Report of research findings on hearing aid marketing

1. Hearing Aid Marketing
November 2010
A Research Report By
Claire E. Cunningham

2. HEARING AID MARKETING
INTRODUCTION
• Study conducted early fall 2010
• Recruitment by phone and online
(LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, ZipAud)
• Survey completed online (SurveyMonkey)

3. HEARING AID MARKETING
INTRODUCTION (continued)
• Less than 100 respondents
• Results are qualitative

4. HEARING AID MARKETING
• 75% of respondents were Au.D., HIS or
Licensed Audiologists
Are you a practicing hearing professional?
Doctor of Audiology
Audiologist
HIS
Other (Mktg., Etc.)

5. HEARING AID MARKETING
• The most common types of new patient
marketing programs were:
– Referrals (physician and patient)
– Advertising (newspaper, phone directory, other)
– Open houses
• Next most common were:
– Social media/internet
– Networking
– Direct mail

6. HEARING AID MARKETING
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0%
PERCENT
Newspaper ads
Yellow pages ads
Other ads (TV, radio, movie theater)
Direct mail
Open houses
Educational events (Lunch & learns)
Speaking engagements, presentations
Networking
Social media/Internet
Physician referrals
Patient referrals
Other
No marketing to attract new patients
TYPES
What types of new patient marketing did your practice do in the past 12 months?

7. HEARING AID MARKETING
• Marketing types where the most money was
spent were:
• Advertising (all forms)
• Open houses
• Direct mail

8. HEARING AID MARKETING
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%
PERCENT
Newspaper ads
Yellow pages ads
Other ads (TV, radio, movie theater)
Direct mail
Open houses
Educational events (Lunch & learns)
Speaking engagements, presentations
Networking
Social media/Internet
Physician referrals
Patient referrals
Other
No marketing to attract new patients
TYPES
What are your top 3 areas for new patient marketing spending in a year?

9. HEARING AID MARKETING
• Marketing types that yielded the most new
patients were:
– Advertising
– Open houses
– Patient referrals
– Physician referrals

10. HEARING AID MARKETING
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0%12.0%14.0%16.0%18.0%20.0%
PERCENT
Newspaper ads
Yellow pages ads
Other ads (TV, radio, movie theater)
Direct mail
Open houses
Educational events (Lunch & learns)
Speaking engagements, presentations
Networking
Social media/Internet
Physician referrals
Patient referrals
Other
No marketing to attract new patients
TYPES
Which activities got you the most patients over the past 12
months

11. HEARING AID MARKETING
• Most common retention marketing types were:
– Letters
– Phone calls

12. HEARING AID MARKETING
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0%
PERCENT
Phone calls
Letters
Newsletters
Greeting cards
Social media
No patient retention marketing
MARKETINGTYPES
How did you stay in touch with patients

13. HEARING AID MARKETING
CONCLUSIONS
• Hearing aid practices should focus more
attention on patient and physician referrals.
(Low cost; high yield)
• Few practices do a thorough job of patient
retention marketing.

14. HEARING AID MARKETING
QUESTIONS and COMMENTS:
• Call Claire Cunningham at 1-763-546-0479
• Or email clairec529@msn.com