It is sometimes shocking to think about how much of our news and gossip comes from the internet. Not too long ago, the majority of news stories were from major metropolitan areas or were about well-known individuals or organizations. However, in just a few short years, the internet has changed everything. The internet has become a destination of its own, with a distinct culture and news cycle.

Forward-thinking digital marketers, particularly those involved in rapidly changing industries such as healthcare, have quickly learned how to maximize the positive benefits of the internet while minimizing the potential negatives. Healthcare digital marketing is an increasingly important way to maintain your brand’s relevancy in an industry that is in constant flux. The fact that it is increasingly difficult to differentiate your company over others in the healthcare market makes branding, and online branding in particular, that much more important.

Building an online brand

Increasingly, your company’s internet presence will be the first impression you make on potential customers, and will be the first place existing customers go to find more information or share information with others. This makes your online brand an ideal place for a healthcare digital marketing campaign to start.

The first step in building an online brand is to make a cohesive user experience from start to finish. The three key components in this experience are: search engine query, website visitation, and social media engagement. Here are three steps to creating a cohesive experience and promoting an up-to-date company and brand:

Maximize search engine results

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) has become a cliché at this point. Everyone talks about it, but few understand how it really works. While Google is in a constant battle with those who game their system to maximize SEO results, the solution for you is far simpler; generate high-quality and relevant content that will be useful to potential or existing customers. If your website has good content and is updated regularly, it will automatically increase its search engine ranking.

Have a simple but fully-featured website

There is certainly a balance between having a simple website that loads quickly but looks and feels dated and a hyper-powered website with an overwhelming (but ultimately ineffective or useless) number of features. The key is to find a balance in which your website is easy to navigate, has a few modern features such as reactive buttons and menus, and provides lots of easily accessible and useful information. It is also useful to promote your brand by utilizing your logo and brand colors within the design of the website itself.

Maintain brand awareness and maintain customer relationships through social media

Social media provides immense value to companies that utilize it properly. In addition to providing another platform for customers and potential customers to find, social media is a place for your company to show that it isn’t a “faceless corporation”, but is instead made up of real people who actually talk to and care about their customers. Communication with customers on Facebook and Twitter is an increasingly popular corporate practice, and has produced positive results. Building a following on social media also serves as a conduit for company updates, news, and other content you want shared (at essentially no cost!), and can be a great way to drive traffic to the hub of your internet presence, your primary website.

Creating a modern brand that is fully represented in the digital world is worthwhile and requires a concentrated marketing effort. Any healthcare digital marketing campaign should remember that the user experience does not start and end on the primary company website. Everything from social media to blog content and web design all play a part in creating a robust and unified digital brand.