Struggling to find ongoing, relevant content for your hospital’s website, blog, email campaigns and social media? You probably are overlooking a treasure trove of existing content that sits on patient floors and in your physician offices—patient education materials.
With just a little chopping up and a little editing, you can easily turn a 32-page spine surgery patient guide into a plethora of healthcare content.
Keywords, semantic search, meta descriptions. Over the years, you’ve become accustomed to writing for your hospital’s website with SEO in mind. But if you’re not optimizing your images, then you’re leaving rankable assets on the table. The good news is image SEO is fairly simple. Here’s what you need to know.
Healthcare systems across the country seem to be jumping back on the branding wagon. They are hiring marketing vice presidents from consumer brand companies and engaging multinational advertising agencies. The idea is to create a pull strategy that causes consumers to demand your healthcare system. That, in turn, gives you leverage when negotiating insurance reimbursement rates.
But will new logos and television ads alone create that demand?
Probably not.
Before consumers make a purchase, whether it’s a new camera or car, they typically follow a predictable cycle that takes them from shopper to customer. At the end is the camera or car they dreamed of (hopefully). Despite the common thought that healthcare is not a typical purchase, your patients follow the same pattern. And you need to be creating content for every stage of the healthcare consumer buying cycle.
We’ve all made at least a few jokes about seniors and technology. We ask children to help grandpa find Netflix on the TV. And we laugh when grandma signs her texts “Love, Nana” like we don’t know they’re from her.
These endearing examples give the impression that older adults aren’t technology savvy. And because adults 65 and older make up a large segment of healthcare’s target market, you feel the need to rely heavily on other mediums. But baby boomers and above are using technology—at the highest rates we’ve ever seen. Here, we take a closer look at the statistics of tech use among seniors.
Do these comments sound familiar? “We could feature an African American family in this maternity ad.” “Let’s get these service line brochures translated into Spanish.” “How can we speak to our Asian American community?”
Just a few years ago, comments like these typically were the extent of the conversations hospital marketers were having about multicultural marketing. But simply including images of diverse families in your banner ads and offering translated collateral is no longer enough. Cultural differences are about more than skin color and language. They’re about perceptions, beliefs, customs and more.
New movers into your hospital’s primary service area are a ripe marketing opportunity. According to the US Census Bureau, just over 10 percent of Americans moved in 2018. That’s down from a high of 21.2 percent in 1951, but it still represents a significant segment of potential consumers in most markets.
If you can reach new movers early and distinguish your hospital or health system, you’re more likely to be their choice of provider when one is needed. Of course, simply being first isn’t enough. You need to have a solid strategy to create loyalty among people who have never used your services. Here’s how.
The good news is many patients won’t need your services for years at a time. The bad news is many patients won’t need your services for years at a time. While you’re glad people are staying healthy and don’t need your hospital, you also don’t want them to forget about you when they do need medical care.
Enter relationship marketing. Relationship marketing focuses on fostering long-term brand loyalty rather than short-term, sales-driven campaigns. Create a relationship with people, and you’ll make yourself the obvious choice for the next time they need healthcare.
Relationship marketing takes time and patience. The key is staying the course. Here are five ideas for building long-term relationships with your target audience.
Best maternity hospital Alabama
Prostate cancer risks
Effective weight loss strategies
Hospital marketers have been conditioned to think in keywords since SEO became a buzzword in the late ’90s. But it’s time to go back to thinking—and writing—like a human. That’s because, today, semantic search reigns supreme.
(more…)Yes, it would be incredible to rank on the first page of Google for “total knee replacement.” But chances are, that’s not going to happen unless you work for Mayo Clinic. (Or Johns Hopkins, as it turns out.) And that’s OK. Because what you really should be focusing on as a community, local or regional hospital is improving your local SEO.
