Healthcare digital marketing contains many moving parts, but one of the most prominent components that most marketers focus on within this market is SEO. Healthcare marketers want to be found under a variety of key terms so they can become the authority online. Most of them know that SEO has become largely content driven, but even so, there are few that choose to invest in a solid content marketing strategy, and instead, focus their time and energy on the technical components of SEO.
Let the Content Control the Conversation
The best way to serve content to your customers is to answer the questions that are being asked by your audience, especially in healthcare marketing. By answering the questions that people are naturally searching for within the search engines, you’re creating a natural search engine presence for your organization. You’re controlling the conversation through content that is being found as useful by your target audience.
You also need to ensure that once you get people to your website, you’re providing them with an option of what they can do next, so you need to generate a channel to convert the customers into leads. After converting them, a follow-up is required, and you’ll want to put together a post-conversion content marketing plan to keep those users engaged with your organization. Through the content, you’re gaining trust and respect, which makes for loyal customers in the long run.
Diversify Your Content Assets
The way people take in content is changing. There are more than just blogs out there, and you need to ensure that you’re staying ahead of the curve by providing your users with diversified content assets. By generating these additional content assets and hosting them on platforms outside of your website, you’re generating quality links back to your website, which will reinforce the authority of your website that you’re building through content. Here are some of the content assets healthcare marketers can create to best serve their audience.
User-Generated Content
Another content marketing strategy that many organizations do not take advantage of is user-generated content. Testimonials are a huge driver of users when it comes to healthcare marketing, but many are afraid to ask for them? Why? Because they don’t want to risk if those testimonials are potentially negative. Here’s the thing: you aren’t going to be able to avoid negative reviews, whether you solicit them or not. The real test of an organization is how you deal with them. Each testimonial, positive or negative, is a learning experience for an organization to make themselves better. It’s a customer evaluation that provides the opportunity to enhance patient experiences. Look at testimonials as an opportunity as opposed to a nuisance, and start requesting them in each step of your process with your patients.
Digital Content is the Key to Decision Making
Ultimately, as a healthcare marketer, your goal is to turn users into patients. Content is going to drive those users to convert into patients. The amount of resources you provide to your users on your website and through your other brand assets online will increase confidence and comfort within your audience to turn into a patient.
Also, it’s good to understand the process of your users so you can serve them at different points within their cycle. For example, 44 percent of patients who research hospitals on a mobile device scheduled an appointment. This tells marketers that they can capitalize on conversion optimization through their mobile platforms if they’re a hospital. Also, patients primarily search on symptoms and condition terms toward the moment of conversion. This means that you’ll want to generate a conversion channel for your audience on the pages, blogs, articles, infographics, etc., that talk about symptoms and specific conditions.
Video, Video, Video
We’ve mentioned it before, and we’ll mention it again. Video is such a valuable content asset to use in your SEO and content marketing strategy. YouTube traffic to hospital sites has increased 119% year-over-year, according to a study by Google. Create valuable video content that helps address your users’ concerns and puts them at ease with your brand. Distribute on your site, YouTube, Vimeo, and social media to get maximum presence. Make sure you develop an editorial calendar that focuses on certain illnesses, wellness initiatives, and trending topics when people are most interested in them.
Overall, you still have to focus on SEO when it comes to healthcare marketing, but you should realize how much SEO has evolved, and capitalize on it by creating a strong content marketing strategy to ensure you’re giving users what they want. If you need assistance developing a sound content marketing strategy to enhance your SEO for your healthcare organization, contact On Target today.
