In the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, hospitals are fiercely competing with each other to provide the best services to their patient and this competitiveness also extends to the marketing tactics used to build and maintain their customer base. Healthcare is something deeply personal and the marketing strategies devised by the hospitals also need to reflect this aspect to deliver the best results. The content developed to market your healthcare brand needs to be able to:

• Create brand awareness
• Increase engagement
• Maintain your brand position
• Promote better health through informative, educational content
• Generate leads and encourage sales

Why focus on content marketing?

According to google reports, 5% of google search queries are related to healthcare, which means by utilizing strategic content marketing tactics, you can put your brand at an advantage. By showcasing your experience and expertise through your content, you will be building your brand reputation as well as relieving the patient of their anxieties and worries. By letting them know what to expect and answering their queries, you can help patients make informed decisions regarding their healthcare which directly contributes to a better patient experience. Content marketing is also beneficial in generating more local traffic which can be converted to leads and to firmly establish a loyal customer base who will keep coming back. A recent study showed that 97% of brands found content marketing to be a successful tactic in generating traffic. This opens a whole new avenue of possibilities for hospitals to establish and maintain their position in the industry. Let’s take a look at what you need to keep in mind while developing content for a hospital brand.

Know your audience

Knowing what your audience need from you is the very first step in effective content marketing. Find out what they want to know about the most and address them through your content. This will help build a connection with the audience where they’ll learn to trust your brand in matters of healthcare over time and can generate leads later on. This can be facilitated through social media platforms or through a dedicated e-mail. Proper research has to be done before deciding on the content and your team of experts can also provide valuable insights on what kind of content the audience may want to see from your brand which can be incorporated into the marketing strategy.

Aim to build authority

The content created for hospital marketing needs to exhibit your brand’s experience and expertise in the field. The topics need to be thoroughly researched and analyzed to provide high quality content that can establish your brand as a trustworthy service provider in the area. Combined with strategically placed keywords to drive traffic, such targeted content marketing can help keep your brand visible at all times.

Pay attention to design and format

Content created for hospitals needs to be specifically tailored to resonate with your audience on a deeper level. This means that serious considerations must be taken while designing and formatting content. Experimenting with new, interactive content formats can be of immense help in a field like healthcare marketing where the content itself might be a bit too dry for the audience. This is also the reason why brands are slowly shifting the focus to video content as they are better at keeping the audience engaged.

For static posts with texts, it’s imperative to ensure that the design, layout, colors, and images used are all optimized to not only grab, but also keep the attention of the audience.

Ensure compliance

When it comes to content developed for hospital branding and marketing specifically, you need to ensure compliance. Any error in the content may bring disastrous consequences to your brand reputation so the created content needs to be vetted by subject matter experts before going live. The other option is to have the content creator work directly with the experts while developing the content so as to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Ensure a better experience

Everything boils down to providing the potential patients with the best experience through your content. This means the content needs to be visually appealing, structured coherently, and with a language that is direct in tone so that there will be nothing ambiguous about it. Logic and clarity of thought should be maintained throughout so that the content will be easy enough to skim through, all the while addressing whatever specific concerns the prospective patients might have. Breaking down the content into smaller, easier to read points is an effective way of achieving this result.

Strategic content marketing is an effective tool that can be used to bring desirable outcomes by expanding your brand’s reach. What needs to be kept in mind is that the content developed should be able to understand the audience and resonate with them, all the while maintaining its quality and compliance. Successful content marketing can not only keep your brand visible, but also facilitate patient engagement and retention with the brand so as to ensure sustained growth and success.

Moksha Media is a highly reputed branding and digital agency based in Hyderabad with a stellar track record of delivering the best results to hospitals in both India and abroad through innovative marketing strategies that are carefully designed and executed to provide optimal outcomes. The experience and expertise gained through specializing in healthcare marketing enable our team to make efficient use of the latest tools and technologies available in the market to drive engagement and generate traffic which contribute directly to lead generation and conversion, and thus, a significant rise in the brand revenue.

04 March 2024 | Healthcare Marketing, Digital Marketing for Hospitals