Healthcare’s Content Revolution: Statistics and Strategies for Reaching Today’s Patients

Nov 26 / 2024

In the healthcare industry, information is not just power but also a lifeline. There is a huge need among people for accurate medical content. All this has made medical content marketing the backbone of healthcare marketing.

Statistics That Will Convince You About the Importance of Medical Content Marketing

Nothing convinces us better than numbers! Hence, we bring you some statistics that will shed light on the pivotal role that medical content marketing plays in today’s healthcare industry.

Healthcare Is a Growing Sector

Between 2022 and 2027, the healthcare market in India is estimated to grow at a compounding annual rate of 30.7%.

The Need for Medical Content Is Increasing

About 7% of all searches in Google are health-related.

Every minute, about 70000 health-related searches are being done on search engines.

66% of internet users use search engines to know about specific medical problems or diseases.

70% of people prefer to be introduced to a business through content rather than ads.

People who did extensive research booked healthcare appointments three times more than the people who didn’t do the research online.

The searches with the phrase ‘near me’ have doubled since 2015.

More than 70% of patients will look for a new healthcare provider if the existing provider’s website lacks information.

Healthcare Institutions Lack a Strong Content Marketing Strategy

Only after 2017 did most healthcare companies start incorporating content in their marketing strategy.

About 66% of marketers now vouch for content marketing as an effective tactic.

26% of the marketers have described their content marketing efforts as being very successful.

31% of marketers use blog posts and articles to boost brand awareness.

In 2021, the cost of healthcare digital advertising overtook that of healthcare TV ads for the first time.

Healthcare marketers are ready to pay more for each lead.

95% of healthcare organisations plan to include content marketing in their marketing strategy.

The Influence of Online Reviews on Patients

More than 90% of patients read online reviews to determine the quality of service offered by healthcare providers.

About 71% of patients read online reviews to choose a new doctor or hospital.

It takes about 1-6 reviews for a patient to form an opinion about the hospital or a doctor.

43% of millennials are expected to change their healthcare providers in the coming years.

The Potential That Calls Hold

45% of marketers say that phone calls have higher conversion rates.

Marketers say that insights from inbound calls have helped them realise more about the wants of patients to form better marketing strategies.

76% of patients have called their healthcare provider at some point.

Healthcare marketers say that including call extensions in Google Ads and a ‘call now’ button on web pages have increased lead generation.

The Power of Social Media Platforms

More than 40% of patients make their healthcare decisions based on content on social media.

33% of people use social media to gain healthcare information.

Video marketers get 66% more quality leads.

Content has an 80% higher readership rate when visuals like infographics, images, and charts are used in it.

Outsourcing of Medical Content

Because of the complexity of medical content and the need for accuracy, most healthcare content marketing teams have about 3 specialists on staff.

62% of all healthcare institutions are outsourcing their medical content development efforts.

Healthcare outsourcing helps institutions save up to 60% on costs.

Also Read: Types of Healthcare Content That Can Increase Patient Volume

Connecting with Patients: Unleashing the Potential of Medical Content Marketing

About 70% of internet users prefer getting to know a business through its content. When it comes to the healthcare industry, this sentiment is more widespread. Health is a sensitive topic and people do not want to be dumped with meaningless ads for hospitals and clinics.

The content you provide should be authentic and, at the same time, convincing. Hiring a medical content writer is the first step in making yourself known, and there are many more to follow. Without a solid content creation and marketing strategy, your efforts might be futile. To gain patients’ trust and respect, you must produce content that is useful for them.

While many fancy techniques are involved in content marketing, the basic formula remains the same – content that satisfies the customer, sells! There is an abundance of content available on the web in the healthcare industry, making it vital for yours to stand out. Here are some ways by which you can make it work.

Be on Top of What’s Newsworthy

Time is of the essence. People turn to the internet for quick answers and hence trending news cannot wait. The Healthcare industry is an area with constant innovations and updates.

Always be on the lookout for relevant topics that are in discussion in society and check whether you can create useful content with them. Be it a new medical procedure or tips for tackling the pandemic, be timely with your updates. Try to spread the word about the content to help it reach more people. Create the content as soon as possible since posting it late will make it old news.

Another thing to keep in mind is to always create accurate and useful content that the users can reliably share with others.

Build Trust

Trust is the basis for healthcare content since it involves people’s health. The abundance of information on the web can sometimes be conflicting, and people need an expert to address the topic.

Doctors and medical professionals from your organization are the most excellent tools for content creation. Information from certified professionals in a particular area assures the viewer of the authenticity of the data. Thus, be accurate and transparent with the content you provide. Explicit and professional content will automatically convince your viewers of your expertise.

Sensitivity Is the Key

Content marketing for the healthcare industry is not very different from marketing for other industries, but sensitivity differentiates it. Health is and will always be a sensitive topic.

People searching for a medical condition often do it for themselves or their loved ones. Stress about the possible discovery is a thing to be factored in while creating the healthcare content.

Set aside humour and a lighter tone while describing a medical condition or limit it to appropriate health content and situations. Inform your medical content writer of this and get it reviewed by an expert.

Keep It Simple and Understandable

When it comes to healthcare content, there are varying levels of complexity. While a medical content writer can take care of generic and straightforward topics, complex medical procedures should be professional.

Remember that most of your visitors want to know the basics and might not understand complicated terms and procedures. Thus, keep the medical content you write simple and understandable.

Hire writers with experience in medical content writing and check the quality of their writing. Double-check the accuracy of the content with the professionals before making it live. As for complex topics, you can use visual aids like videos and infographics to get the message across to the viewers.

Focus on Your Area of Expertise

You can post content on a variety of topics but never post inaccurate content. If you are a hospital that is well-known for orthopaedic care, then it would help to create more content related to orthopaedics.

Research trending topics connected with your area of expertise and create content that will be easy to understand. Doing this consistently will eventually make people turn to you for expert advice in your field.

Show Variety in Types of Content

Gone are the days when people had enough time and patience to read through pages of straight text. The attention span is greatly reduced and you need to keep that in mind while creating content.

While the medical information you provide might not directly help the visitors choose your hospital or institution, a lack of knowledge would adversely affect your brand.

People expect the healthcare providers they choose to be experts in the field, and your content convinces them of that. Capture the interest with the content you provide.

Visual content is currently one of the most powerful forms of content. Aim to create content that will immediately attract the attention of the users. Pictures, charts, infographics, and graphics are some of the best choices for visual content.

But if you want quick results and better reach, then you just cannot ignore videos. Videos can combine text, audio, and pictures which will engage almost all the senses of the users to the content you are trying to deliver. You can also easily explain tricky concepts using videos instead of just plain text. Take the time to analyse the content and determine the right form in which it can be presented to the audience. Videos featuring doctors, charts, and infographics are some of the recommendations.

Publish Long-Form Articles

We have already established the importance of videos and other types of visual content. But blogs still occupy a vital part of the marketing strategy. Blogs help bring more traffic to the website and also help gain links.

There are different types of blogs and you need to find the ones that would help you the most. If you are aiming to gain more traffic, then we would suggest long-form articles.

Long-form articles are ones with around 1500+ words and these articles have been found to bring in better results. However, there are some things to keep in mind while creating long-form content for it to achieve the desired results.

The content of the blog should be well-researched and presented in an easy-to-read way. The keywords should be added in strategic places and relevant images should be placed. Focus on a topic and aim to deliver everything the user needs to fully understand it. But take care not to include useless information or repeat things just because you need to reach the word count.

Healthcare content can sometimes be dense and science-based when compared to usual content. Hence, take the time to simplify the medical jargon and make information easier to understand.

Represent Positivity and Hope

People always want to look at the brighter side, especially when it comes to their health or the health of their loved ones. Delivering accurate information is vital but make sure you do it with kindness. Do not bluntly share sensitive information.

Sometimes, negative content and invoking a sense of urgency can also help. But make sure to use it in moderation and use it without causing any disrespect. Take the time to analyse the topic you have at hand and determine which type of content would convey the message effectively.

Leverage Social Media

More than half of the world’s population uses social media, making it a powerful platform for marketing. In-depth content might not be an option with social media but keep things simple and catchy.

Using trending techniques like hashtag challenges and patient stories can make your content reach more people. Social media marketing is a great way to promote brand awareness.

LBN Tech Solutions

Creating valuable content for the healthcare audience needs experience. We at LBN Tech Solutions have been creating and marketing healthcare content for quite some years now. Please take a look at what our clients have to say about us here.