Did you know that there are 70,000 health-related queries per minute searched on Google? Often the first instinct for somebody who is feeling under the weather is to find out more information about it. There is an increasing demand for medical information on the internet. Unlike other kinds of content, medical content has to be more accurate, responsible, and very well-researched. How do you optimise your content to make sure it drives traffic to you and your organisation? Here are some content marketing strategies for healthcare providers.
Keep it simple
A lot of the times people are left confused while reading up on health-related matters online because of all the medical jargon used. Make sure that that is readable, easy to understand, and does not make consumers highly concerned. Do not compromise on optimising the content either. Focus on the keywords that have high search volumes so that you rank better and appear in the top few web pages. But no matter what keywords you decide to use, your priority should always be the authenticity of your content.
Use of infographics
Put yourself in the shoes of the reader. For somebody who doesn’t have a medical background, there they could be faced with an information overload while reading such articles. Embedding infographics and visuals help in retaining the information better. It also helps with summarising the content. Studies show that more than half of the population are visual learners. This means a good infographic can help your readers absorb complex concepts easier.
Testimonials
When it comes to one’s health, there is excess precaution exercised before taking any decision. Posting client testimonials eases their fears, clarifies their doubts, increases loyalty, and brings in awareness. It is an easy and effective marketing tool that can talk about the organisation’s strengths without coming off as self-boasting.
Highlight your specialisation
Create content that your organisation is well versed in. This could help your content become easily trustworthy and authentic, which enables customer loyalty. It is easier to create as well, as it is an area of your expertise and it takes lesser time to research compared to other unknown topics. After all, people trust professional advice from experts in their area of concern. Formulate content that is directly complementary to your organisation’s niche.
Switch it up
Your content may not always exceed a 1,000 word limit. You can use articles, blogs, videos, research reports, podcasts, and more. Nearly 47 per cent of the population that uses the internet share videos and pictures they come across. It does not always have to be information-heavy content too. An example of heavy content could be “A detailed study of oral cancer.” You can instead consider lighter content like “Fruits and vegetables that help in dental hygiene.” By switching between these two types of content, you cater to both types of readers — readers who don’t have any particular concern and readers who have specific issues.
What’s new in the industry?
Talk about recent developments in the industry. This could be new technological types of equipment that are used in surgeries/labs or it could be recent case studies in the industry. This not only builds credibility for the organisation with up-to-date professionals, but also builds awareness and brings new and interesting information for readers to consume.
Content with a cause
This can be awareness-building content. For example, you can create a series of blogs on postpartum depression and its symptoms or curate content for breast-cancer awareness week. Such content can bring in the human touch that makes people feel less alone or scared. Apart from this, it also keeps you relevant and helps you talk about camps and free services that your you or/and organisation has provided.
Reflect
Often, we don’t look back and reflect on how each piece has performed. This helps you analyse what works with your audience, and brings those areas to focus that need improvement and new marketing strategies. It helps in increasing ROI by using simple tools such as Google Analytics to understand how your content is performing and identify areas to strengthen.
In a nutshell, formulate creative, relevant, simple content that aligns with the expectations of your audience. Make sure to post testimonials and check how each piece has performed. Following these guidelines can slowly but surely help your organisation to become a comforting and credible source of information.