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Amol Ghemud Published: August 14, 2018
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Over the last few years, digital marketing has started playing a very important role in every industry including the healthcare industry. While it was possible earlier to work without digital marketing and opt for more traditional methods, today, however, it has become almost indispensable.
This is because an ever increasing number of people are not only becoming active online by effective use of internet but are also looking for solutions to their problems, including health related, online; consequently, anyone in the healthcare industry neglecting digital marketing can find themselves adversely affected.
Over the last few years, every industry is welcoming the big data and digital marketing in their line of business due to its numerous advantages. While it was possible in the earlier days to reach out the customer through the traditional way of marketing, but now it is difficult to target, as we have seen how innovative technology is taking over and how people got scattered on various medium.
For most of us, a question might arise how can marketing spread its footprints in the healthcare industry?
A recent report reveals that out of 20 searches on Google one search will be related to healthcare this is because, as a maximum number of people going online for information and searching for a solution for their health related issues.
Formerly word of mouth marketing played a vital role in the healthcare industry; as we used to visit a doctor on the recommendation given by the family and friend zone even though his/her clinic is miles away. Looking at the healthcare trends, the patients will employ newer avenues to reach the hospitals and doctors for advice. Healthcare marketing is not a new one for us, we have seen it earlier also in various form like
Organizing Health camp by hospitals.
Radio ads.
Doctor promotion via scrolling on T.V sets.
Testimonies.
Banners on public transport.
The above listed marketing trends for healthcare industry, are much more relevant today looking at the present scenario in the world. More and more consumers opt out of outbound marketing efforts taken by companies and respond positively to inbound marketing activities. Marketing in healthcare industry is not only dependent on outbound marketing any longer.
Here is a checklist you need to go through before you start implementing Inbound Marketing. It will give you an overview – how you should begin devising a plan for you business with Inbound Marketing.
DIGITAL MARKETING: WHY SHOULD THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY WORRY ABOUT IT?
Digital marketing includes, among other things, social media marketing, search engine marketing, content marketing, and mobile marketing. The healthcare industry should worry about digital marketing because it is an effective and an inexpensive way of marketing as compared to traditional methods. The following are the ways in which digital marketing can affect the healthcare industry:
Search engine marketing: As already mentioned, the number of people that are looking to the internet as an answer to their problems has increased, and will keeping on increasing, with the passage of time. Businesses that employ search engine marketing – including search engine optimization and ad campaigns – will gain higher visibility than those who don’t.
Social media marketing: Not only are more and more people becoming active online, they are also becoming active on social media. And, today, social media is akin to “word of mouth” marketing; in healthcare sector, in particular, “word of mouth” plays a very important role. Social media is very powerful and having a good reputation there is absolutely essential.
Mobile marketing: Courtesy of advancements in mobile communication technology, a significant number of people who are online connect to the web through their various mobile devices; these people are expecting not just information but also a good user experience when they deal with you online through a mobile device; this is what mobile marketing is all about. It goes without saying that a bad user experience will turn these users away from you.
INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
1) Create a Robust Website for your Practice
Patients most of their time, prefer to research on Google regarding their medical issues than to spend in the doctor’s office, the waiting room and the surgery center combined. Also, make sure that you include a robust patient resource section. Patients are online hunting for medical information. If yours is the site serving this information up, better for your practice.
Additionally, managing one, responsive, efficient site allows healthcare organizations to focus on developing a single, strong web strategy, which increases visibility, reach and conversions, while decreasing expenditures and effort.
2) Center your Web Interface around the Patient
Sure, the website is for your medical practice. But, if you center your site solely upon your practice, you are missing the point. A strong digital healthcare site should be centered around the patient, not around you.
3) Invest in Video
People are far more likely to view a video than they are to read details on a whitepaper.
What better way to leverage your skilled staff than to put them on camera? Fill it full of animated elements and help diagrams that show what is happening inside their bodies and what treatment looks like. Studies reveal that a high-quality video on your landing pages’ increases conversion rates by 80 percent.
To be able to rank on the search engines you need to research the most relevant keywords to include on each page of your site. A little of this goes a long way in helping your practice to gain buoyancy in search results.
4) Include High-Performing Keywords
The key, of course, is to devote your optimization time and ad spends on the right things. In particular, make sure that you’re paying attention to services and location.
Why services? The Google research found 45% of users are looking for procedure information (i.e., “chemotherapy”) or department information (i.e., “pediatrics”).
And why location? Because a survey conducted by Healthcare Success found consumers are more likely to choose a hospital based on convenient location (58%); than the amount of copay (45%) or even outcomes data (30%).
5) Leverage Patient-Generated Reviews
Today, patients are mostly relying on patient-generated reviews to help vet the doctors in their area. People want to know about your bedside manner, not about what diplomas hang on your wall. Add a review section to your website.
Encourage patients to rate your doctors. Include testimonials on your site.
6) Develop Fresh Content and Constant Interaction
Make sure your site has a news section and a blog area. Patients are looking for information. The search engines are, too. Google rewards fresh, relevant content.
When it comes to content marketing, hospitals are in an enviable position — yet many don’t realize it. The Google study mentioned earlier found 37% of health searchers are trying to learn more about conditions/diseases, and an additional segment is researching symptoms.
The format of this content isn’t the most important thing — it can be presented in a blog post, article, video, or even infographic — what’s essential is that’s truly well-informed and useful.
The internet can be used to build brand loyalty by opening new lines of communication with patients, care givers and prospective patients. Hospital marketing staffs of the future may need to engage social media and online specialists who can help maintain an online presence and respond to consumer enquiries as they arise in the various online outlets.
7) Don’t Underestimate Social Media
Social media is a great way to engage today’s patient. Leverage your Facebook page to post patient reviews, videos, blogs, articles and more.
Perhaps more than in any other field, the power of the testimonial is a key in health care, as patients and families researching diagnoses often turn to patients with similar experiences. Social media gives hospitals and clinics the opportunity to share patient stories and connect consumers.
Conclusion
A strong healthcare digital marketing strategy is most effective when it is managed in a streamlined way, where each component is in sync with one another, rather than soiled.
Would you like to know more about why you should consider an inbound marketing methodology for your Healthcare industry marketing efforts?
Digital marketing is now essential for healthcare providers because patients have fundamentally changed how they seek medical information and services. Your potential patients are actively searching online for solutions to their health problems, making a strong digital presence critical for visibility and growth. This shift means that relying on traditional methods alone results in missing a large and growing segment of the patient population.
The core reason for this transformation is the widespread adoption of the internet for health-related queries. Consider these key behavioral shifts:
Proactive Information Seeking: Patients no longer wait for recommendations. They research symptoms, treatments, and providers online before making any decisions.
Demand for Accessibility: Modern patients expect to find your practice, read reviews, and even book appointments through their digital devices, especially mobile phones.
Reliance on Social Proof: Social media platforms have become the new word of mouth, where patient experiences and provider reputations are openly discussed and evaluated.
Your strategy must adapt to this new reality where the patient journey begins with a search query, a point explored further in the full analysis.
Inbound marketing in healthcare is the strategy of attracting patients by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them, rather than pushing unsolicited advertisements. It focuses on drawing patients to your practice organically by addressing their questions and concerns at the exact moment they are searching for answers. This approach is more effective today because it aligns with how people naturally seek health information.
The power of inbound marketing comes from its patient-centric nature. Instead of interrupting potential patients, you become a trusted resource they discover on their own. Key components include:
Content Marketing: Developing blog posts, articles, and videos that answer common health questions, which helps you appear in search results.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Ensuring your website and content are optimized to rank highly when patients search for local doctors or specific medical conditions.
Social Media Engagement: Building a community and sharing helpful information on social platforms where patients are already active.
By providing solutions upfront, you build trust before a patient even steps into your office, a concept we explain in greater detail throughout this guide.
Digital strategies are significantly more effective because they offer precision targeting, measurable results, and direct engagement, which traditional methods lack. While a health camp or radio ad broadcasts a message to a broad, untargeted audience, digital marketing allows you to connect directly with individuals actively seeking your specific medical services. This targeted approach leads to a much higher return on investment.
When evaluating these two approaches, consider the following distinctions:
Targeting:Traditional marketing is broad; a banner on a bus is seen by everyone, but few may need your services. Digital marketing is specific; you can target ads to users based on their search history, location, and demographics.
Measurement: It is difficult to measure how many patients a radio ad generated. With digital, you can track clicks, website visits, and appointment requests from each campaign.
Cost-Effectiveness: Digital marketing, particularly search engine marketing and content marketing, is often less expensive and produces more quantifiable results than costly print or broadcast ads.
Understanding this shift is the first step toward building a marketing plan that aligns with modern patient behavior, as detailed in our complete analysis.
To build a trustworthy reputation on social media, healthcare providers must focus on sharing valuable, educational content and engaging with their community authentically. This digital word of mouth is built not by direct advertising but by demonstrating expertise and compassion, which in turn encourages positive patient testimonials and shares. Your goal is to become a reliable health resource for your followers.
Effective strategies for building trust on social media include:
Sharing Patient Testimonials: Post anonymized success stories or positive reviews (with consent) to provide social proof of your quality of care.
Hosting Q&A Sessions: Use live video features to host sessions with doctors who can answer general health questions, establishing authority and approachability.
Publishing Informative Content: Create and share posts about preventative care, symptom awareness, and new treatments, positioning your practice as a knowledgeable leader.
These tactics transform your social media from a simple billboard into a dynamic community hub, a theme we explore with more examples inside.
To capture and convert the high volume of online health searchers, your content marketing must directly address the specific questions and concerns of your target patients. A data-driven approach means using search trend data to create content that ranks for relevant medical queries. With one in twenty Google searches being health-related, creating authoritative content is a direct path to patient acquisition.
A successful content strategy includes:
Service Line-Specific Blog Posts: Write detailed articles explaining conditions you treat and the procedures you offer. For example, an orthopedic clinic could create content on "signs you might need knee replacement surgery".
Provider Bio Pages: Develop pages for each doctor that highlight their expertise, philosophy of care, and patient reviews to build personal trust.
FAQ Sections: Create comprehensive FAQ pages based on common patient questions about treatments, insurance, and appointment logistics to reduce barriers to booking.
By aligning your content with real patient searches, you position your institution as the clear solution, a process further outlined in the article.
To attract local patients, a private practice must focus its search engine marketing strategy on local search visibility. The goal is to appear prominently when potential patients in your area search for the services you provide. This requires a targeted approach that goes beyond a basic website.
Here is a three-step plan to begin:
Optimize Your Google Business Profile: Claim and completely fill out your free profile. Include accurate hours, address, phone number, services, and high-quality photos. Encourage patients to leave reviews, as this heavily influences local ranking.
Conduct Local Keyword Research: Identify the search terms local patients use, such as "pediatrician near me" or "dermatologist in [Your City]". Integrate these keywords naturally into your website's homepage, service pages, and blog content.
Build Local Citations: Ensure your practice's name, address, and phone number (NAP) are listed consistently across relevant online directories like Yelp, Healthgrades, and other local business sites.
Executing these foundational steps is critical for building a strong local online presence, a topic we expand on with more advanced techniques.
A hospital's foundational inbound marketing checklist must prioritize building a user-centric digital ecosystem that provides value and builds trust. The primary goal is to shift from broadcasting messages to becoming a go-to resource for health information. This involves creating accessible, authoritative content and ensuring a seamless online user experience.
Before launching campaigns, your hospital should ensure the following are in place:
A Mobile-Optimized Website: With many users searching on phones, your site must be easy to navigate on a small screen.
A Content Creation Plan: Identify patient personas and map out topics for a blog and resource center that answer their most pressing health questions.
An SEO Strategy: Perform keyword research to understand what potential patients are searching for and optimize your web pages accordingly.
Active Social Media Profiles: Choose the platforms where your target audience is most active and develop a plan for sharing content and engaging with users.
This checklist provides the essential groundwork for a successful inbound strategy, which is explored in greater depth within the article.
Healthcare providers who fail to deliver a strong mobile user experience will face significant long-term consequences, including diminished search engine visibility and a loss of potential patients. Since a large portion of online activity now happens on mobile devices, a poor mobile site creates frustration and drives users to competitors. This is no longer a minor issue but a critical factor in patient acquisition and retention.
The strategic implications are far-reaching:
Lower Search Rankings: Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its search results. A site that is not optimized will rank lower, making it much harder for new patients to find you.
Damaged Reputation: A difficult-to-use website reflects poorly on the provider, suggesting a lack of attention to patient needs and modern standards.
Reduced Conversions: If a potential patient cannot easily find your phone number, book an appointment, or read about your services on their phone, they will simply leave your site.
Adapting to a mobile-first world is imperative for future growth, a trend that our full guide examines more closely.
The internet is transforming the patient-doctor relationship from a hierarchical model to a more collaborative partnership. Patients now arrive at appointments armed with information, questions, and expectations shaped by their online research. Providers must adapt by embracing this shift and positioning themselves as expert guides who can help patients navigate the vast amount of online health content.
To adapt your communication strategy for this new dynamic, you should:
Become a Content Curator: Actively create and share accurate, reliable health information through your website and social media to become a trusted source, counteracting misinformation.
Encourage Digital Communication: Offer secure patient portals, email communication, and telehealth options to meet patient expectations for convenient access.
Acknowledge Patient Research: Instead of dismissing what patients have read online, engage in a dialogue about it, helping them interpret the information correctly.
This evolution requires a proactive digital presence to guide the patient journey from the very beginning, a strategy we detail further.
The most damaging mistake healthcare organizations make by ignoring digital marketing is becoming invisible to the modern patient. When a potential patient searches online for a local doctor or a specific treatment and your practice does not appear, you effectively do not exist for them. This invisibility directly leads to patient leakage as they will choose the competitors they can easily find and evaluate online.
A focused investment in two key areas provides a direct solution. First, search engine optimization (SEO) increases visibility by optimizing your website for relevant search terms, ensuring your practice appears on the first page of Google results to capture patients when they need care. Second, social media marketing builds trust by creating an active, engaging presence that acts as modern word of mouth, showcasing patient testimonials and practice expertise to build credibility.
By investing in these channels, you not only stop losing patients but also create a powerful engine for attracting new ones, an approach we cover in detail.
The core problem is a mindset shift from a provider-centric "we are the experts" message to a patient-centric "how can we help you" approach. Traditional outbound marketing is about broadcasting credentials, while inbound marketing is about solving patient problems and answering their questions. This requires a deep understanding of the patient's journey and their informational needs.
The solution lies in developing a content strategy rooted in empathy and data. Here is how to create content that pulls patients in:
Identify Patient Pain Points: Use keyword research and listen to common patient questions during appointments to identify their biggest concerns and information gaps.
Create Educational Content: Develop blog posts, videos, and guides that address these pain points directly without a hard sell. For example, explain the benefits of a new procedure or offer tips for managing a chronic condition.
Optimize for Search Intent: Ensure your content aligns with what users are looking for. The fact that one in twenty Google searches is health-related confirms a massive demand for this information.
This strategic pivot is key to attracting a modern patient base, a process the complete article guides you through step by step.
Effective mobile marketing in healthcare focuses on providing immediate value and convenience directly on the devices patients use most. Tactics that resonate well are those that simplify the patient experience or deliver timely, relevant health information. These strategies work because they integrate seamlessly into a patient's daily life and address their needs in a proactive, helpful way.
Here are some highly effective examples:
SMS Appointment Reminders: Automated text messages confirming and reminding patients of upcoming appointments reduce no-show rates and are highly convenient for the patient.
Mobile App with Patient Portal Access: A dedicated app allowing patients to view test results, message their doctor, and request prescription refills offers unparalleled accessibility.
Push Notifications with Health Tips: Sending occasional, relevant tips, such as flu season reminders or allergy alerts, keeps your practice top-of-mind and demonstrates ongoing care.
These mobile-centric tactics enhance the patient experience far beyond the clinic walls, a topic explored with further examples in our analysis.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
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