In a previous blog, we discussed how important it is to make digital an integral part of your healthcare marketing strategy. However, as digital marketing continues to evolve at such a rapid pace, it can be difficult to keep up with the various technologies and tools available today. To help you stay up to date, here are some key trends you should consider as you make your healthcare marketing plans:
More Content = More Patients
Patients today do a considerable amount of online research before visiting a healthcare practitioner. This means that before a patient decides to contact you, they will search your website (and increase your social media accounts) for valuable and relevant information. If you want to market to them effectively, your website needs to provide as much specialty-specific educational information as possible. And with today’s increased competition for people’s attention, this content needs to be authoritative, interesting and share-worthy. The more medically reliable, easy-to-understand information you can provide, the more you will build engagement – and trust – with your future patients.
Social Engagement is Key
Social media is no longer a trend, it’s a way of life. Every minute of every day, there are 900,000 Facebook logins, 452,000 tweets sent and 46,200 Instagram posts (Source: Business Insider). And every post and tweet provides you with a way to connect with patients, as well as establish online relationships that help build trust and credibility. Done well, social media can boost awareness of your practice and generate new patients. The good news is it’s not complicated. However, you do need to create compelling healthcare content that is shareable, fresh, unique and – most importantly – attracts their attention.
Personalize Your Content
Technology is enabling a new generation of online marketing delivery systems that enable you to identify patient interests and deliver timely and relevant content on a one-to-one basis. For example, you can now retarget display ads to individuals who indicate an interest in your website or use marketing automation to create user profiles that help you to send personalized messaging. This “customized” content is more attention-getting and generates greater interest and response because patients want to be treated like a person vs a number. Personalizing content for your patients is no longer a nice to have, it’s a must-have.
Optimize for Mobile
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly yet, then it should be! In the U.S., four out of every five Americans own and use a smartphone, and this trend will continue as sales of mobile devices continue to rise. That’s why it’s critical to meet the needs (and expectations) of your patients and provide them with easy access to you with either a responsive website or mobile medical website. Both options ensure patients have an effortless online engagement with you. And both options now earn higher rankings in search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
Medical professionals work with iHealthSpot because they know they need a full-service digital marketing partner that can support the unique needs of their healthcare practice while staying up-to-date on the latest marketing trends and technologies. From award-winning medical website design and proprietary patient education content to online marketing including social media, we enable medical practices to market themselves using proven digital marketing strategies.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact us today, toll-free at (877) 709-0999 for your FREE consultation with our marketing experts today!
