No, it’s not as simple as just creating a masculine-style color palette to draw people in.
It can be frustrating to find that just because something is critical, it doesn’t make it easy to market. You likely know this all too well when trying to market your health services to men.
There are many alarming statistics that reveal men seek healthcare at much lower rates than women – even in the presence of a health problem. And the impact of this is significant. From chronic health conditions to mental illness, not seeking medical care can contribute to a shorter lifespan, serious mental health outcomes (such as suicide or addiction), and a serious diagnosis that could have been mitigated with early treatment.
While many practices may focus on marketing to their primary customer, which more often than not is women, there are many benefits of marketing your services to men (even if they make up a smaller percentage of your client base). First off, men’s health is important, and a compelling campaign geared toward men can be the very spark that compels someone to take that first step and get the care they need. Also, if a man is actively looking for a health provider, they are unlikely to choose your practice if they feel excluded by your marketing. A men’s health marketing campaign can make your practice stand out as a safe and welcome space for men seeking care for health issues they might feel embarrassed or hesitant about.
This might be surprising, but rationale alone doesn’t get people through your practice doors. You can have the most data-driven arguments or health stats, but that’s often not what brings in new patients. Instead, you’ll need to focus on emotions for successful marketing and take time to truly understand your target audience, including their pain points, their reservations, and their needs.
You might assume that since you are trying to market to men that emotions might be a less important factor. However, it’s essential you consider a key emotion in your campaigns in order to break the stigma and negative perceptions surrounding men’s health.
Not sure how to craft a compelling marketing campaign for men? Here are five examples of stellar men’s health services marketing strategies to model.
Looking to grow, scale, and thrive with your next marketing campaign? Get your free growth plan today!
Man Therapy: Educate First
Key Emotion: Curiosity + Understanding
At the end of the day, we’re all human. Of course, we know that’s true. On some level, everyone understands that we can all relate to each other in some way. But in this case, grouping people together isn’t the best marketing strategy. If you really want to build rapport with your audience, show you empathize with their unique struggles.
Man Therapy, a site for men’s mental health resources, does this perfectly. The tagline of their website homepage isn’t shy about who they’re targeting. It states: “It’s okay to cry, even when it’s not about sports.” From there, social proof and connection are created by featuring video testimonials from real men, and an easy-to-navigate filtering system for finding mental health resources based on topics. These filters include:
- Anger
- Grief
- Trauma
- Anxiety
- Depression & Suicide
- Relationships & Sex
Notice anything different about these topics as it relates to men? Trick question. There aren’t any differences – everyone (regardless of gender or sex) deals with these issues. But Man Therapy has created a space that is safe and welcoming for men, allowing education and awareness to follow. How can you generate an atmosphere like that in your men’s health marketing?
Men’s Health: Leverage Popular Media + Publications
Key Emotion: Community
We can never stress this enough: When creating any marketing strategy, go where your target audience already is. By leveraging a popular media publication that has already created a safe, normalized space for men’s health, you reach a more receptive audience, faster.
Being featured on these sites with a guest post, review, or other collaborative effort can really help spread the word about your health services for men. You can also take a more direct route, and partner with the publication to advertise on the Men’s Health website.
If men’s activewear company, Rhone, can partner with Men’s Health for this piece, “Men Don’t Talk Enough About Mental Health”, imagine the opportunity you have as a practice that directly provides men’s health services. There’s also a bonus to creating a marketing campaign in this way – it provides outside credibility and a reputation boost against your competitors.
Hims: Make It Hard to Say No
Key Emotion: Ease
Changing the norm means you have a challenge: making the alternative easy.
Hims is a telehealth and medication management platform aimed at providing easy, online access to men’s healthcare. They provide virtual medical visits with licensed experts and send your prescriptions to your door. Complete with a bold “Find My Treatment” button on the homepage, Hims services are literally a click away!
This makes it extremely convenient for someone to change their habits in a positive direction. It’s simple psychology. By increasing accessibility to men’s health services – from skincare to erectile dysfunction to anxiety and depression – it is much likelier they will be utilized.
Now, this example is not to say that you should switch your practice to telehealth options. Instead, look at the big picture. How can you provide health services in a way that makes it harder to say “no” to treatment? It takes a lot to break down the stigma surrounding men’s health – don’t add an extra barrier to that. No-Shave
November + Movember: Amplify A Cause
Key Emotion: Empathy + Altruism
How many times have you gained personal awareness while supporting someone else? Whether it’s a family member or friend or co-worker – when people stop to help others, they often understand more for themselves too.
No-Shave November and Movember are non-profit organizations that create challenges to spread awareness and raise support for cancer patients, men’s physical and mental health, and suicide prevention. The challenges – like no shaving for 30 days or running/walking 60 miles in a month – are great for generating attention and going viral. This, in turn, not only creates the opportunity for health education but for starting a conversation while amplifying a real cause.
In what ways can your marketing campaign help others while spreading a positive message?
Ellie: Destigmatize Mental Health For Men
Key Emotion: Safety + Acceptance
Here’s a hard truth: destigmatizing men’s health and care isn’t something that’s going to be laid out for you. Do you want to see change? Your practice needs to be a part of the solution. Fortunately, it’s not as difficult to normalize positive things as people think. Just take a look at Ellie, who’s changing the culture of mental health with clinics across the country! They’ve written a fantastic post, “Why We Need to Talk About the Male Mental Health Stigma” that we’ll pull from here.
How do they suggest destigmatizing men’s mental health?
- Make getting help the norm. Mental health struggles are nothing to be ashamed of, and everyone deserves to feel better. Frame men’s health services (like therapy) in a way that allows vulnerability, comfort, and care without judgment.
- Encourage sharing personal stories. Part of destigmatizing men’s health is proving that no one is alone. Highlight real issues, journeys through struggles, and how other people have gotten better – and that they can, too.
- Educate and bust myths. Stigmas only continue to grow when they’re fueled by misinformation. While you should always validate feelings and emotional needs, laying out the facts has its place too. Educate men on recognizing signs, symptoms, and struggles within themselves and others, as well as evidence-based solutions for getting better.
- Pass it on. Challenge today’s men to be the generation that makes prioritizing health not just the norm, but admirable. Encourage boys to express mental, emotional, and physical needs, and create a healthy expectation that those needs will (and should) be met. When men do this consistently, they will pass it on to young sons, brothers, and future fathers – ending the stigma once and for all.
Start a New Men’s Health Marketing Campaign With Beacon
The takeaway from all of this? Marketing health services to men isn’t just about presenting an opportunity for getting help. In order to be successful, you must actively change the culture and reduce the barriers that keep men’s health de-prioritized. So, will you take on the challenge of reaching a more difficult audience in your practice?
Do you dare to create campaigns that defy the norms in men’s health? If so, consider Beacon Media + Marketing your dedicated marketing partner in growing your practice and reaching men with compelling, barrier-free marketing. Beacon specializes in marketing for healthcare businesses, especially mental health marketing.
We’re ready to square up to the men’s healthcare stigma right along with you and craft messaging and visuals that get the right message across, whether that’s through expertly crafted blogs, effective paid advertising, impactful social media posts, or stellar websites and branding.
Is that a “yes?” Schedule your free consultation with Beacon Media + Marketing today.
