Top Trends Impacting Healthcare Marketing
When you think about choosing a healthcare practice for routine check ups or selecting the best medication for treatment, you mind might not jump to marketing. However, marketing plays a critical role for healthcare organizations to attract new patients and for healthcare companies to share their products with health systems and consumers.
Looking to take your healthcare brand’s marketing to the next level? Check out some highlights from the Healthcare and IT Marketing Community’s (HITMC) predictions for marketing and PR trends impacting the medical community.
A need for quality content
We’ve covered at great length why content is so important, and it doesn’t surprise us that content is on the HITMC’s list either. With the anticipation that a keen eye will be on budgets, pillar content that can be broken up into many different formats will become a key strategy.
A holistic approach
Instead of having many different marketing strategies and vendors for each different aspect of the organization, one overarching approach will become a popular structure. This will allow for the cohesion of messaging across all verticals. Plus, with fewer players in the mix, it will be easier to manage a schedule where announcements and communications don’t cannibalize each other for attention and coverage.
Events that provide value
Events are back in full force after the pandemic, but the budget isn’t up to pre-pandemic levels. Since many professionals have to pay their way, events must provide exceptional value to justify the investment, or to be eligible for reimbursement. This means that continuing education will be top of the list of attended events, that registration fees will need to be more affordable and that practical applications such as group collaboration will be common formats.
Earned media
When it comes to building trust with customers and patients, earned media presents a wonderful opportunity. PR will be incredibly important to secure stories and placements to help healthcare organizations stand out. Earned media can also include putting a spotlight on internal thought leaders to attract attention from within the industry.
A focus on CSR
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) will become more important, even for healthcare businesses. Seventy-seven percent of consumers want to purchase from companies that work toward making the world a better place. This means that not only do healthcare companies need to develop a CSR strategy if one doesn’t already exist, but brands also need to share about the good work they are doing. This is another spot where earned media could be useful; in addition, social media is a key place to share these messages.
Keeping a beat on healthcare trends
When it comes to marketing, the healthcare industry will be seeing some new strategies take the lead this year, many of them stemming from a desire to be budget conscious. A holistic approach, campaign-specific pillar content and securing earned media are all tried and true strategies. Along with events that bring value and the development of CSR initiatives, these marketing trends will dominate the healthcare industry this year.
Does your healthcare organization need marketing assistance? Connect with the team at Beyond Fifteen to learn more about our marketing expertise.