Everyone utilizes the Internet for practically everything, from looking up illnesses, symptoms, and treatments to finding doctors and ‘the best clinic near me’ and everything in between. To be competitive, healthcare organizations must use digital marketing tactics that establish and expand their business. It's all too tempting to focus all of your digital marketing efforts into one strategy that you've had success with in the past. Many organizations believe they can focus on one and then move on to the next, but in today's competitive business environment, versatility is the greatest strategy. Below, we outline three of the most effective digital marketing landscapes that healthcare organizations should focus on to help you capture your audience and get ahead of the competition.

A User-Centered Website

Healthcare marketing begins with your website, it serves as the hub of your digital marketing efforts.  Both Google and your patients place a high value on content, presentation, and accessibility. If the site is not mobile-friendly or provides relevant content quickly, users will move on. In our new healthcare climate, convenient care is king. Users should be able to locate the desired page with a few clicks and stay engaged enough to complete your call to action. 
Healthcare-related websites are often the face of digital healthcare. Our results indicate that 92% of consumers manage their health online using a website in some capacity. Whether it’s scheduling an appointment or something as simple as researching a physician’s phone number, almost every single individual is interacting with a healthcare-related website to help with their medical care. This means that healthcare websites need to do it all - provide an eye-catching interface, have intuitive navigation layouts, incorporate the right tech stack to efficiently capture visitor data to curate personalized experiences and effectively engage with customers.

Content Library

Content Libraries are key to digital success, especially within the Healthcare industry. When reviewing the digital performance of America's top 20 hospitals, it was evident that healthcare providers who deliver a rich library of original health-related content to their online users captured a far larger audience. This content strategy proves to create a sizable gap within the industry, causing those utilizing it to soar far ahead of the competition. But it makes sense. Health-related searches, specifically around conditions and symptoms, make up an incredibly large share of all Google searches. One in six patients searches for their symptoms before heading to their doctor. You can rein in that massive search audience by hosting relevant content regarding various ailments and symptoms. Keep that audience engaged by providing content for all the key moments throughout a patient’s experience. By creating a customer journey map you’ll have a better grasp on patient experience and pinpoints. Utilize that data to provide them with reliable information at a critical moment. This will draw users to your page just as their looking to make an appointment. In our study, we found that Hospitals that utilized this strategy benefitted from higher patient conversions in addition to various indirect benefits that arise from the underscored credibility of being a trusted home of valuable health information.  To learn more about this unprecedented opportunity for hospitals to grow their digital footprint, as well as the strategies and next steps to take advantage of it through content activation at scale, access our study here.

Email Marketing:

Email Marketing is a tried-and-true approach. As one of the first digital marketing tactics, it has remained a top tool for marketers due to its impressive ability to provide a consistent return on investment. Email marketing has proven to be a cost-effective strategy to get in front of your audience, deliver the information they are looking for, and establish a relationship between your audience and your company. In addition, the data that it provides gives you an inside look at what demographics are heavily engaging with your brand and which content resonates with them the most. Not only are you staying top of mind, but with each email campaign, you gain more insights about who you should be targeting and what content you should be putting out there.

There is a lot you can incorporate into your email marketing plan including newsletters, welcome emails, company culture updates, and sign-up forms for your blogs and other channels. Use calls to action such as read more links and download now buttons to bring people from the email to your site. Keep them engaged so next time they need your services; they’ll remember your business. Newsletter signups and blog subscriptions help you to stay in touch with both current and potential patients to keep them up to date on company culture and innovations while gated content and contact forms help you to widen your network. If you add a new doctor, new machinery, or procedures, then send out an email. Sending out a surplus of relevant content and information will help you to stay top of mind for both new and potential customers.

Each orginization will find their own mojo, their own mix of marketing tactics to elevate their business. However, despite the mix that you create, these three tried and true marketing landscapes will be what keeps your business moving in the right direction. Boston Digital specializes in creating world-class websites and developing unique marketing strategies to propel your business into the next stage of growth. For more information on how to juggle multiple marketing strategies and select the best channels for your business please contact us here.