Advantages and Challenges of Healthcare Content Marketing
About three-fourths of Americans go online for facts about health[1]. So it’s no surprise that more than 90 percent of hospital marketing people say they are either planning to start a content project or they’ve already got one up and running[2].
A lot’s going on the world of healthcare content marketing. If you want to take the plunge and start a content project (or perhaps revitalize one that feels like it’s gone stale), it’ll help to recognize the distinct advantages of content, and to understand what you’re up against.
- Advantages: Healthcare content marketing does a great job of boosting patient engagement, clarifying medical misconceptions, staying abreast of medical trends and elevating search engine rankings (SEO).
- Challenges: It’s not easy to build trust with content. You must be able to commit for the long term, deal with compliance issues, publish and update consistently, and acquire expertise, financial support and the buy-in of top leaders.
Let’s explore these factors in more detail:
Four Key Advantages of Healthcare Content Marketing
Engagement. People want to know what’s causing their aches and pains. They’re curious about how long it takes to heal a broken bone or get back to work after surgery. Posting articles, videos and social media updates that address these kinds of medical quandaries can attract first-time patients and preserve relationships with regular patients.
Education. There’s a lot of bad information online, and patients might not know how to interpret the good information they find. Patients who’ve read your authoritative content before their doctor’s appointments can arrive at your office armed with credible health knowledge. That means doctors spend less time clearing up patients’ misconceptions.
Trends. Posting articles summarizing the latest headline-grabbing medical breakthroughs is another great trust builder. Patients need to feel like their doctors, nurses and therapists are keeping up with all the trends and providing the latest-and-greatest treatment options.
Search rankings. Adding fresh content on a regular schedule with correct formatting boosts the search engine optimization (SEO) of your entire website, streamlining the process of finding new patients online.
Four Key Challenges of Healthcare Content Marketing
Commitment. A content project does not succeed in days or weeks. You have to give yourself months (or years) to fine-tune a publishing schedule and content strategy that nurtures trust and strengthens financial results.
Compliance. The healthcare industry is highly regulated, and this extends to your content marketing. You need a compliance-review mechanism baked into your content processes so you don’t run afoul of regulators.
Expertise, financial resources, executive buy-in. You’ll have to hire top-notch writers, editors, designers and strategists. They don’t tend to work cheap, so you’ll need to figure out how to budget for these expenses. While you’re at it, you’ll have to convince all the top leaders of your company that content marketing is worthwhile from a business perspective.
Publishing and updating. Once you have your financing lined up and you’ve won over the company leadership, it’s time to create a publishing schedule. The hard part is sticking to your schedule and figuring out how to keep your content fresh so you’re not posting out-of-date medical information.
It’s been said the internet makes everybody a publisher. This is true of your neighbor’s gardening blog and your favorite restaurant’s social media strategy. As more healthcare companies, from small local practices to international conglomerates, embrace the advantages of content marketing, those who fail to climb onboard could be at a competitive disadvantage.
If you’re not using content to win patients’ trust, you could lose them to people who do.
[1] Pew Research Center. Health Fact Sheet. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/health-fact-sheet/
[2] True North Custom. “State of Healthcare Content Marketing 2016.” http://www.truenorthcustom.com/state-of-healthcare-2016-report#page1
