By Sarah Dudley
When is the last time you went to Dr. Google to self-diagnose your symptoms only to find out you had a variety of horrific illnesses? Oh, you’ve never done that? Ya…. me neither. With consumers becoming more tech-savvy, their online shopping behavior transcends into the search for healthcare. In fact, one in 20 searches on Google are for health-related information. Thus, making social media and blogs an ideal way to answer these queries. The key, however, for capturing as many searches as possible and increasing conversion rates is to have an effective content marketing strategy.
In this article, we will discuss some of the tips to develop an effective content marketing strategy. But before that, let us briefly discuss the role that content plays in driving engagement and volume for healthcare organizations.
Role of Content Marketing
More and more people are taking to social media and the internet in general for healthcare news and resources. With a sea of information available at the touch of a button, it is literally up to you as a healthcare organization to help potential leads recognize that your services will fulfill their needs.
Moreover, a staggering 65% of the people have been using the Internet to self-diagnose conditions. Thus, making the role of content all the more important to drive engagement and volume for your healthcare organization.
Readers are looking for health-related answers online. And as a healthcare provider, you can supply those answers through a variety of formats - blogs, social media posts, videos, etc - to help educate them about your services and engage them with insights into what your brand represents.
When an effective content marketing strategy helps readers feel empowered by what they read, it can lead to higher conversion rates. Content has the power to tip the scale in your favor. The content will prove to your readers what makes you a better provider than your competitor - resulting in higher demand for your organization.
Tips to Develop an Effective Content Marketing Strategy
Here are some of the tips that will help you to develop an effective content marketing strategy that can drive engagement and demand for your healthcare organization.
1. Publish Educational Content
The growing adoption of Dr. Google and the rise of self-diagnosis signal the importance of educating the general public. Videos, blog posts, or any general health tips that you can provide to your readers and followers are a plus. Rush University System for Health does a great job of keeping readers informed about everything from COVID-19 symptoms to nutritional advice to safe sex during a pandemic.
Health tips, especially specific to your niche area, are a great way to drive engagement and interactions between your followers. From providing polls and trivia to busting myths, such content is a prime example of providing accurate, educational content in a way that also builds credibility and trust.
2. Use Visuals for Increased Engagement
People are more interested in reading information that is easy to understand and not too long. This is especially true when it comes to social media content. Whitepapers, books and lengthy, cornerstone pieces of content are great on your website. But no one is interested in reading such lengthy content on social media. Therefore, creating videos or visuals like infographics, gifs and reels or TikToks are the best way to create that high-impact moment of engagement.
Infographic created by World Health Organization to show how to properly wear a mask
3. Patient Voices
As a healthcare provider, hospitals are communicating with patients constantly. Many surgeries take place every day. So why not ask your patients to be advocates for your business and share their experiences with your practice? There is no better content to share on your blog or social platform than sharing the positive story that your patient has to say. If not in words, you can also make a video and then share it on social media platforms.
The Mayo Clinic’s blog ‘Sharing’ is a prime example of how to share patient voices to showcase the humanity behind illness.
Your patients can act as a mico-influencer for your healthcare organization. Ask them to share their experience with you. But do not forget to ask them if they have a suggestion or opinion on how to improve your services. If they have a great story to share, you will get great content for your brand. But it will also help you build good relationships with your existing patients.
4. Leverage Health-Related Hashtags for Awareness
If social media is your go-to platform to drive engagement and awareness, then do not forget to leverage the power of health-related hashtags. Healthcare providers have plenty of opportunities to make use of hashtags.
Whether you are using your organizational hashtags (for example, #CDC) or healthcare-specific hashtags (#coronavirus, #SkinCancerAwareness), using the hashtag increases the reach of your content multifold. Therefore, incorporate the use of health-related hashtags in your content marketing strategy.
5. Interactive Content
It is important to include easy-to-consume, interactive content in your content marketing plan to boost your patient engagement and interaction. For most people, health advice can be scary, complex and sometimes highly technical. For anyone who is not a trained medical professional and has tried to get the key takeaways from a medical journal article, you know what I’m talking about. Therefore, it is imperative to share some interactive content like “did you know” facts, symptom checkers, flow charts or stories of hope and overcoming health-related challenges. Share anything that will make them spend time engaging and sharing. When it comes to healthcare content, there are so many opportunities to educate and we know everyone is out there is looking for it.
For example, Hopkins Medicine released a “Coronavirus Symptom Checker” to allow people to log their symptoms and understand next steps.
Final Thoughts to Leave You With
A little content can go a long way even for healthcare companies. More than 80% of the healthcare providers such as hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes are making use of content in their marketing strategy. We’ve seen the importance of staying informed and on top of your health this year, and it will only become more important in years to come. With these tips you can begin to devise an effective content marketing strategy that will help you develop relationships and ultimately drive volume for your organization.
Have any additional tips? Share them with us below!
Read the 2021 Content Marketing Playbook Today
For more tips on trends to pay attention to for content marketing in 2021, don’t forget to download our 2021 Content Marketing Playbook today!
