Fractional Marketing for Small Health Clinics and Hospitals: A Case Study

At Wild Fig, we love celebrating the successes of our clients. Whether it’s a big win or a small one, we can’t help but do a little dance 💃 when our efforts pay off for the businesses we work with!

In this blog, we’re highlighting a big win: How our fractional marketing services helped our client, a small rural health center in North Dakota, boost their marketing efforts and free up their staff’s time to better serve their community. 

If you run or work for a small health clinic or hospital, you know how difficult it can be to juggle all the responsibilities inherent in such an important endeavor. From keeping things running to educating and communicating clearly with your community, it can feel impossible to handle it all when you have a fraction of the funds and marketing support a larger healthcare facility has to work with.

That’s where fractional marketing comes in. Read on to learn about our client, Mountrail County Health Center, their needs, and how they have benefitted from Wild Fig’s fractional marketing services.

The Client: Mountrail County Health Center

Mountrail County Health Center (MCHC) provides quality health care services to their community in Mountrail County, ND and the surrounding area. 

Their services include primary medical care, emergency care, swing bed, and clinic services. In addition to a hospital and clinic, their campus also hosts a nursing home, assisted living and independent living apartments, and an aquatic and wellness center.

MCHC also has a fundraising arm — the Mountrail County Health Foundation — which provides avenues for donors to help ensure critical access to quality healthcare in the region. The foundation is currently working to raise funds to build a new nursing home, expand services at the MCHC hospital, and build additional rooms for the assisted living facility.

Their Need: Executing an Effective Marketing Plan While Freeing Up Overwhelmed Staff

We initially connected with Stephanie Everett, CEO of MCHC, through a past client referral. 

An experienced marketer, Stephanie was overseeing the marketing efforts of MCHC in addition to her CEO duties. What’s more, MCHC was in the midst of a $40 million fundraising campaign that they needed help bringing to the public. 

Needless to say, Stephanie had a lot on her plate, and it was becoming overwhelming. She needed a solid marketing plan that could be executed by an outside team to take the pressure off of her and her staff.

When speaking with Stephanie, we got the sense that just from talking to us, she felt a sense of relief that she had someone she could trust who was more than qualified to help her and her team develop and execute a solid marketing plan.

Our Solution: Fractional Marketing

After our initial conversation, we determined that our fractional marketing services would be the best fit for MCHC’s needs.

Fractional marketing is a nimble marketing solution that essentially places an entire team of marketing experts at your fingertips. 

Here’s how it works: We provide marketing services for a business at a fixed number of hours each month over a set length of time (our packages start at 6 months). Because we only dedicate a fraction of the time a typical in-house marketing team would spend on a company’s marketing, our services are a fraction of the cost. 

It’s an ideal fit for a smaller, rural health facility like MCHC. 

When we began working with MCHC, our first order of business was to do a marketing analysis to examine what tools they were using, how they were performing, and what was generating the best ROI. Then we spent time getting to know their patients, their community, and the problems MCHC solves for them. 

Once we had a good handle on their goals, brand voice, and the tools we’d need, we decided to start with two initial projects: 

1. Developing a social media strategy and implementing it across their three Facebook pages
2. Developing a campaign fundraising document they could use to attract potential donors

Once we completed these projects, we began to tackle the rest of their list of marketing needs. In the 8 months since we started working with MCHC, we’ve:

• Met with the department heads to find out what they needed in terms of collateral and marketing materials to help support each of their initiatives
• Did an on-site photo shoot of their facility
• Created a multi-media campaign to raise awareness about the importance of early detection screenings and increase the number of mammograms booked at their facility within a set time
• Helped their HR team promote a job fair
• Developed social media ideas for their assisted living facility
• Created a social media plan and have managed their social media — including content, boosted posts, and more — for 7 months, increasing both engagement and followers
• Developed ad copy for local newspapers
• Created invitations for both the public and staff for upcoming events 
• Sourced lists for various mailing campaigns
• Created postcards and coordinated printing and mailing to bring awareness to specific providers and services they offer
• Created a 9-page marketing document with images and information about their new space that will be used repeatedly for fundraising efforts
• Consolidated various lists of behavioral and mental health providers around the state into a 20-page booklet they now offer to patients

As you can see, a fractional marketing plan can encompass a wide range of marketing needs!

The Results: Strategic, Effective Marketing

Prior to working with us, MCHC’s marketing was put together piecemeal and was more reactive than proactive. They were missing a solid strategy to drive things forward and were underutilizing important marketing tools. As a result, their marketing efforts were disorganized and ineffective.

Now, they have a strategic marketing plan that delivers results. Stephanie feels relieved, knowing she has a team of marketing professionals she can count on no matter what needs may arise. In her own words:

“Wild Fig Marketing has been simply amazing to work with. Kari and Sondra are a breath of fresh air to partner with, a highly gifted team that can take on an entire health center’s marketing with ease, flair, and originality. I love how technology allows entities to collaborate with outstanding talent, regardless of where you are located!” — Stephanie Everett, Mountrail County Health Center CEO

MCHC’s experience is a great example of how outsourcing marketing efforts can be beneficial to a company…even when they already have an experienced marketer at the helm!

When you outsource your marketing to a trusted partner like Wild Fig, you’ll free your staff’s time and energy to focus on more important tasks — all while having your marketing taken care of by a team of professionals.

Want to learn more about how fractional marketing could benefit your business? Schedule an exploratory call! If you’re not quite ready to talk but want to learn more about outsourcing your marketing, download our free ebook: Top 7 Reasons To Outsource Your Digital Marketing.