 2016 reveal that almost all adults aged 16 to 24 years are internet users (99.2 per cent) compared with 38.7 per cent of adults aged 75 years and over. However, the older generation is changing, with recent internet use up 169 per cent from 2011 among women aged 75 and over. However, still less than a third (32.6 per cent) were recent users.

Determine your value proposition(s)

Every patient wants something different. To adequately empower your patients and create an effective target marketing programme, you need to understand what your pharmacy offers and how it differentiates you from competitors.

• Do you have more convenient hours than the other local pharmacies?
• Do you offer a range of services that makes it easier for people to access many of their needs in one place?
• Do you have a team that has been in the pharmacy for a long time and knows people in the local community well?
• Does your pharmacy team exhibit a proactive and welcoming health and wellbeing ethos?
• Are your premises welcoming and accessible?
• Does one of your team have specific experience or knowledge that meets the needs of the community specifically, such as language skills?

These are value propositions that differentiate your pharmacy from others. By highlighting them appropriately, you can make sure your target patients know about them: but do make sure they are relevant to their needs.

Build your brand

Build your branding around your primary target audience and create patient persona (see panel, right) to inform things such as your approach, logo and website content. You can have more than one target audience, but in that case, you may want to consider having more than one brand or having a brand that is going to appeal to all without diluting its impact. Promoting your services to the mothers of young children would not include an elderly man, for example.

Create core messaging

Create messaging that appeals to your primary target group and select the appropriate delivery mechanisms based on your research. Once again, you need to have identified what works for each group to know how to approach them.

For example, young mothers may respond to core messaging such as “keeping your family happy and healthy”, while older men might respond better to “make your retirement the best years of your life” or “helping you live well for longer”.

Produce customised marketing materials

Once you’ve identified each of your personas and you know what marketing channels they access and how often, you can decide how best to reach them. Marketing material should be designed to appeal to your target persona. For example, let’s say one of your personas is a professional woman aged between 25 and 34 who lives alone and doesn’t have any children. The materials that appeal to her will include information on weight management, healthy eating and women’s health. She may be less interested in information about family health.

Manage patient relationships

Patients and customers all want to be treated as individuals. Making each person feel special will build loyalty and trust. Consider how you can gather data about your patients and gain their consent to receive marketing information from you.

Set up automated email or text marketing that enables you to send them regular notifications, newsletters and updates, but also personal notes advising them when their flu vaccination or MUR is due. Customise these email templates to suit each target category.