How the Healthcare Industry can benefit from Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is slowly penetrating the conventional healthcare market and helping institutions and establishments tap into the already present wide-set audience which is now resorting to digital collaterals like websites, mobile applications and much more to connect with the organization. Hospitals, insurance organizations, pharmaceutical companies and many other stakeholders need to connect to their audience via a digital medium and digital marketers can help them achieve the connection.
With the help of a digital marketing undertaking, members of the healthcare industries can achieve the following:
Clear Assessment of the Healthcare Trend: By undertaking a competitive analysis and target audience research, it is easier for organizations to stay in sync with what is trending in the market and craft their practices as well as modules accordingly.
Optimized Marketing and Outreach Activities: Since digital marketing allows organizations to track customer behavior, the marketing activities are summed into relevant strategies that are not an arrow shot in the dark but a well-thought plan that can introduce the consumer flow. Not to mention, a strategized approach can also save time as well as resources.
Flexible Marketing Techniques: Conventional marketing tactics are effective but rigid in nature, i.e., there is hardly any scope to change the parameters once the campaign is launched. However, in digital marketing, the strategies are online and as per the trend. Therefore, these tactics can be tweaked as per the market trend anytime, anywhere.
Key Trends to be considered by Every Healthcare Marketer
Healthcare marketing trends are interesting, innovative and of course, subject to constant fluctuation. Understanding these trends will help healthcare marketers draft the right strategy that will assist them in attaining more visibility as well as leads. Here are some trends to look out for.
Reputation Matters
Negative reviews have the power to produce a catastrophic impact on a healthcare organization's reputation. Such reviews reflect poorly on the management's ability which can plummet their customer flow. It is important to fix the patch immediately and as prevention is better than cure, take precautionary measures to avoid such negative situations.
Beyond Google
Google has come to be a reliable source of information but today, patients have other options as well, one of them being ADA Find-a-Dentist. Practitioners can register themselves on these portals which will direct patients to their profile based upon their search. From a marketing perspective, this new avenue helps increase visibility as the presence is not limited to the organization's website but also extends to other platforms.
Programmatic Display Buying
In programmatic display buying, marketers leverage the advantage of visual presentation where they purchase advertising and target a specific audience. It helps convey a brand message and also improves visibility. Tactics used in such a strategy are re-targeting ads, social media advertising and pay-per-click ads
Digital Marketing Strategies for Healthcare Industry
Informative Content
More than 63% of consumers go online to gather information about medical treatments, new procedures or to know more about a particular ailment. In fact, almost 1% of the 35 billion daily searches are related to medical.
This opens up a great opportunity to divert these customers to the organizational website via informative content that not only helps increase visibility but also credibility as a knowledgeable member of the healthcare industry. Charting a monthly content calendar can do wonders in creating and pushing out viable content which readers would like to read as well as share. There is nothing better than word of mouth publicity.
Healthcare organizations can also create a human connect by posting content about battles against terminal diseases, experiences of those who have been there and how their emotional resilience can help others overcome their diseases. Highly engaging and informative content in the form of blogs, Quora answers and guest contributions to credible websites can help boost the number of visitors to the website. However, it is important to note that this content distribution should be steady instead of spamming.
SEO Optimized Content
Medical searches are one of the most competitive subject matters online and in order to rank up the Google search engine, healthcare organizations need to focus on their SEO strategies.
SEO today is no more limited to keyword volume but heavily relies on search intent and semantics as well. This means that Google's algorithm is now ranking that content which has relatable information instead of those that are merely stuffed with keywords. In fact, the algorithm can now recognize the content that has solely been created for marketing purposes and brings down the rate, thereby, affecting the organization's visibility.
By using tools like analytic tools and SERP, marketers can zero in on the keywords, their difficulty, cost-per-click and relative words that can be incorporated in the main title, H1 and H2, meta tags, and URL midst the copy to make it SEO optimized. Keyword stuffing should be avoided at all costs.
Easily Navigable Website
Chances are that the visitors visiting healthcare websites are aware of what they are searching for but require more information on the subject matter. This means organizations need to build a clean, easy to understand and easily navigable website.
Healthcare websites especially need to stay decluttered as visitors are looking for specific, clear-cut information without much use for frills and fancies. Visitors should be able to access information in one-click, book appointments in minimal steps and look up for treatments without much clicking around. Mayo Clinic website is one such example of a decluttered and direct website.
Engaging Social Media Strategy
For more than 50% of consumers, social media connections play an important role in building credibility. Health forums are often linked to social media platforms that help connect with patients, physicians, and many other stakeholders, making it a common ground for many.
They can be a great medium for doctors to connect with patients, share information and also collaborate with other stakeholders to improve care and experience for many. Paid social media strategies can also help boost an online presence which directly connects healthcare organizations with their target audience.
Video Content
It is said that a picture says a 1000 words. Imagine the potential of a fully-fledged video! Video content is ruling the roost in content marketing, thanks to its visual appeal and customer engaging attributes.
Healthcare is a highly important and personal element industry which can add a touch of narrative-rich content to connect with consumers in a more genuine manner. Organizations can create simple yet data-rich videos in the form of Q&A sessions, expert opinions, informative & patient’s educational video content and much more that are easy to understand and pleasing to view to achieve engagement.
Tying it All Up
Digital marketing is an amalgamation of diverse strategies, the knowledge of the target audience and the understanding of the right time of implementation. By tying all these elements together, it is possible for healthcare organizations to achieve the coveted digital marketing success.
