The Definitive Guide to Best Practices for Digital Strategy for Healthcare Providers: A blog about branding and marketing healthcare using the best digital practices.
Introduction
The digital landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years. Our smartphones are more powerful than ever before, and they have become a primary source of both entertainment and information. The healthcare industry is also changing quickly, with more consumers seeking out new solutions for their needs. Traditional forms of marketing are no longer effective in this new world—and businesses will need to adapt if they want to stay relevant in the coming years.
The healthcare industry is dramatically changing.
The healthcare industry is changing rapidly. It’s in a state of disruption, moving from a traditional model to digital and customer-centric practices. The healthcare industry has traditionally operated like most other industries: with a transactional focus on the patient as an end user of services, products, or care providers (doctors). While it’s easy to think that this approach will remain forever—and some organizations have tried to keep up with customer needs by simply adding more technology—the reality is that your customers need something more personal than what you can provide through traditional methods.
In order for them to feel heard by you and valued as individuals rather than just another patient or client number, they need relationships with people who understand their unique journeys through life; who care about them beyond their medical diagnoses; who have time for both routine visits and unexpected emergencies; and who are always there when they need help navigating new territory such as parenthood or retirement planning after 40 years at work!
The healthcare industry is in a state of disruption.
The healthcare industry is in a state of disruption. The healthcare industry is changing, and many new technologies are emerging. Traditional marketing strategies for healthcare providers have become short-lived and inefficient. Digital marketing is the future of marketing in this space, as it allows you to target your audience directly with meaningful content they are likely to engage with and share with their social networks.
Digital marketing is not only about placing ads on Google, Facebook or Instagram. It’s about creating compelling content that will resonate with your target audience. You can achieve this by using data-driven strategies and tools to identify your most valuable audiences, create relevant messaging for them and deliver it across the platforms where they spend their time.
Traditional healthcare marketing is short-lived and inefficient.
If marketing is a part of your healthcare strategy, then the last thing you need is to be wasting time or money on traditional marketing. Traditional marketing methods like TV ads and billboards don’t give you the same ROI as digital strategies. In fact, there are many reasons why traditional marketing is not a good solution for healthcare providers:
- It’s short-term. Traditional media campaigns can take weeks to complete and reach their full potential—and even then they end after just a few months. This means that you’re investing in something that will only benefit your business in the short term, which could leave you with no lasting impact when it comes time to measure ROI or show growth over time.
- It’s inefficient and expensive. Even if you do get results from your TV ad campaign (which itself may not be effective), these results come at an incredibly high price: between $5K-$20K+ per month depending on where it’s placed and how long it runs! That kind of cash could go much further if spent on digital investments instead—and that includes everything from website development to SEO/SEM services (for boosting organic rankings) or retargeting Facebook ads (if budget allows). It’s not as easy to measure. Traditional marketing can be difficult to track because there’s no way to measure its ROI—and no way for you to see whether your campaign was effective or not. Digital strategies, on the other hand, are much easier to track (especially if you use analytics software like Google Analytics)
Digital marketing is the future of healthcare marketing.
It’s not just the marketing industry that’s making a pivot from traditional to digital. Healthcare itself is also embracing digital technology and integrating it into every facet of our business model, from patient care to billing to hiring new employees.
Digital marketing is the future of healthcare marketing because it offers your business many advantages over traditional methods such as print advertising or direct mail campaigns, including:
- You can target customers more precisely and more efficiently through digital channels than ever before. Traditional media, like TV and newspapers, have always had limited budgets for targeting specific audiences, but with digital platforms you can reach exactly who you want at any given time—even if they aren’t looking at their phone right now! This means that your ads will be seen by only those people who are likely interested in buying what you have to offer—which saves money on wasted impressions while also increasing sales leads.
- Digital advertising also allows you access to an audience beyond just those who live nearby; this makes it easier than ever before for small businesses like yours—who may not have been able to afford national ad campaigns before now—to compete with larger brands by reaching consumers across America (and even overseas).
Healthcare consumerism needs to be addressed.
Healthcare consumerism is probably the most important trend for healthcare providers to be aware of. Consumers are more engaged in their care than ever before and want to take on a larger role in making decisions about their health. They also want to be more involved in the process of receiving their care, from scheduling appointments to reviewing medical records and communicating with providers.
The end result is that consumers are demanding transparency from hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities as they’re seeking out new options for care (including online services) that will work best for them.
Having a digital strategy is important for the success of any business model, especially when it comes to healthcare.
Having a digital strategy for your business is important for the success of any business model, but it’s especially important in the healthcare industry. The medical field relies heavily on technology and innovation to stay relevant, so having a strong digital presence will help ensure that you reach your target audience and keep up with competing businesses.
A successful digital strategy can help you meet your goals, gain a competitive advantage over competitors, gain new customers, build your brand and enhance customer experience.
Creating an effective digital strategy can help you meet your goals.
If you’re not familiar with the term, a digital strategy is simply a plan that outlines how you will use digital marketing to achieve your business goals. It can be as simple as: “I want more leads and sales.”
The benefits of having an effective digital strategy include:
- Creating a more effective marketing plan. With a good digital strategy, you’ll have more clarity around what kinds of content you need to create for each channel, how often it should be produced and distributed across different platforms, how much budget it will take to produce that content and so on. All these factors play into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts–and without them being considered in advance by way of creating an overarching strategic framework (such as a written document), they’re likely going to be overlooked or rushed through at some point during execution.
- Better brand awareness. Consistent messaging across all channels helps consumers associate your business with certain keywords or phrases–something that can improve their awareness of who you are even if they don’t know anything about what products/services exactly offer yet! This is especially helpful when trying new products/services because consumers generally trust brands whose messaging matches up consistently throughout channels.”
Mobile is a must for healthcare providers and care seekers.
Mobile is a must for healthcare providers and care seekers. It’s not just about the convenience of having information, services and products at your fingertips; it’s about being able to access them quickly, wherever you are. Mobile is so important because of how it has changed how people live their lives — from shopping to communicating with friends and family members to organizing their daily tasks in a more efficient way.
Mobile isn’t just an app or website on your phone anymore; mobile has become the way we do business (and everything else). In fact, in 2015 alone there were over 1 trillion mobile searches conducted worldwide by users seeking out local businesses like yours that provide specific services or products — many of which may not have been possible without mobile!
It’s time for healthcare providers who aren’t taking advantage yet should get started right now!
Create a more engaging mobile experience for patients and care seekers.
In our increasingly mobile world, the way people access your website and interact with it is changing.
To ensure that patients and care seekers are able to easily engage with your brand through their devices, we recommend:
- Mobile-friendly design: Make sure that the look and feel of your website is optimized for mobile screens. It’s also important to consider how you accommodate smaller screen sizes when designing content for smartphones or tablets.
- Consistent user experience across all devices: Your website should be designed in a way that allows users an intuitive, seamless experience regardless of device used (desktop computers vs smartphones vs tablets). For example, if you offer a call center phone number on both desktop computers as well as smartphones and tablets, make sure the buttons are big enough for users to click on them comfortably without accidentally hitting something else!
Local search optimization should be part of your digital strategy.
Local search optimization should be part of your digital strategy. Local SEO is important because it can help you reach a new customer base, but sadly, many healthcare providers don’t think about optimizing their website for local search. This article will give you the tips and tricks you need to optimize your online presence in order to get listed on Google Maps and Yelp.
First things first: You will need to get listed on Google Maps or Yelp if you want to start ranking well in local search results. While this process isn’t difficult, there are some best practices that can make it go smoothly. Optimizing your website with schema markup will increase its chances of showing up in Google’s Knowledge Graph panels (which appear above organic results). While schema markup isn’t necessary for local listings since they’re not part of the Knowledge Graph panel like product pages are, adding this information is helpful for users who may not know what kind of business they’re looking at when searching for “optometrist near me” or something similar because most people don’t think about using phone numbers when searching for businesses (even though it would be much faster than typing out “Google”). So while we recommend having both types of listings available (Local Businesses + Schema Markup), we recommend focusing efforts primarily towards getting listed on Google Maps first before trying anything else.”
You can use the free tools from Google and Yelp to create your listings. Both sites have a pretty simple process that walks you through adding business information, photos and videos.
Enable online bill pay and appointment scheduling (for patients and care seekers) .
Enable online bill pay and appointment scheduling (for patients and care seekers).
A patient portal is a website that allows patients to access their medical records, make appointments, check lab results and more. It also provides healthcare providers with real-time data about patient demographics, health habits and treatment outcomes. Patient portals are a critical component to any digital strategy because they help your practice stay organized while providing convenient access for patients or care seekers.
- Online payment options enable you to receive payments from anywhere in the world 24/7—no matter where your patient resides or what time of day it is. You can accept credit cards directly from web browsers or mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones .
- Online appointment scheduling enables you or your staff members to easily see which slots are available throughout the week for walk-ins as well as scheduled appointments . This lets them plan accordingly so there aren’t any empty spots on certain days but plenty of others throughout those same weeks—thereby maximizing revenue potentials while increasing overall efficiency levels .
Being an early adopter of digital marketing can give you a competitive advantage in the industry today.
When you think of your healthcare provider, what comes to mind? Chances are it’s the doctors and nurses at your clinic. But they aren’t the only players in this game.
Marketing and branding are integral parts of any business, but as healthcare providers, you have an even more important reason to invest in these areas: patients and care seekers. If you don’t have a good digital presence, then potential patients may go elsewhere for treatment. And if that happens enough times, word will spread about your bad customer service or unhelpful staff—leaving a negative impression on anyone who hears about it.
The good news is that digital marketing practices allow healthcare providers like yours to reach out directly to potential customers via email or social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter—making sure that everyone knows who you are and what services/products you offer before they ever step foot inside one of your facilities!
Conclusion
The healthcare industry is changing. As the sector becomes more digital, healthcare providers need to be aware of how they can use this shift to their advantage. The best way to do this is by creating an effective digital strategy. By implementing a digital strategy that uses best practices, you’ll be able to create an engaging mobile experience for patients and care seekers while also improving your local search optimization.