What's Ahead In The Healthcare Digital Marketing World

Shrinking budget allotments have healthcare marketing professionals clicking through into the digital age. As competition grows among health care companies and available funding for advertising is concentrated elsewhere, savvy marketers turn their blogging and social media efforts into personalized hotspots. Looking for the latest trend to recruit new members and maintain solid numbers within your system? Learn where to cash in to get a real bang for your marketing buck. 

1. Organically reach out to customers to help personalize their experience.

In 2014, gaining "likes" or "followers" won't necessarily be your goal, but if you haven't begun building a followership, you're already behind. Driving marketing efforts toward organic engagement of your crowd will set the trend in the year ahead. Prospective customers want to know that you'll offer a personalized health care experience rather than a one-size fits all approach.

And, don't underestimate the power that the various social media channels have over your member numbers. For example, if your members include stay-at-home mothers and small business owners - these groups of people have a strong social influence because of their tight networking behaviors. While one may be professional and the other social, both groups' opinions make a strong impression on their peers- especially digital impressions. If John Smith, local business owner, or Betty Jones, president of the parent teacher association, take a selfie from your packed waiting room and post it to Instagram or Twitter, chances are they've tagged your brand and made an instant impression to their networks. If your marketing mission fails to recognize the social influencing power of your consumers', your brand will be too busy using social media efforts to put out fires rather than promote personalized care. 

Locking down these healthcare digital marketing strategies can be what stands between turning your customer into a brand advocate or not and why it is so essential to put marketing eyes on these user-generated experiences. You have an opportunity to "make it right" in real time when your marketing pros can interact digitally- to make people feel important, listened to, cared for. 

Get your marketing pros to establish social media accounts across several channels. And, please, remember that Google still plans to conquer the world, so be sure to get on board with a Google + account while you're having your healthcare marketing team sign up for Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. 

2. Go photocentric.

Take a look around. What do you see? People on phones and mobile devices. And, you see it cross-generationally- from the youth to those in their golden years, people have gone digital. What's the saying- one photo speaks a thousand words? While we don't know who to credit for the phrase, it's true. Likely the explanation for the ever-increasing popularity of social media web outlets such as Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr, a majority of people report being visual learners. They want to see what their health care providers are up to just as much as their kids, boyfriends and famous people. Health care systems that can take advantage of the photocentric healthcare marketing tool might find themselves getting ahead a lot faster than their text-only advertising competitors. 

Tips for images: 

• Use the most sharable images your brand offers. Get your marketing team on the database of company images and mine the photo gold that can evoke the strongest emotional responses from consumers and potential customers... Getting them to share with their networks. 
• Add text to further evoke emotional responses. Keep it short and simple, but make it personal. 

3. Short Videos.

You've got 15 seconds to win them over. And then it's off to the over 232 million active users that Twitter boasts. Get personal to make an emotional impact with the time you have. Once your videos post to social media channels, get interacting to keep the experience personal until they walk through one of your health care system's doors.