Marketing isn’t second nature.
The rules change as fast as the tides, and what was expected yesterday won’t resonate today. If you’re a healthcare marketer who really wants to get it right in 2023, we’ve got some tricks up our sleeve to help you hit those targets and keep people talking.
In this blog, we’re going to cover changing expectations, the online patient experience, and taking a more targeted approach to your healthcare marketing strategies.
Let’s dive into everything you should know about healthcare marketing in 2023.
The last few years.
When looking into the future, it’s just as important to look into the past. Especially when it comes to healthcare and medical marketing.
It wasn’t that long ago that the world was brought to its knees by a pandemic that took us all by surprise. Health systems were at capacity, people were cheering for the frontline workers from their balconies, and patients lost faith in our healthcare system.
While 2020 may feel like it was a long time ago, it initiated an interesting change for healthcare organizations. From making care more accessible, to embracing and implementing digital services to lessen the load on the healthcare system.
Suddenly, healthcare services became available from the comfort of your home, medical conditions didn’t warrant an in-person visit, and patient populations in rural or hard to reach areas were finally able to access the care that they needed.
As a marketer, you might be wondering “What does this have to do with me?”
And the answer is, it has everything to do with you.
Changing expectations.
As marketers in the healthcare industry, it’s really easy to fall back on tried and true marketing strategies and lose touch of a new generation’s pulse point. What used to work, isn’t going to work anymore.
Successful marketing in 2023 means that marketers need to throw out those decades old rule books and start paving a new path with marketing materials that speak to a changed world.
The truth is that consumer expectations have changed so much in such a short amount of time, that healthcare businesses are struggling to keep up with the pace of change.
The point of great healthcare marketing isn’t to go viral (though that would be nice), but to reach and impact your target audience enough to make you memorable over your competitors. The way to do this in 2023 is by embracing a new digital marketing strategy.
A high quality website.
Before launching a social media campaign, take a good hard look at your website and how user friendly it really is. If your UX or UI isn’t so great, why would you want to lead consumers there?
Your website is like your digital storefront. All of your ads, social media campaigns, and Google Display Ads lead here. This is why before you set out and explore those digital marketing horizons, make sure that your website fits the quality of your brand.
Make sure that your web design speaks to your target audience and showcases your product or service in a way that is helpful and not boastful. A great way to do this is by hiring a healthcare design service instead of trying to tackle this alone.
Check out our next blog about healthcare web design for a more detailed approach.
Highly targeted over mass marketing.
Back in the day, mass marketing was the golden girl. It made sense to pump money into banners, flyers, mass emails, and magazine ads. The point was to get your company’s name out there, no matter who was seeing it and whether or not it was relevant.
In the digital age, mass marketing is more annoying than it is memorable. Consumers will remember your health system as the one with the cheesy commercial that always interrupts Sunday night football.
Instead of casting a wide net, why not take the time to carve out a very specific consumer persona?
Use data and analytics to see what kind of people visit your website the most and who makes up the majority of your buyers. This gives you easily identifiable pain points that your product or service can help with, and helps you determine where to place that new ad.
For example, let’s say that you are a dermatology medical practice in Manhattan. Your primary demographic are women in their 30s who are interested in botox and luxury skincare. Knowing who your target market is tells you where they are likely to hang out the most digitally and in the real world.
Place that bus stop outside of the Sephora on 34th instead of placing it in front of the sports bar. While that bar may have higher foot traffic, it’s not going to have the right kind of foot traffic.
The same thing goes for your social media marketing campaigns. Don’t blast your ad all over the platform. Make sure that it’s highly targeted and personalized for your specific audience.
Branding is vital.
When was the last time that you took a good hard look at your company’s branding?
Most healthcare companies likely haven’t looked at their marketing design or their visual identity in a very long time. Updating your branding to reflect the needs and interests of your target market in 2023 is vital.
Millennials, GenZ, Gen Alpha are the new consumers and they may also be your new audience. Talk to them through your branding and get rid of that overly sterile, outdated, and not inclusive brand guide.
Update your color palette and refresh those stock images that are all over your website with something new that reflects the people who you are targeting.
Your branding is a tool that can help you build trust. This is exactly what healthcare companies need to zero in on in 2023; awareness and trust.
Search engine optimization.
Nowadays, potential patients and consumers Google things before contacting a medical practice or insurance company. They want to know that you are trustworthy, and if you aren’t appearing on the first page of Google, then they aren’t contacting you.
One great way to get on that first page of search results is to take a closer look at your content marketing strategies. Content builds trust, and it also tells Google that you are relevant.
When you are mapping your marketing plan for next year, factor in SEO powerhouses like blogs, case studies, and optimized landing pages.
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A plan that works.
Healthcare marketing needs to change as swiftly as your audience does. Embrace great design to carve out a memorable visual identity, dive into smart digital marketing strategies so that your target audience can find you, and don’t forget to appease Google.
What is your favorite healthcare marketing strategy?
