People often ask why Lunne chose to focus on health and finance. So many marketers dive deeply into one of these industries, becoming experts in marketing healthcare systems, services, and products. Or they become highly skilled at discussing financing options, APRs, lending laws, and accounting practices. But over the years of serving both of these highly regulated industries, we have found many common threads. Most of all, health and finance are two of the most personal areas of a consumer’s life. If someone doesn’t understand how to make good decisions in one of these areas, the other can suffer.
Today, we’re taking a look at these commonalities and sharing our learnings on the best ways to reach your health or finance audiences effectively.
Top tactics that we recommend to nearly all our health or finance clients
- Understand whom you’re talking to
It sounds obvious, but you must truly know your audience. We’ve done countless persona development exercises over the years, helping clients identify and visualize their customers down to the smallest detail.
Do they know how to navigate the complex world of health insurance, care providers, and personal wellness? Does your ideal customer have a goal of buying a home, paying for their child’s education, or retiring early?
- Be humble
Once you have a target consumer, you must know what role you play in their life. While we might discuss the intricacies of rotating credit accounts daily, your customer doesn’t. They’re instead focused on personal and family priorities. Your product or service is only a small part of their thought process, even when it’s a crucial resource for helping them achieve their wellness or financial goals. In short, they aren’t thinking about us. Consumers are thinking about what we can help them achieve, and it’s our job to help them make that connection.
- Grow trust first
It isn’t enough to offer the best rates, win the most awards for your care, or offer a convenient way to manage their accounts online. Today’s consumers are skeptical, and for good reason! Giving you their health or financial information can feel like a leap of faith in today’s world, where scammers, AI-powered outreach, and data breaches seem to threaten our security on a daily basis. We’ve always known that good marketing focuses on benefits rather than features. Today, we also must help your customers feel confident that you’ll handle their most personal information as if it were your own.
Top ways to get your messages to pass through legal and compliance checks
- Don’t overpromise
We’ve learned that a few words are incredibly helpful in health and finance marketing. Including words like “can,” “may,” or “help” softens the claim you’re making. Your financing offer doesn’t close more sales, but it can help close more sales. Your fitness monitor doesn’t improve someone’s life, but it can help them make better decisions or develop habits that, in turn, may improve their life. The downside to this kind of language is that you lose the boldness of your original claim. So to help strengthen your pitch…
- Back it up
Gather stats from real customers who have seen positive results. Customers who use your financing product at Mike’s Tires spend an average of 80% more than those who don’t. Many users who take your supplement are able to reduce their dependence on prescription medications by 50%. Customers who shop at your online store save an average of 15%. When you have these undeniable statistics available, with the source documented, you have a sales story that is more powerful than a clever ad campaign. You have proof, not a claim.
- Give people a way out
It sounds counterintuitive to allow an easy exit from the sales funnel, but it’s necessary. Actually, in many cases it’s a law! As we have mentioned before, earning trust is vital in today’s environment. Locking someone into a nonstop sales cycle is a surefire way to frustrate them and erode any idea that you’re looking out for their best interest. Don’t ask for more information than someone might be comfortable giving; move them down the sales funnel in a way that lets them feel in control, and make it clear you respect their decisions.
Stand out in a crowded field
With all this soft selling and respect for boundaries, it can seem like the opportunity for creativity and bold marketing campaigns is much more limited. At Lunne, we have come to appreciate the challenge of creating compelling, attention-grabbing campaigns that pass legal and compliance review. I’ve often compared it to games like tennis, where you can’t just hit the ball as hard and far as you want. You have to put enough power behind it without overshooting the boundaries.
If you’re looking for a partner who can help you elevate your approach and who may generate better results for your business, we’d love to chat!