Digital marketing in healthcare keeps changing over the years. There is a fundamental shift in the way that healthcare entities including hospital marketing departments reach and communicate with patients. As 2016 is receding into the past, it is time for healthcare organizations to plan and finalize their budgets for 2017. With many hospitals and medical practices struggling with declining admissions, healthcare marketers need to select the most impactful budget priorities.
- Gain ROI with a good digital strategy: In 2014, only 14% percent of healthcare budgeting was allocated to digital archives, which is significantly lower than any other industry. Today, almost more than 72 percent of US healthcare consumers go online for finding information on healthcare. Therefore it is important for healthcare organizations to have a website that is mobile optimized, choose the right keywords and promote their services so as to reach the target audience. Some of the efficient marketing approaches such as social media, geofencing, and search engine marketing are ideal for promoting healthcare services.
- Be vigilant and protect the brand: Developing a website alone is not enough but protecting it from cyber attack is also essential. According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, a cyber attack can cost around $6 billion a year for American Hospitals. The ideal way to prevent data breaches is encryption of data or developing a comprehensive plan.
- Become an expert: As per recent research from True North Custom, nearly 73% of US hospitals are already engaging in content marketing and 19 percent of hospitals plan to start content marketing this year. Content should be a resource to prospective patients. Before starting content marketing, healthcare entities should have the targeted consumers in mind and post patient stories or experiences. They should be able to provide reliable answers to the consumers’ health-related questions.
In order to compete in today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment, organizations should come up with innovative ideas and stand out in their digital marketing endeavours. Healthcare SEO is the key to reaching prospective patients, and in these efforts healthcare businesses will find reliable medical SEO services immensely helpful. Healthcare businesses following the above tips and investing in the right resources stand to benefit a great deal. Priority should be given to developing quality content along with visually appealing tools such as infographics and video content that consumers will find easy to understand and share.
