There is no denying that today every person, regardless of their demographics and psychographics, has the most relevant information. It is majorly about, but not limited to, doctors, diseases, and patients in the healthcare industry.
Everyone wants the best for them! And especially when it comes to getting medical services, nobody compromises. So, it becomes essential for healthcare brands like yours to show their expertise and present themselves as industry leaders.
This is where a brilliant content marketing strategy comes in.
So, if you have not considered designing one or not using the one already in place, read on to know the most effective content marketing tips for the healthcare industry.
You need to understand how your potential customer will look for the options of medical and healthcare services. It's the WEB!
You must top their search results and show off a little (all genuine) to grab their attention. And eventually, build credibility and gain their trust by telling them about everything you do.
So here are the seven ways to achieve that.
It is one of the most common, expected, and vital things to get your potential customers' attention.
No matter how well-informed or intelligent they are, healthcare is one of those esoteric subjects where they need a lot of information to understand things. It should be easy to understand and engaging enough to grab their attention because you want them to know about you.
When maintained regularly, your blog also boosts your chances of ranking high on SERPs according to the industry trends. It happens because of the latest and most relevant information you present in a customer-centric manner.
Thus, it’s cardinal for healthcare brands to publish blog posts regularly to educate the patients about their diseases, prevention methods, and treatments required to cure them.
Avoid medical jargon because, no matter how accurate they may be, the disease and treatment names may scare your potential clients. Imagine suggesting visiting an 'Ophthalmologist' rather than an eye specialist for watering eyes!
Not everyone is into reading. These people will not read your blogs, no matter how interesting they may be, simply because that's not how they consume content.
For example, the below screenshot shows a healthcare brand’s channel that produces visual content from patients and doctors to educate a larger audience. It builds credibility and trust among the audience that your doctors are well experienced.
You must understand and accept it. But there is still a way to capture that particular segment of your potential clients. It is through videos! These people are more comfortable consuming and retaining the visual content, so why not just do exactly that.
Here, you can leverage this opportunity to educate people about various diseases. And tell them about their symptoms, treatment, and how your medical facilities can help those suffering from them.
You can also cover many other topics, like how-to-guides, hospital tours, patient testimonials, interviews with industry experts, and FAQs and AMAs.
Consider repurposing your written content into videos. This is to ensure that the information you aim to pass reaches all segments of your potential clients irrespective of the type or format of content they consume. You can also interlink your content here.
Read: Important of User-Generated Content on eCommerce
Emails and newsletters are two of the most effective modes of communication where you can get in touch with your potential clients directly.
And when designed nicely, they create awareness and register the name of your medical organization in their long-term memory, thus improving your credibility. And when it comes to the conversions in the medical industry, more often than not, the decision is emotional rather than logical.
Take a look at the below screenshot of the healthcare brand’s email campaign using personalized mails to convert the audience.
This improves the possibility of bringing new clients or patients on board while at the same time retaining the old ones.
When the potential client is kept in mind while designing an email, it can significantly improve conversions and profits.
Bring a human element into your emails to give them a personal touch where it feels that you are talking to your potential clients. This will develop a sense of trust and make it easier for them to understand even the most complex things.
In the medical or healthcare industry, you must provide the relevant information in a crisp and easy-to-understand format. People may not like to read big paragraphs of texts filled with a lot of jargon, especially medical ones. Here, infographics play a vital role in solving your purpose. These are shareable and interesting.
Look at the screenshot below; doesn’t that excite the readers?
Creative use of images and graphics paired up with the right choice of words is the best thing you can do for your organization's content marketing strategy. This will allow you to represent the data more engagingly. Here, optimizing it for various devices and putting a relevant CTA helps.
Ideally, your infographic design should not use more than two or, at the most, three colors. It is essential to make sure that it does not appear too overwhelming for your potential clients to understand.
When it comes to healthcare, nothing can trigger people more than the recovery stories of real people. More often than not, it is seen that recommendations create a significant impact when it comes to choosing the best hospital for the treatment.
Here, it will develop a sense of trust and belonging amongst your potential clients.
You can even do it on your hospital's website, like New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which injects positive adrenaline among the audience.
Healthcare is one of the few industries where emotions and psychology play a crucial role. Here sharing real-life recovery stories will motivate and engage your potential clients at a deeper level while creating a bond of trust.
While showcasing your patient's experiences, remember to get written consent from them. Also, get a complete fact check to maintain the authenticity of your stories and build credibility.
Dedicate a separate section to your specialization and expertise while drafting a content marketing strategy for your hospital or healthcare brand. This will make you emerge as the industry's voice, thus building more trust and authority.
Here you can also start an informational podcast about the same because audio content is more convenient to consume.
The below screenshot shows a hospital offering knowledge, tips, and free guidance to the world through their podcasts.
Talking about your specialty improves the chances that people consider you over any other hospital or healthcare brand for their treatment.
Read: Importance of Doing SEO for Your Podcast
While showing your knowledge off in all good sense, also provide information regarding the state-of-the-art technology in the medical industry. And if your hospital facilitates the latest equipment and techniques, you must mention it.
Where patients' testimonials can help potential clients build trust in the consideration stage, the doctors' profiles will let them gain more confidence in decision-making.
Just let your patients know the history and background of the doctors who will treat them. It won’t be a bad idea to create portfolios or pages for each specialist, as shown in the below example.
Knowing the person a little better who will be responsible for the future of their life will prove to be relieving.
Just make sure that it is easy to navigate. When the patients want to know about the doctors, they don't have to struggle and reach the information easily and quickly. These doctors' profiles can develop confidence in potential patients.
While providing your doctors and specialists' profiles, ensure showing the most relevant information and never miss out on anything. You never know what your potential clients may be looking for.
Read: Local SEO Tips for Doctors & Healthcare Professionals
Content marketing for healthcare brands is about creating high-quality, consumable, and shareable content that can attract potential customers and establish you as an industry leader. It is vital to provide relevant and insightful information in the healthcare industry.
The best types of content to create for an effective medical content marketing strategy are:
The best way to create content for healthcare brands is to consider the following aspects:
The best healthcare content marketing strategy is the one where the organization does the following things:
Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.
Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.
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