Marketing professionals in the healthcare industry are up against a different set of challenges. As you focus on helping your healthcare organization plan for more strategic and effective communication and marketing campaigns, we want to make it easier for you to understand the challenges so that you can also find the opportunities.

Standing Out in the Crowd

There are more healthcare providers than most patients can sort through, which makes your marketing and advertising more important than ever. Differentiating yourself needs to start with who your target audience really is. Who are you the best at serving, and how can you let them know that? Your marketing strategy should be focused on positioning your organization as a trustworthy and recognizable healthcare brand that your target audience relies on. By focusing your efforts on the people you want to reach, you’ll set yourself apart by showcasing your focus and results.

Establish yourself as a thought leader for your audiences, and promote your accomplishments to build trust and engage the right people. Make sure your brand, marketing, and sales are all aligned with your goals and target audience to set your organization apart!

Crafting Engaging Content

Once you’ve established who you want to market to, you need to craft the right messages for every point in the decision funnel to attract, engage, and convince those prospects that your organization is the right choice for them. This is easier said than done, but a thoughtful understanding of your audience will help! Think through what you do best, and who that applies to, then walk them through the entire decision-making process.

• Attract: Focus on the pain points (warning signs, symptoms, comorbidities, and misdiagnoses) to help patients recognize themselves or their problems in your messaging.
• Engage: Educate readers on the dangers or complications of not seeking treatment, then showcase how your organization can help. Focus on creating a personal connection to the audience with your team, so that they feel a connection and sense of understanding with your organization.
• Convince: Shine the spotlight on your specific team of healthcare professionals and services and why you’re the best. Testimonials and awards are great tools to help convince patients you’re the best fit for them.

Targeting the Right Audience

At this point, you know who you want to talk to, and what you want to say, but how are you going to reach them? With digital marketing, there are incredible targeting opportunities available to you. Search engine optimization allows you to find the relevant key phrases your target audience is searching for, then optimizing your website to rank highly when those phrases are searched. Digital advertising can get a little trickier when it comes to privacy regulations, but there are still many opportunities to get your ads in front of the right people at the right time!

Knowing your audience is crucial in determining the right mix of marketing channels and strategies to invest in. There are 2.82 billion daily active users on Facebook, and 70% of US adults use the channel. Whereas only 28% of the U.S. population over 12 years old listens to podcasts on a weekly basis. That doesn’t mean you should go all-in on Facebook and ignore audio content opportunities, it just means you need to dive deeper into the data with your target audience in mind will help you determine where to focus your efforts on finding the highest quality, most relevant audiences for your messaging.

HIPAA Compliance

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is important in how your medical marketing tools are used, how your site is hosted, and much more.

With how quickly technology is updating, HIPAA struggles to keep up with the changes making it important for you to know which technologies are compliant and the risks that surround marketing. To keep yourself safe while marketing to your target audience, ensure that you are following legal rules and regulations that go along with healthcare marketing.

Understanding Insurance

For success in healthcare marketing, it’s important that you understand the different insurance types that are available. This list can include PPOs, HMOs, Medicare, and Medicaid. When marketing, you need to know which plans are in-network with your physicians and which are not, along with which treatments are covered and which are not. These factors will affect your messaging and the conditions and treatments that you’re targeting. Set yourself up as a total resource for patients and prospective patients, so they trust your insight and choose your organization.

Building Your Brand

Healthcare decisions are usually made by people who are experiencing a lot of emotion. It’s important that you are empathetic and understanding in your approach as you reach out to this audience and try to persuade them that your healthcare practice is the best option for them. Your branding and messaging need to be cohesive and authentic! Although we understand that rebranding can seem a bit daunting, a rebrand or brand strategy project with DAE can help you understand how to better align your business with your target audience for more impactful, engaging marketing campaigns that truly convert.

Are you ready to make it happen for your brand? A remarkable brand is a living thing with a personality defined by you shared with your community. Finding and developing that personality is one of our specialties. We’d love to learn more about your business and your audiences to show you how we can take your business to the next level with a fresh look and feel, for more effective marketing and revenue growth!