Digital marketing is evolving steadily and hugely every day. From infusing into every possible industry, to becoming the major source of online marketing for several corporations, digital marketing has settled well. Traditional marketing techniques do not tend to be as effective as digital marketing today. That is why digital marketing is being used by areas like the food sector, travel industry, IT industry as well as the healthcare industry. The main reason for this progress is digitalization. The same way the healthcare industry can’t just overlook digital marketing. Let’s have a look at the relationship between the healthcare industry and what digital marketing has to offer.
How Digital Marketing Affects Healthcare Industry:
1. Search Engine Marketing:
Businesses that use social media marketing along with social media marketing get significant over others in the competition. How? This helps the business to rank better in Google and other search engine results which leads to better visits. Businesses may even choose to buy YouTube views for content that helps their marketing efforts. Better ranking means better visibility to anyone searching direct or indirect similar search results leading to more visits to your page.
2. Social Media Marketing:
Because of digital marketing, social media marketing has gained a big exposure in all industries. Social media marketing helps in bringing out regular updates from the organization to the follower base. Similar to email marketing, the prime role is to keep the leads interested and updated. It also acts similar to word of mouth marketing, because people tend to share recommendations for good hospitals and doctors.
Statistics of digital marketing in the healthcare industry:
- Around 40% of people have said that the way they come across social media affects their decisions regarding healthcare:
Using social media as a means to share professional knowledge regarding healthcare attracts better and aware people. Moreover, professionals in the healthcare industry can share their information with ease of social media which can help people be more aware of their health issues. As a result, they’re more likely to turn to the professional sharing the knowledge in case of bad health than others. - Youngsters between the age group of 18-24 are twice more likely to discuss healthcare issues on social media than 45-54 year olds:
This shows that it is easier to educate the youth about healthcare issues and options available in respective hospitals. Social media makes it important for healthcare professionals to join in the discussions. - Majority (around 90%) people between the age group 18-24 also say that they would trust information shared on social media:
The age group of 18-24 consists of the millennial generation which trusts social media and easier forms of communication when it comes to important decisions. This gives healthcare professionals a platform to engage with such an interactive audience easily. - Additionally, around 19% of people surveyed had health and fitness apps on their smartphones:
This means it definitely would be a great option to work on developing an app or tool to reach out to this specific group of users. Your digital marketing efforts should also spread to such apps for better reachability.
There are some trends to be considered by every healthcare digital marketer:
1. Consumers are active researchers:
Consumers now prefer to research before visiting a doctor. This means that in addition to doctors, consumers do tend to turn to the internet for some second opinion or advice. Healthcare has turned into a collaborative sector where consumers trust several options before making a final decision. So, a digital marketing effort to take care of the online presence and other options is a great way to satisfy that requirement.
2. Digital channels now overshadow traditional marketing:
Digital marketing has infiltrated every industry. The same is the effect on the healthcare industry. In the last few years, digital marketing has taken a huge leap forward over the traditional marketing approaches. Healthcare sectors like biotech, medical, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical devices, etc. are benefiting because of mobile apps, social media, and digital sales. To target the consumer, digital ads are being used more than traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing sectors like social media presence, mobile apps are contributing actively to shifting the focus of digital marketing professionals and channels.
3. Healthcare marketers targeting consumers:
Like every other sector of marketing, there are different kinds of consumers in the healthcare industry. Digital marketers in healthcare are targeting people based on the products and services used. Unlike focusing on the name, location, company name and such demographics in other marketing sectors, the focus is on people and products. The primary target for digital marketing in healthcare is doctors. This is because doctors are still recommending, prescribing, and using products and services as the prime source of the healthcare industry. The decision-making requirement may be shrinking on the doctors’ end but still, consumers are making important decisions. Thus, to focus better, in addition to doctors, digital marketers should also focus on consumers and paying people.
Digital marketing has revolutionized various sectors of our lives. Seeing ads on social media platforms like Facebook, Google and so on are only possible because of digital marketing. It is only reasonable to shift focus from traditional marketing techniques to digital marketing. With something as important as healthcare, digital marketing has also shaped the industry in its way.
People don’t just blindly follow doctors and are becoming more and more aware. There is a rise in the awareness levels in people who are becoming increasingly health-conscious. Digital marketing is helping by pushing and advertising products and services across several platforms. Apps, websites, blogs and even social media are equally using digital marketing. There is a wave of digital marketing covering every sector with the increasing developments in the IT sector. Healthcare industry is benefiting from this symbiotic professional relationship between the digital marketers and healthcare professionals.
