9 Prescriptions for Digital Healthcare Marketing

Magazine ads. Bus benches. Talk radio. If these are the only media in your marketing arsenal, you’re missing a whole slew of potential patients.

People actively look for health information every day. But they’re not just flipping through magazines. More than 70 percent of internet users have gone online for health information.1 Most of these people start with a search engine like Google. They’re usually checking symptoms, researching treatments or reading doctor reviews.

This is a huge opportunity for healthcare organizations. If you become the source they trust for information, where do you think they’re going to turn when they need care?

Of course, the world of digital marketing is complex and ever-changing, but here are some tips to get you started.

1.  Be compliant. Obviously, HIPAA is a priority. Don’t share anything in your content that may lead to identifying a patient. So instead of saying, “One patient we saw experienced X,” say, “Some patients may experience X,” or “You may experience X.” To be safe, ask your legal department for some guidelines, and have them review any content you’re not sure of.

2.  Create content, not just ads. Rather than just promoting your practice or health system with banner ads (called “outbound marketing”), offer helpful, educational info they’re looking for (“inbound marketing” or “content marketing”). Content marketing costs 62 percent less than outbound marketing and generates more than 3 times as many leads.2 A blog is a great place to start; companies who blog receive 97 percent more links to their website.3 Video could be just as beneficial; landing pages with videos increase conversions by 86 percent.4

3.  Choose your social platforms carefully. Don’t try to be on every social media site there is; choose two or three where you can make the most impact. Where does your target audience spend the most time? Where do they go for information? To get you started: Facebook is still No. 1 with more than 2 billion users. And YouTube is the world’s No. 2 search engine after Google. Also, get creative with how you use the platform – for instance, give your audience a chance to connect with one of your specialists through a Facebook Live video stream or an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) thread on the community discussion site Reddit.

4.  Maintain a great bedside manner. Make sure your online voice is as friendly as one you’d use face-to-face with a patient. Use personal pronouns like you’re writing to a real individual. So instead of, “Some patients may experience headaches,” say something like “You might have a headache.”