Ever hear the term “target marketing”? You probably have, because it’s an effective approach to reaching an online audience—which is what every business needs to do. Target marketing is a three part strategy:¹

1. Identify a group you’d like to pursue through marketing
2. Build products and services based on the group’s preferences and priorities
3. Differentiate the products and services enough to appeal to competitors with similar goals

But what if you need to go beyond simple target marketing? Segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP) coordinates the three interrelated actions of a successful targeted marketing campaign, which makes for a compelling strategy for autism treatment centers.

Why? Because time spent on research and execution is much more focused on the customer—in the case of autism care centers, patients and their families—than the product, an atypical approach for marketing strategies.²  And the more effectively you can tailor your messaging to to speak directly to the needs of your ideal target audience, the better you’ll be able to connect with the prospective patients and families who need your services.

Market to Your Audience by Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning

To successfully market your unique approach to providing autism care, segment your audience into groups based on a shared need, target your audience with information tailored to their segment, and position the therapies you offer as a natural fit for the needs of the targeted group.

Let’s take a closer look at the process and how you can utilize this strategy to more effectively speak to your current and prospective patients and their families.

1: Segmenting Patients

To market your treatment center’s program effectively, you need to segment your markets into the groups in need of your services. You could have mothers of toddlers, fathers of teenagers, or even young adults, all looking for the same thing, albeit in a different way.

Fortunately, a lot of the heavy lifting for segmentation has been done for you. You’re probably aware that some of the largest providers of autism treatment services are pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer.³

That’s some stiff competition! So, what’s the good news? Well, no one spends more money on high-quality market research than companies like these. We’re talking annual ad budgets of $6.58 billion across the industry.

As a result, there’s a great deal of research at your disposal to help you make your marketing decisions. Thanks to these big spenders, the market for autism treatment centers has been quite thoroughly identified and segmented by both therapy and type.

2. Targeting Markets

Targeting digs down into the nitty-gritty details of your patients. At this point, your team should be asking more in-depth questions about your audience, your services, and your competition. What segments are you appealing to? How do you compare to your competitors in each segment?

Get specific with your questions! What do you offer? Who are your services the best fit for? How do your therapies and your program set you apart? Half the battle is thoroughly identifying your ideal patient and determining what they want. That’s targeting.

With this information, create a content strategy to target every segment of your market. So if you’re primarily interested in attracting non-verbal clients under the age of five, your content should be geared toward the questions and concerns that their families and caregivers will have.

3. Positioning Services

The goal of positioning is to introduce a specific service to appeal to a certain audience. When segmenting and positioning are executed correctly, you’re able to select your audience from the group you’ve already segmented and targeted.

Your digital marketing strategy has many priorities that frequently change. Right now, your center could be focusing on normalizing mental health treatment in your community. Or you could be building up your center’s reputation to establish yourself as an authority in your field. You may even be refining your marketing efforts to roll out a new therapy or service.

A Good Website Makes a Great First Impression

Wherever you are in your digital marketing journey, Dreamscape Marketing  can help you reach your destination. Contact us at 888.307.7304 to schedule a  strategy session today.

 

For a list of references, please contact us.