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SWOT Analysis

Nirali Makwana

Polk State College

HSA 3160 H/C Marketing and PR

January 29, 2021

SWOT Analysis

Opportunities

a) Polk Memorial Hospital (PMH) enjoys relatively low competition from the two small hospitals.

b) The hospital has access to a large client base because of the large population of 500,000 people in the area.

c) Access to the skilled and experienced workforce that delivers quality services to clients.

d) Excellent reputation because of an experienced workforce working at the facility.

Threats

a) Overcrowding at the facility negatively affects the reputation of Polk Memorial Hospital.

b) Competition from the other health facilities is likely to affect the performance of the hospital.

c) Complaints from patients and employees can affect the performance of Overcrowding at the facility negatively affect Polk Memorial Hospital's reputation.

Marketing Plan

Media Marketing

Another opportunity to inform the hospital's marketing plan is the large population of 500,000 people, all potential hospital clients. Despite its size and reputation, developing a marketing plan to create awareness about the hospital's existence and its services will ensure that the company stays ahead of its competitors. An efficient marketing plan must be selected and implemented to effectively market the hospital to such a large population. The best marketing plan for this opportunity is social media to market Polk Memorial Hospital will be the most effective and efficient method of creating awareness about the hospital.

Furthermore, the marketing team needs to set up accounts on the most popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. On these platforms, the hospital will post information about the various services it offers to people and get feedback from several people who have had an opportunity to be attended to at the hospital. These social media platforms will not just be used for marketing purposes, but they can also enhance communication between clients and the hospital. Polk Memorial Hospital can use feedback from clients on these platforms to improve their operations and services.

Additionally, apart from marketing the hospital, social media platforms can also inform the public about the quality of its workforce. Considering the available hospitals, Polk Memorial Hospital has access to some of the best and well-experienced health specialists in the area. This presents the hospital with an opportunity they can take advantage of to attract more clients to the hospital. Sick clients are more likely to visit hospitals they believe have qualified and experienced specialists that can attend to them and ensure they regain their health. Social media has a growing popularity, which means that as more people join the platform, the hospital's market base increases.

In addition to social media marketing, the hospital can also use mainstream media to continue improving its reputation and fighting off competition. For example, mainstream media can be a very effective marketing means, especially when the target market has access to them. The locality within which the hospital operates likely has access to these tools, and therefore, Polk Memorial Hospital can include them in its marketing plan. The adverts should be placed when the majority of the people are listening to or watching television. For example, the hospital can place the adverts during a popular show on television and radio that have a large following. Placing the adverts during breaks of these shows guarantees that many people will see them and thus the hospital's marketing efforts will be effective and achieve their objectives. The marketing plan should have objectives designed to build Polk Memorial Hospital's reputation and fight off competition.

Additionally, in its locality, Polk Memorial Hospital is the largest health facility, which means that it provides it with access to some of the best resources in the area. One of the opportunities the hospital has access to is experienced employees. However, the hospital has employed only 20 out of the 250 specialties that work at the facility. I believe that the hospital needs to employ more health specialists, and it can do this by conducting marketing and advertisement of the available vacancies with the organization. Having its employees can positively impact the performance of the hospital and the services offered to clients.

Targeted marketing is the best marketing plan for this opportunity since the hospital will employ the available 230 specialists from the multi-specialty group. The hospital can settle on internal memos and email marketing to inform the specialists about vacancies at the hospital. The hospital will design emails that will inform the potential employees about its willingness to increase the number of employees at the hospital and the required qualification. Email marketing is likely to be effective since it’s sent directly to each potential employee's email address.

Identify the focus that meets the CEOs objectives.

The main focus of marketing planning should be tailored according to the objectives of the new CEO. One of the main objectives of Ms Smith, the new CEO, is to ensure proper staffing of the hospital. The focus of email marketing is to ensure that the CEO can achieve this objective through the most effective method. By targeting the other specialists who have already been working at the hospital, the CEO will have the opportunity of selecting from potential employees who are aware of the culture and goals and objectives of the health facility. Additionally, the new CEO is also looking to position the hospital for the future, which can be achieved through media marketing. The CEO can implement social and mainstream media marketing initiatives that can create awareness about the health facility and the various services they offer to the public. How the marketing is done will determine the position of the hospital in future.

 Conduct a situation analysis.

Considering Polk Memorial Hospital's situation analysis before implementing the marketing plan, I will start with the external situation likely to affect the hospital. The patients who have been visiting the facility have complained about the overpopulation at the facility and lack of proper equipment to handle the ever-increasing population of patients coming to the facility. Additionally, the hospital is likely to face many competitive challenges from the two competitors the clients seem to be offended with the overcrowding at the facility. They would therefore likely seek help from other facilities. 

Considering the hospital's internal situation, the specialists have complained about the poor condition of the equipment, making it hard for them to deliver on their responsibilities. Additionally, Polk Memorial Hospital is experiencing human resource challenges, with only 20 of the 250 specialists being employed by the facility. Furthermore, the hospital has been experiencing some challenges with its declining reputation due to overcrowding. The hospital is also experiencing some financial difficulties that make it challenging for the new CEO to implement any new capital-intensive improvements in the facility, such as purchasing new equipment.

 Define your target audience

For Polk Memorial Hospital to fight the competition and stay ahead of its competitors, it will need to implement a marketing plan that reaches a lot of people. The hospital will implement email marketing, and the target audience for this marketing plan is the 230 independently practicing physicians at the facility. The hospital will be looking to hire a specialist from this lot, and therefore, the emails will target each physician. The second marketing planning will include mass media, and it will target the general public made up of an estimated 500,000 people. Mass media, including mainstream media and social media, will target Polk Memorial Hospital's potential clients.

Write goals and objectives.

The marketing plan's goals will go hand in hand with those of the new CEO since they are both designed to improve the situation at the facility and fight off competition. The first goal of the marketing plan will be to improve the facility's reputation; this goal is linked to that Ms Smith of positioning the hospital for the future. The second objective will be to inform potential employees about the facility's job openings since the new CEO plans to address staffing issues. Finally, the marketing plan will be designed to create awareness about the hospital and its services; this objective will increase the number of clients choosing Polk Memorial Hospital as their most preferred health centre. 

Analyze your strategy

I selected the two marketing strategies based on the hospital's position and the opportunities available to it. Mass media's use to market the hospital was informed by the fact that the locality of the hospital consisted of over 500,000 people. Therefore, social media and mainstream media will prove effective in reaching out to the people. Another reason for selecting mass media is that it is relatively cheap and can reach many people at the same time.

Set your budget

Considering Polk Memorial Hospital's financial position, the marketing plan needed to fit within its financial capabilities. When it comes to mass media, the hospital will have to place adverts on their accounts, and for this, they will not have to pay. However, if it is interested in reaching more people, the hospital can pay the marketing platform at an estimated $ 50 for each week of marketing. For mainstream media, television and radio, the hospital will have to pay based on the when the advert will be aired and for how long.