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Marketing is critical to the success of any pharmacy service. Amanda Bell, Numark's service development manager, outlines how to market a service in six steps

Throughout this mini-series on pharmacy services, we have looked at identifying services that you could provide, preparing to deliver them and practical steps for setting them up. However, it doesn't matter how well you've integrated a service into your business, if it isn't marketed correctly it won't be successful.

Independents don't normally have the specialist expertise and marketing tools available to them that the multiples do, so it's not surprising that this is an area where they often fall down.

Step one

Identify your target customers. Are the people you are trying to reach already customers of your pharmacy? Or are you trying to target new customers? It's worthwhile involving your whole team in a discussion about this. Understanding the age and gender profile of those in the market for your service, knowing where they live and work and their habits will be the key to communicating with them. If they are already using your pharmacy, you can use bag stuffers and internal posters, and get staff to engage them in conversation. If they don't already come into your pharmacy, where do they go? You may need to allocate time to taking part in community events so you can reach them.

Step two

Consider third parties who may not be your ultimate customer, but can carry the message for you. This could be GPs and their staff, district nurses, opticians, dentists, employers, gym staff, local shops and the local media.

Step three

Research what materials you can take advantage of. Although you don't have a marketing team working for you directly, you'd be surprised what resources are freely available through membership organisations like Numark, charities, suppliers and national campaigns. Again, delegating this task to a member of your team will both help you and provide an interesting activity for them.

Step four

Where no materials exist, or you need to adapt them, consider getting professional help. Developing marketing messages that motivate people to buy or act is a task best left to an expert and will not cost much, especially when compared to the amount of time it would take you or a team member. Similarly, professionally produced materials will ultimately deliver more customers, so the investment is worth making. Be consistent with the message across all your marketing elements.

Whatever you're aiming for, it is vital that you track and measure your success. If it isn't profitable for you then you'll need to make changes

Step five

Timing is important. In some cases you will be able to maximise publicity for your service by piggybacking on a national campaign, eg, Know Your Numbers Week, No Smoking Day, or the annual post Christmas diet. Regardless, you need to be ready to execute your plan at least one or two months in advance of your intended launch date.

Your marketing and communication plan is a continuous cycle of activity that will need to be reviewed and altered according to the response you receive. You will need to schedule activities in at appropriate time intervals and diarise meetings. Being flexible and adapting your plan along the way means you are maximising opportunities that arise.

Marketing channels to consider include:

• Place posters in your pharmacy and in your locality, eg, community centre, village hall, supermarkets. Numark has posters available to order for a wide variety of services.
• Place bag stuffers promoting your service into your dispensing bags.
• Contact local businesses. Prepare a business case that demonstrates the value of your service to them and their staff. For example, for a flu vaccine service, show the cost of vaccinating their staff compared to the cost of time lost due to staff absence. Numark has a business presentation that can be tailored to your pharmacy.
• Contact your local stakeholders such as GP surgeries and tell them about your service offering.
• Utilise any local campaigns and consider an advert in the local paper or on your local radio.
• Think about contacting your local newspaper to tell them about what you are doing. Invite them to experience the service and they can then write about it for their readers.
• Your front of house team are key to marketing through conversations they have with customers/patients in or out of your store. Ensure that you engage your team early in the planning stages.
• You might want to consider a case study once you have the service up and running €“ there is no better way to promote a service than good publicity from someone that has used it.
• Social media can be powerful although it needs careful managing and can be time consuming. Your target audience may be users of Facebook and Twitter, so an online campaign could capture their imagination

Step six

What does success look like for this service? This could be financial, it may be based on the amount of customers you attract, or it could be a measure of linked sales or other opportunities. Whatever you're aiming for, it is vital that you track and measure your success. If it isn't profitable for you then you'll need to make changes, and if you are looking to provide a commissioned service in the future, you'll need to demonstrate the difference you have made.

Numark can offer you support and advice on the best ways to market your service and to sustain the services you provide. For more information look at www.numarknet.com.