3 Secrets of Digital Marketing in Healthcare, want to know about this?

It’s no secret that the healthcare industry tends to pause behind with the other industries. However, HIPAA (1996) compliance regulations that dictate how patient information is used and stored and FDA limits that put a microscope on how many healthcare organizations market their products, it can be scary to adapt to changing marketing trends in such a heavily regulated industry. Reaching and engaging todays – patients and physicians means digital marketing is no longer optional for hospitals/ practices, insurance providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device industrialists or other organizations in the healthcare space.

According to a recent study in the year 2013, the healthcare industry, 85.8% of clinicians used smartphones in their daily office activities – an increase of 9% from the previous year. Moreover, 54% of clinicians used tablets at work in 2013, up from 36% in 2012. Likewise, according to the Survey, 82% of physicians use general browsers, such as Google and Yahoo!, in the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care of patients.

In addition, patients are using the interest to find and engage with healthcare organizations as well. According to a Google study, 83.9% of patients use both online and offline sources for hospital research. Likewise, search drives nearly 3x as many visitors to hospital sites compared to non-search visitors, and 44% of patients who research hospitals on a mobile device scheduled an appointment.

If you’re in the healthcare industry and are looking to achieve results in digital marketing, here are three key elements that should be part of your digital strategy.

• A Responsive Website

According to the Google study, about one-third of patients use mobile devices or tablets on a daily basis for research to book appointments. Physicians routinely use them in-office to help their patients learn about procedures and medications, as well as to instantly access information, no matter their location. With the ever-increasing rate of mobile web usage compared to desktop usage, healthcare organizations should consider the benefits of transitioning to a responsive website design. A responsive site is designed to adapt to the screen size of the device it is viewed on. Although developing a responsive site requires more effort at the beginning, it eliminates the need for a separate mobile site and offers a cohesive digital experience for your audience ensuring consistency on a wide range of devices, including computers, tablets and smartphones.

• Search Engine Optimization

Consumers who are using the web to find medical and health-related information, it is crucial that your organization develops a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that allows you to be found when a potential customer conducts an online search. In this industry, there is high competition for search traffic. For example, if a nearby hospital has a more effective SEO strategy than yours, it will appear higher in organic search results than yours. Through a highly targeted SEO strategy, you can increase your search engine ranking and overall web presence. Research keywords to find the ones that patients, physicians and healthcare professionals might be using to search for your organization or services like yours. There are quite a few keyword tools out there that can help you determine the competition surrounding key healthcare industry catchwords. Choose a relevant keyword for each of your website’s pages, as well as landing pages, social and blog posts and any other content your organization creates and publishes.

• Content Marketing

It is impossible to build a successful SEO strategy without the right content. To succeed in today’s developing healthcare industry, you need to constantly produce new content that not only gets them found but also enables them to capture leads. From blog posts to social media updates, videos, webinars and more, you need to publish content that will get you found online using the same search engines and social media channels that your target audience uses to learn about the healthcare services and products they use. This will improve your SERs and drive new traffic to your website.  When content is shaped correctly, it captures people’s attention and holds their interest, and successfully prompts them to take a desired action, such as clicking on a button, picking up the phone to call your hospitals.

By implementing these three keys to digital marketing in healthcare, you’ll be ready to outstrip the competition online.