A look at a modern approach to healthcare marketing in 2020.
There’s a reason we are moving away from the term “patient” – it’s because people aren’t passive recipients of care, they are active consumers of health services.
Patients are people, and the overwhelming majority of people go online to research the organisations they want to do business with.
They want to feel connected to, and have trust in, the brands they interact with, and in no sector is that more important than ours, where we ask people to put their wellbeing in our hands every day.
Surveys have shown that 78 per cent of consumers prefer getting to know a company through articles rather than adverts, and 70 per cent believe organisations that provide custom content are interested in building good relationships with them.
It means that success relies on a constant stream of new information, from blog posts to webinars, social media updates to e-books, that gets your organisation noticed.
Providing the right information in the right format via the right channel is key to giving today’s empowered “health consumers” everything they need to find and select your organisation.
No brand can be all things to all men, so the first thing we do when setting out a digital marketing strategy is work with our clients to map out their target audience: who are you trying to reach, where do they live and what are their priorities?
Online healthcare marketing makes it possible to reach every house in your locality, and 77 per cent, of people start their research on social media, so a thorough understanding of the demographics on different platforms is essential.
Younger people tend to seek out YouTube videos, for example, while 85 per cent of Facebook users will watch videos with the sound off. In fact, simply adding captions to a Facebook vie can increase view time by around 12%.
A recent Think with Google study found that people were almost three times more likely to find your website through a search engine than by any other route, so search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial. To do this well, we work with clients to find out what their potential patients are searching for, then develop content that truly meets information needs. That might be blogs explaining a certain health condition, FAQs around a particular procedure or videos introducing staff or showcasing facilities. We also advise our clients to ensure all their content is mobile optimised – studies have shown that 44 per cent of people who researched hospitals on a mobile device scheduled an appointment – and to be creative with how they present information.
Medical information can often be dry or dense, so using infographics can help people to digest the information and really connect with your brand.
Ultimately, the key is to remember that your potential customers are online right now looking for the very information you are the experts in providing. And in a world where accessible, engaging content, has never been in higher demand, health brands cannot afford to neglect their digital marketing strategy.