The services they provide are much different than your typical organization, but just like those businesses, health care companies need to make their offerings known to the public.
If you're in the industry, you know that marketing is a critical component of your business' long-term success — but the keys to success are much different for you than they are for, say, a retail company or a restaurant chain. You're tasked with promoting your services while establishing your expertise and building considerable trust among your potential patients. There's plenty to balance in terms of professional ethics, sensitivity to patient needs, and the duty to provide the highest standard of care possible.
So how can you reflect these core values through your marketing? Here are some tips.
Create an Emotional Connection
Health care marketing is at its best when it strikes an emotional nerve. To that end, Forbes recommends crafting marketing content that has an emotional heart and tells human stories. This is applicable to any marketing medium, whether traditional or digital. For example, you could highlight patient success stories in your content marketing online, or have providers speak directly to their dedication and passion for helping others in a series of radio or television commercials.
You need to quickly illustrate how your services improve your patients' well-being, and that everyone in your organization cares about the work they're doing. Building an emotional narrative can achieve this and foster lasting relationships with consumers.
Share Knowledge on Topical Health Care Concerns
More than most industries, the world of health care is in constant need of experts to interpret complex insights and information. This is an opportunity to showcase health care professionals with relevant experience in particular areas of specialty, and be a trusted source in your community.
These experts can provide valuable commentary on a topic that can be published through a variety of traditional and digital channels. They could do local news interviews or editorials, or write articles to post on your blog or send out as newsletters on timely health topics. Right now, in the fall of 2016, you might want someone to write about Zika virus, or about who should get flu shots. News-related content can keep your company prominent during news cycles of particular relevance to your services.
Be Personable Through Video
Given the need for personal connection, and the value of informative content, you may want to take a hard look at how video production could support your current marketing efforts. Whether it's produced in-house or outsourced to a marketing production company, video can provide a range of coverage, from expert advice to patient testimonies of exceptional care.
Digital video is easy to share through a variety of channels, from social media to blogs to organic traffic on YouTube and search engines. As mobile traffic comprises a larger and larger share of overall internet activity, video only stands to gain value as a form of marketing content — and it already offers some of the highest ROI potential of any type of digital content.
Health care marketing may present some unique challenges and goals, but they are all easily met for companies that emphasize emotional connection and speaking directly to what patients care about most.
