What Women Want...From Healthcare

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, we've been told. If this theory is true, marketing must meet in the middle ground to appeal to both cosmos. But, healthcare is naturally a gender-stratified industry. There are clinical as well as behavioral reasons to target gender.

"Women often present differently when it comes to a heart attack than men—with the consequence of improper self-diagnosis possibly being death," says Joel English, executive vice president of BVK in the May issue of Healthcare Marketing Advisor. "Unfortunately, some educational efforts still only cover 'generic' warning signs, leaving a critical education gap."

Are your gender-based marketing techniques just guesswork? Don’t guess. Here is a list of pitfalls and tips for gender-based marketing techniques.

Accuracy and Discretion

Accurate portrayal of an audience of women or men is a must. Stereotyping or using humor has the potential to backfire in a big way. The Milk Board’s recent “Got Milk” campaign featured a website, banner ads, and radio spots linking milk as a cure for PMS.

After just two weeks, the campaign was pulled over complaints that it pictured women in a negative light.

Accurate portrayal of an audience tends to be a common complaint of healthcare patients. Bad news: 85% of baby boomer women surveyed indicated that they disliked the way they are portrayed in the media, according to Case Studies in Niche Marketing.