Like every other field these days, healthcare is a dynamic and evolving industry. Telehealth has become the industry standard for non-urgent appointments. Prospective patients research hospitals and healthcare facilities online, no longer compelled to visit the closest clinic to home. 66% of web users have searched for a particular disease or condition online. While health may not be the first industry you’d associate with marketing, a digital marketing strategy for healthcare is essential in the modern age to stand out from the competition.
Healthcare marketing strategies can benefit everyone from doctors to dentists, primary care physicians to psychologists. They can draw attention to your practice, provide your clients and potential clients with helpful information and content, increase loyalty among your existing customers and showcase your authority.
Are the best marketing strategies for medical clinics the same that work for professionals in other fields? What sort of channels and approaches should you turn to?
As a hybrid creative marketing agency, Anchor’s strategies have provided exceptional results to many professionals, including healthcare providers. Here is our advice for where to start when developing a digital marketing strategy for healthcare.
Why Digital Marketing Is Important For the Healthcare Industry
Healthcare has become a more competitive industry than many people realise, as the internet and increased competition have led to expanded consumer choice. The COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders made it a necessity to bring healthcare to the people in their own homes. As a result, telehealth has become the default for non-emergency appointments and prospective patients are no longer restricted by location. While people without medical training are increasingly turning to the Internet to research their own symptoms, leading to a new phenomenon nicknamed “cyberchondria”.
A digital marketing strategy for healthcare is a powerful way to reach potential patients who are scouring the web for answers and options. Some benefits of effective healthcare marketing strategies include:
Expand your reach
The days when people needed to rely on word of mouth or trust the quality of the physicians in their immediate area are long gone. For most people nowadays, the search for a healthcare provider starts online and takes into account factors like website quality and Google reviews. With a digital marketing strategy for your healthcare facility, you can expand beyond the reach of your physical location and bring your services to new customers.
It helps you stand out
There are more than 642,000 healthcare professionals working in Australia, from dentists to general practitioners. The vast majority of these healthcare professionals now have websites to showcase their services, expertise, and contact details. When a simple Google search for “psychologists” brings up an entire results page of local clinics, it’s essential to have a strategy to stand out.
Establishes credibility and leadership
Publishing helpful, informative content on your website or social media pages helps to position you as an authority in your field. Becoming a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long process that involves strategies like regularly sharing valuable content, participating in community events and forging meaningful partnerships with other professionals. But once you’ve laid the groundwork, the benefits for your reputation help you grow your client base.
Fosters ongoing relationships
If there’s no follow-up after your first appointment, patients can see you once and then never again. Engaging with existing patients via channels like social media, marketing, text, and email helps keep that relationship strong between appointments.
Considerations for Healthcare Digital Marketing Strategies
Some worthwhile considerations for your digital marketing strategy for healthcare include:
Compelling human stories
According to a Gallup poll, up to 70% of purchasing decisions are primarily emotionally driven. By telling authentic human stories that compassionately depict how people live with their conditions, healthcare brands can deepen their connection with patients and potential patients.
Long-form content
A short YouTube commercial isn’t enough time to explore the nuances of complex and widely misunderstood conditions. Longer-form content has the potential to inform and educate, as well as reflect the variety of experiences that people with a particular condition can have.
Complex data presented simply
People don’t have time for excessive medical jargon when they’re trying to learn about a condition and how you can assist them with it. If you can present complex data and dry factual information in an easy-to-understand and informative way, it leads to clearer communication and better results.
AI
While artificial intelligence can’t fully replicate a human connection, an AI-powered chatbot can answer basic enquiries and free up the phone line.
Regulatory compliance
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) plays a crucial role in ensuring that healthcare marketing strategies meet acceptable standards. Healthcare providers and marketers need to provide accurate and unbiased information, protect patient confidentiality and obtain explicit written consent from patients used in marketing materials, among other measures. When in doubt about whether something is acceptable or not, it’s best to check the AHPRA guidelines for clarification.
Optimal Channels for Healthcare Marketing
Some of the best channels to incorporate into your digital marketing strategy for healthcare include:
While search engine optimisation (SEO) can take you to the top for organic rankings, pay-per-click (PPC) is a faster way to reach the first page of search results. Both are essential elements of a solid Google-based digital marketing strategy.
Social media
Social media is a useful way to engage with both potential and existing patients as well as the entire health community. It’s an avenue for sharing tips, guides and case studies, often across multiple channels.
Website
Everyone needs a website these days, and healthcare facilities are no exception. Your website should be professional and informative, well-optimised for user experience, and mobile responsive.
Email marketing helps you find new patients and nurture your relationships with existing ones. Effective email marketing involves implementing email automation while also personalising emails to make them seem directed to one person.
Dynamic Healthcare Digital Marketing Strategies with Anchor
Not every approach is right for everyone, so every time we launch a campaign, we anchor it in strategy. We can take a look at your healthcare business and determine which strategy is best for you.
When a new visitor comes to your website, you only have a few seconds to make an impression, which is why the Anchor team focuses on your site’s performance. The strategies we focus on not only include boosting your website’s speed but also drawing on the power of SEO, PPC and social media.
Your creative assets reflect who your brand is and what you stand for, and Anchor helps you accurately display this vision to the world. We can refine your creative strategy from the ground up, beginning with your brand identity, and work with you to build a website and campaigns that deliver on your promises. We let the quality of our work motivate our clients to work with us again, so you won’t ever be locked into a contract.
If you’re interested in partnering with Anchor for your healthcare marketing strategy, drop us a line.
