Looking to take your healthcare business to the next level? In today’s market, a company can’t survive without a strong digital marketing plan.
Do you know…
- The recent changes in digital healthcare marketing?
- The challenges that those changes pose to healthcare businesses?
- How to take your healthcare marketing to the next level?
If you didn’t answer an emphatic yes to any of those questions, keep reading.
The Healthcare Industry Is Expanding
According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), there has been an annual increase of 5.6% spent on healthcare nationwide, and with an aging Baby Boomer generation, this number is only going to keep rising.
In fact, according to CMS, spending is projected to reach 5.5 TRILLION by 2025! What does this rapid expansion and increased spending mean for those in the healthcare industry? Opportunity and competition.
The question is, will those looking for you be able to find you?
The Healthcare Industry Is Full of Opportunities 
However, there are significant challenges when it comes to marketing in the healthcare industry. New digital consumption and mobile trends have disrupted the medical landscape. Once depending on traditional marketing methods, the healthcare industry has been slow to adapt to cutting-edge digital developments.
Increased importance is being placed on digital marketing strategies such as mobile search, mobile responsive websites, and landing page optimization, as well as social media marketing. For healthcare providers to stay competitive, it is essential to shift some of their marketing focus into the digital marketing space.
Major Changes = Major Opportunity
The good news is that for those willing to reach out and take hold of these opportunities, the rewards can be massive. It all begins with understanding how the public acts when looking for healthcare products or services.
- Where do they look online?
- How do they search online?
- What are some popular healthcare websites?
- What about social media, Google, or Yelp?
Once you have an idea of how your customers think, you are one step closer to growing your business.
Five Opportunities You Don’t Want to Miss
#1 Customers Are Relying More on Search
In the past, if you wanted a dentist you might call a friend or a family member. Today, according to Google, 84% of patients use a mix of online and offline sources for hospital research. Over half of them will look at a medically-related online video before making their final appointment choice, and 64% would rather make their appointment online than call the doctor’s office.
What does this search process look like?
They might use their mobile device to go on Google and ask, “Who’s the best dentist in LA?” They’ll then find the Yelp page which ranks who is the best dentist for their criteria. Once they’ve narrowed it down to two candidates, they might use Facebook to crowdsource for opinions to find the best choice. The point is, if you aren’t taking full advantage of how people search for healthcare, you’re leaving a lot of business on the table.
#2 Growth of Video Consumption
Do you know how much more content was watched on YouTube this year than last year? 100% more! Additionally, according to YouTube, one of their top growing video categories is healthcare.
If you want to help fuel customer loyalty, you need to forge a bond with your clientele. Video can bring people into your business in a more personal way, reducing friction and improving customer retention.
Imagine a health supplement company that has videos showing how clean and pure their supplements’ ingredients are. They post videos showing the process of exactly how their ingredients go from being picked on the farm, to their supplements, and into your home. That company hasn’t just demonstrated that they have a great product, but they’ve made an impression on their potential buyer that will last for a long time. Providing transparency with video campaigns like this can make a huge impact on a target market, and drive engagement, sales, and growth.
#3 Great Website Experience
In order to capitalize on this opportunity, you need a couple of ingredients to succeed. For example, how easily can someone navigate your site? When surveyed, people said that if the homepage of a medical website took longer than three or four seconds to load, they weren’t sticking around. Having a web/mobile site that is fast and intuitive is crucial if you want to sell your product or service.
#4 Thinking Local
Another crucial component is local search. “Near me” searches on Google have gone up exponentially from 2016 to 2017. Imagine someone on the go who has a medical emergency. They need your product right away and they search, “X products in downtown LA.” If you rank highly in that local search, you are taking advantage of a huge growing segment of healthcare customers. This makes local search more important than ever before.
#5 Transparency
People want to feel that they are an equal partner in the healthcare experience. One third of patients compare the information that their doctor gives them to information on the web. Sixty-one percent of patients say that they would rather consult the internet than talk to family about their health. From here, it’s clear that if you put out meaningful and helpful health content, people will engage with you. It shows how important it is to be an expert, and shows others online that you are a real authority.
That means giving people interesting and informative content. If people love your content, they are more likely to continue to patronize your business and look up to you as an industry leader.
Want to create that advantage for yourself and start dominating your space like never before? National Positions has the digital marketing strategies and implementation that can take your business to the next level.
