By John Lavey | Hammock President and COO
I’d like to think I’m a healthy person. But as I knock out my second handful of Trader Joe’s Cocoa Hazelnut Cookies while writing this piece, I’m reminded that healthy eating is more of a big idea than a reality, at least for me. (I’m willing to exercise regularly, but exercise accounts for a depressingly low amount of daily caloric burn.)
Having big ideas and lofty goals are important. But the reality is, lasting change happens incrementally, step by (sometimes excruciating) step.
To help improve my diet, my wife persuaded me to join her in 21 Days of Wellness, a plan for eating better in the new year. This weekend I’ll eliminate the remaining holiday temptations from our pantry and buy groceries without sugar, dairy and gluten. Then I’ll be ready to eat clean on Monday—and keep it up day by day until it becomes a habit.
What’s true of our own health is also true of the best healthcare marketing. We may talk about solving our customers’ problems, but if we are only focused on the big ideas—thought leadership on healthcare consumerism, for example—without providing step-by-step solutions for today, we may never help them achieve those lofty goals.
Takeaway: Think about ways you can address your customer’s short-term problems. Content marketing is about giving great help, day after day, to inform and encourage your customer. Consider providing daily news put into context and summarized for their ease, or creating helpful content resources, such as how-to guides.
Help them with their day-to-day needs, and soon those good daily practices will snowball into a habit—and maybe even the realization of those big ideas. (Sorry, Trader Joe’s cookies. I’ll miss you.)
Image Credit | iStock
About Hammock Healthcare Idea Email | This post is part of Hammock’s award-winning Idea Email series. Idea Emails are sent every other week and share one insightful marketing idea. Idea Email comes in two flavors: Original and Healthcare. To subscribe to the original Idea Email (general marketing ideas), click here . To subscribe to the Healthcare Idea Email (healthcare marketing ideas), click here.