In the ultra-competitive healthcare landscape, focusing on the right digital growth marketing strategy is key to getting in front of the right audience at the right time.
Keep reading as we share our top three growth marketing strategies for healthcare brands. Spoilers: it’s all about leveling up your content marketing, social media marketing, and paid advertising. By mastering these three areas, healthcare brands can increase visibility, improve patient engagement, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
1. Level Up Your Content Marketing
“Content is king.” That’s certainly true in the healthcare industry where products and services have a direct impact on the wellbeing of customers and patients. Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with and provide value to customers, patients, and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in a meaningful way.
Examples of content
A strong content marketing strategy includes a variety of content formats. Some are visual at a glance, while others are text-heavy and seek to educate. How you use different formats depends on the key message you want to get across to your audience. Examples of content formats include:
- Blog posts (much like the one you’re reading right now!)
- Insight videos that simplify complex topics
- Downloadables like white papers and reports
- Easy-to-read infographics with stats
- Patient stories and testimonials
- Educational email newsletters
Goals for your content
Of course, for a content marketing strategy to be successful, you need a goal. What do you want your content to achieve? Examples of goals include:
- Moving people further down the marketing funnel
- Providing an educational resource
- Engaging existing and potential customers
- Establishing your healthcare brand as a leader in your space
Remember that you don’t have to cram all of your goals into one content piece. For example, your blog series might focus on educating readers on your healthcare product, while your downloadables may be geared towards collecting emails and names (and thus, more suited for moving potential customers down the marketing funnel).
Certain formats do a better job of helping you achieve specific goals, which is why it’s important to consider a variety of formats when developing your content marketing strategy.
Benefits of content marketing
There are many benefits to investing in writing blog articles or creating videos. A strategic content marketing plan helps:
- Address key customer pain points
- Educate patients on health-related topics
- Build trust with customers and healthcare providers
- Enhance overall customer journey and experience
- Create a community of like-minded individuals
While it may not seem like it at first, all of these benefits support business growth. Potential customers learn more about your company values and expertise, which puts your brand top of mind compared to competitors who have weaker content marketing strategies.
Here’s an expert tip: consistency is crucial! Plan for a steady stream of content, whether it’s being released on your website (e.g. series of blog articles), your social media channels (e.g. informative video series), or email (e.g. company initiatives).
That being said, there’s a big obstacle that many marketers must face…
Creating content takes a lot of planning, time, and effort.
This is why many in-house marketers at healthcare companies often partner with external healthcare digital marketing agencies to support content creation. A partnership like this can drastically enhance a healthcare brand’s content creation marketing strategy, allowing them to tap into expert strategists, copywriters, copy editors, designers, and more.
2. Level Up Your Social Media Marketing
Today’s world is “digital first,” making social media platforms essential tools for healthcare brands. Social media isn’t just about posting the occasional update. It’s also about creating content that engages customers, patients, and HCPs. By fostering this community and establishing your healthcare brand as an approachable and trustworthy resource, you can build brand loyalty — before someone has even made a purchase.
Engaging social media content
To create engaging social media content, marketers need to do more than just inform. The posts they share must engage, educate, and entertain. This is where existing assets come in. Remember how in the previous section we discussed the different types of content, such as articles and videos? A large part of your social media marketing strategy will be to take that content and create social media-friendly versions.
Have a long explainer video? Create a short 15-second version for Instagram and TikTok, while adding a call to action (CTA) for viewers to visit your website if they want to check out the full video.
Just published an article on your website? Create a short carousel with the top three insights for your LinkedIn feed.
Engaging social posts provide value and will keep your audience coming back for more. It’s important to tailor your content to fit the platform and its demographics. For example, if you’re a healthcare brand offering telemedicine services and your goal is to increase the number of doctors who use your service, LinkedIn is likely one of your core platforms. On the other hand, if your goal was to get sign-ups and increase the number of patients using your digital healthcare service, you might opt for more consumer-oriented platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Drive organic traffic
Social media plays a significant role in driving traffic to your website. By strategically placing links in your posts, stories, and profile bio, you encourage users to visit your site to learn more about your products or services.
While your paid advertising strategy will do the heavy lifting in terms of driving traffic (more on that below!), don’t ignore best practices on your social media channels.
3. Level Up Your Paid Advertising
While a healthcare brand’s organic feed helps build brand awareness and community, paid social media advertising is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to drive immediate results. Google search engine marketing (SEM), social media buying, and display ads are types of paid advertising that offer unique advantages for reaching new audiences and boosting brand visibility.
Zero in on your target audience
With organic content in a social media feed, healthcare marketers have little control over who sees that content. Followers are likely to see it in their personal feed, but how can you ensure that a potential customer engages with your content?
A key component of paid advertising is the ability to push your content (an ad, in this case) to specific audiences. Are you looking to promote a healthcare service, get more patients to book consultations, or drive HCPs to prescribe your product? Understanding your goals will help tailor your ad strategy accordingly so that you’re getting your ad in front of the right audience.
For example, if your goal is patient acquisition, you’ll want to focus on Google search ads to target individuals who are already actively looking for solutions. Google ads are effective at reaching potential customers who are in the buying mindset. When someone searches for “best pediatrician near me” or “multivitamins for women,” they want answers! By running search ads targeted to these queries, you can ensure that your healthcare brand appears on the front page of search results.
Alternatively, if you want to increase brand awareness, display ads or social media ads could be the better choice to reach a broader audience at a lower cost. These ads are useful for retargeting, so if someone visited your website but didn’t convert or make a purchase, retargeting ads can bring them back by showing relevant products and services as they browse other sites. Think of it as a calling card that says, “Hey, remember us?”
Are You Prepared To Do More With Your Growth Marketing Budget?
While the growth marketing tips above certainly aren’t the only ones to keep in mind, these three provide a strong foundation for your healthcare marketing strategy.
If you’re ready to hit the ground running in the New Year, click the button below and speak with one of our healthcare marketing specialists.