Top 5 Healthcare marketing trends to watch out in 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced marketers across all product and service categories to rework their marketing strategies based on radical shifts in consumer behavior and their evolving needs. The healthcare industry also had to rapidly embrace these changes to cater to its consumers. Marketers need to take note of these Top 5 healthcare marketing trends in 2022 to stay on top of their game.

A Seamless Digital Experience to Improve ROI

• The first thing that you need to ensure is that the customer’s experience with your healthcare organization is a favorable one. 
• While the quality of service offered is unquestionably your primary concern, making their online interaction with your brand easy and pleasant, should come a close second. 
• Before booking an appointment, most healthcare consumers perform online research. 
• The digital patient experience in this phase is what will drive them further along the user journey, from being a potential patient to an actual one. 
• An outstanding online experience improves your chances of achieving a high ROI. Among healthcare marketing trends, you truly need to look out for this one.
• For healthcare marketers, your patient’s digital experience begins with a visit to the website of the hospital or clinic prior to opting for a service. 
• So, as a healthcare marketer, you must ensure that the website loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and provides  content to the patient that will be valuable to them. 
• In addition to the website, other digital features can help you to create an engaging experience, especially for millennials who want a quick, hassle-free, and at the same time, a HIPAA-compliant process. These include: 

1. Provision for booking an online appointment.
2. Customer service chatbot.
3. Electronic patient registration on dedicated patient portals with provision to submit medical information like previous prescriptions, lab reports, etc.
4. Text reminders. 
5. Video appointments.
6. Artificial intelligence-enabled virtual assistants.
7. Need based virtual care consultations on video.

Content is everything to keep the audience hooked

• Among healthcare marketing trends in 2022, investing in creating quality content for your digital assets should be a priority for you. 
• The website is only one of the many things that a patient looks up while researching online. 
• Social media, review platforms, news articles, and curated content are also looked up before arriving at the final decision. 
• So, your healthcare marketing strategy needs to include a robust content development plan to ensure that your brand stays top of the mind of potential and current customers. 
• You can create the following types of content for digital media marketing campaign:

1. FAQs on common health issues.
2. Researched articles on chronic illnesses.
3. Blog posts about healthy living and preventative care.

• You can also run email campaigns to share personalized content with your patients. Personalization is what everyone is looking for. 
• The more you will be able to bring that to your marketing efforts, the more success you will achieve. 
• Your digital marketing mix should include the use of multiple channels to convert one-time patients into lifelong ones.

3.Invest in Quality Video Production to Reap Major Benefits

• The content format that creates the most impact is video. 
• According to a recent report by HubSpot, 45% of people watch more than 1 hour of video every day. 
• Video content can be included on your website and shared on your social media accounts. 
• Healthcare organizations can look at these kinds of video content for promotion:

1. Doctor Introductions.
2. Patient testimonials and stories of recoveries.
3. Live Q&A sessions with doctors on Facebook and Instagram.
4. Health education focused topics.
5. Quick tips on healthy living.

• Video content with its audiovisual impact is attractive and is better at holding the attention of viewers than text-based content. 
• As a healthcare marketer, you must invest in producing quality video content to improve your brand traction and engagement. 
• Videos create a lasting impact. The format is the best one for telling your story.  The length and the content of the video need to be selected with care. 
• Platforms like Instagram have various predefined video templates like reels, which used effectively can help you to grow your audience very quickly.

4. Patient behavior focused SEO strategy

• The COVID-19 pandemic along with the consumerization of healthcare has driven a lot of change in the behavior of healthcare consumers. 
• They have now come to rely heavily on self-diagnosis and self-treatment, turning to Google to find answers to their health-related queries. 
• They have also used digital assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa to find answers. This behavior has changed the SEO algorithms. 
• Search engines have adapted themselves to fulfil the needs of the consumers with their evolving use of search terms and increasing use of voice search. 
• So, your content has to be search engine optimized to show up in search results. Among healthcare marketing trends, your healthcare SEO strategy will play a definitive role. 
• You need to create fast-loading web pages, with quality content written in, search engine optimized language using more focused keywords and a user-friendly tone.

5. Telehealth Services as Replacement for Physical Visits

• People in the US by and large wanted to avoid interpersonal contact and an in-person visit to clinics for non-urgent consultations and routine check-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Resorting to telehealth services and approaching healthcare practitioners who offered them, became a convenient option. 
• Though this pattern was more prevalent at the height of the pandemic, the habit has reinforced itself in consumers, as evident in the results of a 2021 telehealth survey. 
• It indicated that most Americans, who experienced the benefits of this service, want to continue using it.  
• So, the future of healthcare will bear ample opportunities for telehealth services to flourish.

Conclusion

COVID-19 has shown us that traditional healthcare delivery modes will no longer be enough. Making the entire digital experience convenient for consumers and offering them multiple doors to reach out and interact with whenever they want will set you apart from your competitors. So, your healthcare marketing plan for 2022 and beyond should consider these healthcare trends. Embracing new technologies will help to build robust health systems with efficient supply chains and allow you to serve your consumers better. If you are looking for professional assistance to draw up a marketing strategy for your healthcare organization and increase your consumer base, then you can talk to our team | Book a meeting with our team

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