The Role of Digital Marketing in the Healthcare Industry

Oct 27 / 2021

Healthcare industry is accelerating at a rapid pace towards growth and transformation. With the majority of the population glued to smartphones, the traditional marketing tactics have to be upgraded. Digital marketing helps healthcare professionals target the audience based on their habits, interests and problems.

Healthcare services have become easily accessible in the digital age and people are now more concerned about the quality of healthcare offered. There are multiple institutions and specialists who offer the same services but the searchers always go for the best. Digital marketing for healthcare institutions would help convince the patients about the quality and the potential.

Read Also: How to Get the Results You Want through Your Digital Marketing Plan?

Here are some of the reasons why every healthcare institution should consider digital marketing for making their brand known.

Consumers Have Better Awareness

Consumer behaviour has undergone a great change over the years. Instead of blindly trusting the treatment they receive people have learnt to research about it online to look for better alternatives.

48% of patients take about 2 weeks to research online before booking an appointment with a healthcare professional. Thus, enough information about your hospital or clinic would help the patient make the decision faster.

Increase in Mobile Usage

People searching for health information on their smartphones are only going to increase in the future. 56% of smartphone users have mobile health apps on their phones. With this data, it is impossible to ignore digital marketing. Even healthcare professionals use smartphones to research the recent trends of the industry since it is the most efficient method.

Competition Is Fierce

Conventional marketing methods still work but digital marketing surpasses all efficiency-wise. Most in the healthcare industry have been fast to note this change and adopt methods to ride the digital wave.

If you are sticking to the traditional methods for marketing there is a chance that you might not be reaching a large percentage of the audience who need the service.

Better Comfort

People’s preference for digital healthcare applications is not only because of their prompt access and time-saving nature. People who visit the physician or the clinic sometimes feel trapped without prior knowledge and would need a second opinion. But with previously researched data about the treatment and reputation of the hospital, it is easy to accept and analyse the options given. Thus, digital marketing helps with better patient engagement and consequently booming practice.

Reputation Is Important

Your hospital might be having the best equipment and staff but without digital marketing, it is hard to let the audience know about it. Even after deciding on a treatment centre, 40% of the people visit its website to be sure. Thus, advertising your brand is something that has become a necessity.

How Does Digital Marketing Work for the Healthcare Industry?

Digital marketing is an important strategy to get more patients and better your brand image. Here are some of the digital marketing techniques that would expand your growth in the healthcare industry online space.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO can improve your visibility online and also improve your patient’s user experience. 70% of the users stay on the first page of the search results when they research something online. Thus, optimising your website to rank higher in the search engines becomes an essential step.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC advertising will help you reach patients on search engines, social media and other platforms. With display ads on Google AdWords, you can target a certain group of people who you think can become your potential clients. You can also measure the performance of the ads which will help you improve your advertising strategy.

Social Media Marketing

60% of the people who use social media trust the information posted there by doctors and healthcare professionals. Social media communities also greatly influence their peers’ health decisions. Even the governments have realised the importance of social media marketing in pandemic times and have used it efficiently to promote vaccines and awareness about social distancing. Thus, social media is a great platform to promote your brand and get acquainted with the people there.

Content Marketing

The web abounds with healthcare content. People who search for health-related information online need authentic data and thus quality rich content is always a winner in the healthcare industry. Healthcare videos are known to generate 66% more qualified leads than any other industry.

The clarity of the articles or the interaction in the video plays a great role in showcasing your expertise in the field. User-focused content that addresses the problems and provides solutions rather than focusing on self-promotion increases the credibility of your brand.

While these are the most popular marketing strategies, there are others to consider like email marketing and more. Combining them to form a unique strategy and constantly trying to update it helps you become visible in the vast network of professionals in the healthcare industry.

LBN Tech Solutions

Digital marketing cannot be ignored for any industry but for healthcare, it is truly the need of the hour. We can attest to that since at LBN Tech Solutions we have been handling digital marketing for some of the prominent healthcare giants and we have noticed the traffic and engagement.