Healthcare spending in the United States alone is projected to surpass $5 trillion in 2024 and rise to an astounding $7.7 trillion by 2032.
Driven by several factors, from the increased types of health services provided to economic inflation, there’s a clear growing demand for more efficient and highly personalized healthcare solutions.
As a provider, leveraging advanced technologies for online marketing and advertising to help you deliver those solutions is no longer optional — it’s essential for enhancing your market presence, gaining new customers, and strengthening your brand.
Digital marketing allows healthcare companies to reach a broader audience, including those not traditionally tech-savvy, by using targeted strategies such as educational content, social media engagement, and user-friendly websites. It helps demystify complex medical information, making it accessible and understandable for all patients.
How you approach this process will shape your success and your facility’s ability to treat patients effectively. Here’s some advice.
Know Your Audience
Understanding your target audience is the most important step for effective marketing.
For healthcare providers, this means recognizing that your demographic might differ from the typical tech-savvy crowd that other businesses are able to tap into. Instead, you’ll be working with a wide range of people, and none of them will interact with technology in quite the same way.
For instance, Medicare supplement customers are less likely to be active on platforms like TikTok. Instead, focus on channels where your audience is most active, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or email newsletters.
Use data to guide your decisions here. Check your social media insights and get an idea of your followers’ demographics so you can make the most informed decisions possible. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults aged 50-64 use Facebook, making it an ideal platform to reach the Baby Boomer and X generations.
LinkedIn statistics, on the other hand, reveal that 72% of its users are aged 25-54, indicating its effectiveness in targeting young professionals and business decision-makers.
It might sound like you’re nitpicking the details, but the reality is that this precise targeting can significantly enhance ROI by ensuring your marketing efforts are reaching the right eyes.
Understand the Customer Journey
The healthcare customer journey can be intricate, especially when selecting the right plans or services. Potential clients often prefer speaking directly with someone who can guide them through their options.
Therefore, you need to make sure your marketing materials and calls-to-action (CTAs) are inviting and clear.
Encourage prospective clients to call directly for personalized assistance. Leveraging call extensions within digital ads can be highly effective here.
Google’s data shows that ads with call extensions experience a 6-8% increase in click-through rates, highlighting the importance of direct communication in healthcare marketing. This personal touch not only aids in customer retention but also builds trust and reliability, both of which are essential components in healthcare services.
Balance Plan Details and Lifestyle Images
Loading your ads with features and numbers can overwhelm anyone — especially your potential patients.
Instead, complement the technical details with relatable imagery that portrays the lifestyle benefits of your services. This emotional appeal can make your marketing efforts more effective and resonate better with your audience.
Kaiser Permanente’s “Thrive” campaign successfully combined detailed health plan information with lifestyle images, significantly increasing member enrollment.
The campaign emphasized the holistic benefits of their services, making complex information more digestible for potential clients. This approach shows that a balance between data and emotion can effectively communicate the value of your services.
Implement Closed-Loop Reporting
Closed-loop reporting helps you make sure that your marketing efforts generate leads and convert them into actual clients. This insight allows you to allocate resources more efficiently and refine your strategies for better results.
In a high-shopping behavior industry like healthcare, lead submissions should not be your ultimate KPI — focus on purchasers instead. Passing purchase information back into digital and traditional campaigns should be critical.
A report by Forrester Research underscored the importance of this type of reporting and showed that companies employing closed-loop reporting saw an average 30% increase in marketing ROI. This method allows for a more granular understanding of which strategies are truly driving conversions.
Always Be Testing
In the increasingly competitive healthcare industry, the importance of constant refinement cannot be overstated. Test, test, and test again.
Segment your tests by different audiences and variables such as creative elements, web or landing page designs, messaging, and geographic locations. Use statistical significance (85% or higher) to prove confidence in your results without wasting time.
Cleveland Clinic’s iterative testing on its landing pages led to a 30% increase in appointment bookings. By continuously refining its approach based on test results, Cleveland Clinic identified effective strategies and optimized its campaigns for better performance.
This iterative process ensures that your marketing strategies remain aligned with your target audience’s evolving needs and preferences.
The Takeaway
In today’s healthcare landscape, leveraging marketing technologies is imperative for staying competitive and meeting patient expectations.
You can attract more clients by understanding your audience, optimizing your marketing strategies, and continuously testing and refining your approach. More importantly, you’ll solidify your brand as a trustworthy, innovative leader in the healthcare industry.
Strategic marketing, supported by data-driven insights and a deep understanding of your customer base, will enhance your market presence and ensure long-term success.
Start implementing these strategies today to stay ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional value to your patients.
Adam Ortman
Adam Ortman is the president and founder of Kinetic319, a leading marketing and advertising agency headquartered in Denver, Colo. The agency offers full-funnel marketing campaigns, fusing cutting-edge practices and consumer psychology to help businesses transcend mediums and resonate with global audiences.
