Healthcare services have seen enormous growth in revenue in the UK in recent times. Statista reports that one of the best opportunities for healthcare companies is the growing popularity of the fitness and wellness market, worth £16 billion in 2020. And not to mention the importance of pharma and medical research to help combat the pandemic.
However, capitalising on growing demands requires a robust healthcare marketing strategy and the right channels to execute the plan. You also need to think about regulations on what you can and can’t say or do. All of which is easier said than done.
So, what’s the solution? In this blog, we share some key areas of healthcare marketing you must prioritise to cut through the noise and maximise success.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to how well online content ranks on search engines such as Google. So, if you’re a healthcare provider, the aim is to rank high for keywords relating to your products or services.
To do this, you need to optimise your website with quality keyword-focused content and upping your backlink profile.
Firstly, you must establish an understanding of what you’re working with to succeed with healthcare SEO. You won’t know what keywords to rank for if you don’t do your homework. To get an idea, you need to find keywords using an SEO platform or employ a healthcare SEO agency to do it for you.
The software platforms we recommend are SEMrush, SE Ranking and AHrefs.
Once you gather a list of relevant industry/service-led keywords, start applying them to all your website content. But don’t make the mistake of stuffing your content with keywords. Google rewards rich, relevant content; not a page littered with keywords.
If you’re not already writing a blog or regularly adding new pages to your website, then you could be missing a trick. OptinMonster states how 72% of marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic.
Expand your keyword search to include more than just the main keywords. 50% of search queries are four words or longer. People search with questions that involve specific details. Align these questions with your content and answer them with simplicity.
For example, ‘Where’s the nearest open pharmacy’ is a common search term.
It’s also important to localise your content to capture the right audience. You can do this by:
Now, you might be wondering how does social media help healthcare, and is social media important? The truth is, social media can be used as a very relevant and helpful tool for the healthcare industry, whether it’s promoting awareness or communicating accurate health messaging.
In fact, Hootsuite claims that 62% of healthcare marketers identified social media as the marketing channel harnessing the most potential in 2020.
Social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter are all super accessible. One simple post gives you the power to bypass other timely communication methods and share essential updates. All of which is incredibly important, following the unpredictable nature of Covid-19.
Some good uses of social media include:
Setting up a patient support network can prove beneficial too, particularly with younger people. Interestingly, close to 40% of young people have used support groups on social media platforms to connect with patients who have similar symptoms/conditions.
As a professional healthcare organisation, the expectation to provide these services on social media is a given in today’s digital-savvy world. Connecting with patients, healthcare professionals, and the greater community is paramount to your healthcare business prospering.
Depending on your following and engagement, the time, creativity, and energy involved in creating posts, communicating with patients, and keeping up with the current healthcare trends is a lot to manage.
Hiring a healthcare social media agency might be the best option to help your healthcare business keep up with the ceaseless demand from various social media channels.
PPC (pay-per-click) marketing is different to SEO, as marketers pay providers to publish their advertisements every time an ad is clicked. These platforms include search engines, websites, and social media channels.
With the right keywords and healthcare PPC strategy, you’ll see immediate results.
However, paid advertisement competition is tough. With One in 20 search engine enquiries health-related, healthcare organisations are all fighting for supremacy. To successfully appeal to your prospective clients, you need to understand their needs, search intent, and serve them with relevant information, services, and products.
An example of this can be adding ad extensions onto Google Ads to supply your searchers with more details. For example, this could include the location of the premises, contact information or available slots.
Updating your landing pages with optimised content, professional imagery, and high-quality video content can go a long way to support your healthcare PPC campaigns too.
Finally, conducting regular PPC audits to see how well your campaigns perform can make all the difference in the long term. The data you gain from PPC can be insightful for the rest of your marketing strategy, allowing you to personalise other content to serve the behaviours of your audience.
If you don’t have much experience in PPC advertising, finding a PPC healthcare agency with expertise in the industry might be a suitable option.
Now, we’ve established the importance of marketing in the healthcare industry, it might be worth considering hiring an expert healthcare marketing agency.
With ample opportunities to grow, the time is now to invest in healthcare marketing services from an agency that utilises SEO, social media and PPC channels in one coherent strategy.
At Amay Digital, we can help you do exactly that. As a specialist healthcare marketing agency with over 10 years of experience in the industry, we know what it takes to help your organisation stand out from the crowd.
If you’re interested in learning how we can market your healthcare services, please get in touch.