This is the age of digital marketing. Today, businesses and all other sectors of society are leveraging the use of the internet and digital marketing to their benefit.

One sector greatly benefiting from digital marketing is healthcare.

By adopting diverse digital marketing strategies, healthcare institutions and providers can reach larger audiences beyond their immediate locations. This not only benefits medical organizations, but also helps potential patients since—with millions of healthcare services available across the globe through channels like telemedicine—people have unprecedented options to choose from.

If you’re a healthcare professional or an individual representing a healthcare institution, you need to ensure that you stand out from competitors to capture more of the market. And, to be able to do so, you need to incorporate the right set of digital marketing strategies.

Digital Marketing for Healthcare Strategies

1. Why is Digital Marketing Important for Healthcare?
2. Best 3 Digital Marketing Strategies for Healthcare
3. Some Important Things to Consider

1. Why Is Digital Marketing Important In Healthcare? 

Simply put, much of healthcare happens online. Nearly 80% of adults look to the internet for their health-related concerns, and the information they find often influences their subsequent treatment decisions.

Additionally, most care seekers now rely on ratings and reviews to decide which healthcare provider to visit. This means that reinforcing your online reputation is no longer a “nice-to-have,” it’s now a necessary component of your overall approach to acquiring and retaining more patients.

Moreover, studies have concluded that people increasingly use digital healthcare services because they can get immediate replies and connect from the comfort of their homes. For instance, when exploring the benefits of digital marketing for healthcare, one can even connect with a patient from the UK and help them with their health challenges while operating in the US. This could even open roads to national and international expansion later down the line.

Through digital marketing, you can provide accurate and important information to these individuals and convert them into patients. Successfully doing so relies somewhat on your company’s online infrastructure.  Entice patients with doctor directories on your webpage. Embrace review transparency and develop a proper response plan for approaching less-than-favorable reviews. Help patients book appointments at your medical facility and with the doctors of their choice with easy-to-use scheduling interfaces.

But beyond your foundation, what strategies do you need to successfully reach your target patient populations?

2. Best 3 Digital Marketing Strategies for Healthcare

We have compiled a list of a few of the best digital marketing for healthcare strategies you can explore right away.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Results Pages (SERP)

The best and most successful digital marketing strategy is to format the SEO of your webpage properly. You can be at the top of the list on Google for top healthcare service search phrases if your website is optimized. And most people never search for information beyond Google’s first page for any given query.

To optimize your page, think about your ideal keywords you’d like to leverage. You may need to do some research on this using tools such as Google AdWord’s free Keyword Planner. Once you assess your target keywords, make sure to use them in your H1s, H2s and page titles. Also, a commonly under-looked SEO-booster is incorporating your target keywords into your navigation bar. You may also want to check your site’s loading speed and meta-title and description. To make sure your site’s title and description are up to par, use a resource like this Google SERP snippet tool. 

Then, there’s SERP. To really drive traffic to your site, you will need to consistently refresh your page with valuable insights and strategically crafted content that will rank high for a variety of different search phrases. This aspect is key for reaching the many audiences you wish to attract to your hub. A great way to start is to begin a healthcare blog on your hospital website. And you aren’t restricted by medical topics. You can discuss healthy meal planning, exercise routines and recommendations for patients seeking care providers. These content pieces should all be devised in a way that points the reader to your professional healthcare services.

Imagine how much you’ll grow when user searches for healthcare services and your website appear at the top of Google’s search results. This can only be done when you have the right SEO and SERP strategies in place.

If you don’t have the bandwidth or initial confidence to implement this strategy, a healthcare digital marketing agency like Crothers Consulting that holds expertise in SEO and SERP can help you implement this solution quickly and thoroughly for your organization. 

Online News Pitching and Distribution

Nobody knows the great things your organization is doing without you telling them. That’s where consistently developing press releases and pitching and distributing them online will help.

If you have a media outreach department, coordinate with them to assess what organizational news you’d like to share with the world. Make sure to keep the information relevant and definitely boast your achievements about any community- or state-level work. And, of course, make sure your company releases the best press releases formatted in an ideal way for the media so that you increase your chances of getting picked up.

If you have experienced PR professionals on your staff, you may rely on them to pitch your press release. However, if you need help with getting the attention your news deserves, it’s best to hire a professional agency like Crothers Consulting to get the job done. You’ll end up getting more pickups and placements, and will rank in Google News for extra visibility.

Social Media Planning

A survey has shown that 90% of people in America use their social media at least once a day, and 75% of them are active more than twice every day. So, social media platforms open an excellent opportunity to market your healthcare services to your ideal audiences. 

In addition, social media is one of the most terrific ways to stay connected with your patients even when things are uncertain in the healthcare sector. With less of the patient experience tethered to particular health systems, developing online communities and support networks for your patients can do wonders for improving your company’s visibility and attracting more of the market to your doors.

One key thing to remember is to produce a consistent cadence of social media content and link back to your whenever is appropriate. Creating a solid social signal can boost your owned company digital assets and help your owned content rise in search engine rankings.

As a healthcare representative with an active social media presence, you may raise public awareness about keeping healthy during pandemics, provide recommendations for maintaining both mental and physical health, and clear patients' worries through your expertise, among other things. You can also showcase the most accurate and up-to-date information about your company to boost patient trust and reduce any confusion.

3. Some Important Things to Consider

While the above three recommendations have proven to be the best digital marketing strategies, these certainly aren’t the only factors that come into play when establishing a rock-solid marketing plan. There are many other things you can do to achieve more promising results. 

• Publish Consistent Content. As time passes, there are updates in all sectors, including healthcare. While healthcare concerns remain somewhat the same, the ways to deal with them keep evolving. Hence, you need to consistently publish content on your digital platforms to keep your readers updated. Refreshing content on your website also hacks Google’s algorithms to prioritize your site over others, giving you the leg-up when it comes to search engine ranking.

• Pay Attention to Your Listings. Make sure your online profiles are accurate across the board. More and more people scrutinize public-facing profiles online on third-party sites like Healthgrades and Vitals. And you wouldn’t want to lose out on a patient just because your information is inconsistent on these platforms.

• Research your competitors. To be able to stay ahead, keep an eye on your competition. Make sure to keep tabs on their content and look for opportunities to develop better content for similar audiences. There’s no harm in taking an idea and making it better—but just remember not to plagiarize anything. 

Suppose you are looking for the best digital marketing agency to help you create and apply proven digital marketing strategies for your healthcare services. In that case, you need to look no more and connect with us at Crothers Consulting. 

We develop the best strategies for healthcare providers to help expand their services. We believe in looking at the big picture, and, in the modern world, there is nothing more significant than getting noticed online. Contact us today and get a quote to find out how we can help you achieve your digital marketing goals.