Recent trends in hospital marketing

 

Dr Madhav Madhusudan Singh

MBBS, MHA (AIIMS) , MBA (Finance), Ph.D. ( Hosp Mx)

Introduction:

Marketing has always been an essential aspect of any business, including healthcare. Healthcare marketing has evolved significantly in the past decade, with new and innovative trends emerging. In today's digital age, healthcare providers must adapt to these trends to reach and engage with their patients effectively.

Recent trends

 

1.     Video Has Become an Essential Healthcare Marketing Idea

Video content has become a popular and effective way for healthcare providers to connect with their patients. According to HubSpot, 85% of internet users in the globally watched video content on their personal devices. Moreover, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from the brands or businesses they support. The healthcare industry has taken notice of this trend, and video marketing has become a crucial part of healthcare marketing strategies.

Furthermore, video marketing is highly effective in generating qualified leads.

The use of video marketing has skyrocketed in recent years. According to a report by Cisco, video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2022. In the healthcare industry, video marketing has become an essential tool for attracting and retaining patients. Video marketing has several benefits, including increased engagement, improved SEO, and better patient education. Here are some lucrative video marketing statistics for businesses:

•        85% of internet users in the globally watched video content on their personal devices.

•   54% of consumers want to see more video content from the brand or business they support.

•        88% of video marketers are happy with their ROI.

•        Video marketers receive 66% more qualified leads every year than non-users.

These statistics show that video marketing can help healthcare providers attract and retain patients, increase engagement, and improve ROI. They can use video to educate patients on health topics, showcase their services and facilities, and build trust with their audience.

2.     Use Automated Appointment Reminders to Decrease No Shows:

Missed appointments can be costly for healthcare providers, and it's essential to minimize them. Automated appointment reminders can help decrease no-shows significantly. According to the American Medical Association, the average no-show rate for medical appointments is around 5-7%.

Appointment reminders can be sent through various channels, such as text messages, emails, and phone calls. These reminders can help patients remember their appointments, reducing the likelihood of missed appointments.

Automated appointment reminders can also improve patient satisfaction by providing patients with timely and relevant information.

 

3. Generate New Reviews for Locations & Providers

Your online reputation can make or break your practice. According to BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey, the following insights are true:

•   86% of people read reviews of local businesses.

•   80% of patients read reviews before booking appointments with practices.

• People typically read an average of 10 reviews before they feel ready to trust a local business.

• 57% of people will never work with a local business that has less than 4 stars on Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

•   91% of 18-34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth recommendations.

Generating reviews for your locations and providers is extremely important to your status as a credible practice. The most effective way of generating new reviews for your healthcare practice can be by simply asking your patients and their families to leave honest reviews on Google, Facebook, or Yelp. The more reviews you receive, the more prospective patients will be able to trust you. We always recommend leveraging review generation software to make adoption and adding to your existing workflows that much easier.

4.     Healthcare Advertising with Google Ads

Setting up a Google Ads campaign can help drive targeted keyword search engine traffic to your website. With the correct research and landing page optimization, it is possible to drive highly-qualified surgical and non-surgical leads to the practice. The advantage of Google Ads over social media ads can be the fact that the searcher already has a high level of purchase intent because they are already on the search to some level for the solution that you provide. You just need to ensure that you are striking the balance on your landing pages between a simple focus on conversion and proving enough content value to convert them.

5. Leverage On-Page SEO to Increase Organic Traffic

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical component of healthcare marketing. SEO involves making your website more visible and rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). On-page SEO is a subset of SEO that focuses on optimizing individual web pages.

On-page SEO factors that matter the most in healthcare marketing include metadata, images, keywords, and value. Properly embedding keywords throughout your website, optimizing your images, and providing valuable content like an FAQ section can improve your website's overall SEO ranking.

A practice assessment of your website will provide you with diagnostic insights on the issues that exist on your website and how you can improve it. Proper on-page SEO can increase organic traffic to your website, which is crucial in attracting new patients.

6. Promote the Healthcare Practice Via Guest Posts & Podcasts

Content marketing is a proven method of establishing your business as an authority and growing organic search traffic. This is also true for healthcare organizations. Publishing a guest post or column on an authoritative website or featuring on a popular medical podcast can help spread your expertise online.

A feature on a popular medical podcast is an effective way of reaching a broad audience, especially since 32% of the population in the globally  listen to a podcast every month. Another major benefit of guest posting and podcasting is gaining a high-quality backlink, which can help improve your website's domain authority.

7. Unify & Manage Practice & Provider Listings

Your Google My Business listing is how your prospects will interact with your practice. Your Google My Business listing contains important information that has to be accurate; otherwise, you could miss out on sales opportunities. Managing your provider listings ensures that your information is always correct.

Having multiple listings that contain the same information can confuse prospects. Therefore, unify duplicate listings if any exist. Start with the most important provider listing sites like Google My Business, Healthgrades, Vitals, CareDash, and RateMD. Accurate and properly managed listings can lead to fewer headaches and more success in drawing prospects from your online presence.

 

8. Know when to lean on your local network and when to augment your healthcare marketing

One of the most important aspects of healthcare marketing is knowing when to rely on your existing referral network and when to invest in marketing efforts. A robust local network is invaluable to any healthcare practice, but a strong referral system alone isn’t all it takes to be a stand-out practice. Some procedures benefit much more from robust marketing than from relying only on referral channels. That is why having a proactive physician liaison out in the field building referral relationships monthly to generate more “boots on the ground” referral patients along with digital marketing initiatives is recommended.

9. Invest in an Analytics Dashboard

Marketing is a numbers game, and investing in an analytics dashboard will put all of the important metrics of your website right in front of you. This way, it’s much easier to track the ROI of your healthcare marketing ideas & campaigns and get more money from your marketing spend. Having an analytics dashboard will allow you to measure the performance of your marketing campaigns, track website traffic and conversions, and monitor social media engagement. You do not have to have your analytics spread across multiple websites like Google Analytics, Google My Business, lead forms, and more. That is why we make it a point to ensure all of our clients have access to our marketing analytics dashboards so they can quickly make executive-level decisions about their healthcare marketing program.

10. Focus on Patient Experience

In recent years, the focus of healthcare marketing has shifted from attracting new patients to retaining existing ones. Patients have more choices than ever before, and they expect high-quality care and an exceptional patient experience. Medical practices need to provide a patient-centered approach to care, which means putting the patient’s needs and preferences first. By focusing on the patient experience, practices can increase patient satisfaction and loyalty, which can lead to positive word-of-mouth referrals and increased revenue. Practices can improve the patient experience by providing easy-to-use patient portals, online scheduling, and personalized communication with patients through email and social media.

 

Conclusion

In recent years, healthcare marketing has undergone significant changes, driven by advancements in technology, evolving consumer expectations, and increasing competition. Healthcare providers have shifted their focus from traditional marketing methods to more personalized, patient-centered approaches. They are leveraging digital marketing channels, such as social media and email, to engage with patients and build relationships. Telemedicine has emerged as a key trend, providing patients with convenient, on-demand access to healthcare services. Additionally, healthcare providers are investing in data analytics and artificial intelligence to gain insights into patient behavior and preferences, enabling them to deliver more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. Overall, these trends are transforming the healthcare industry and improving the patient experience.

Dr Madhav Madhusudan Singh MBBS, MHA , MBA , Ph.D

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this text are solely the personal opinions of the author and do not represent the views of any organization or entity with which the author may be affiliated.

 

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Monday : Nursing administration

Tuesday : Hospital Quality & Patient safety

Wednesday : Medicolegal issues

Thursday : Hospital Finance / Marketing

Friday : Human Resource management

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Sunday : CEO’s Dairy

 

Further reading