What comes into your mind when you think of the Mayo Clinic? Is it their innovative, patient-centric services or their huge library of online research and education? Whether you’re a patient seeking care or a healthcare administrator researching a solution for your hospital, The Mayo Clinic’s large library of content is bound to hold an answer for you.
While the Mayo Clinic is considered one of our nation’s top-ranked hospitals, it has also solidified its position as a content thought leader with the distribution of Sharing Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Connect. This is content marketing at its finest.
In our post-pandemic, social-media-saturated world, with so much information at our fingertips, it can feel like we’re drinking from a fire hose at times when we search for information. The healthcare sector has grown so rapidly that the best and most innovative new solutions have trouble getting noticed by providers.
Regardless of who you’re targeting, whether you’re a company reaching out to providers or a hospital wishing to strengthen relationships with patients, it’s easy to see that the healthcare industry needs a better content strategy.
Healthcare Content Matters
Good content can build trust, engage and retain clients, and broaden influence. Informative and engaging content answers health-related questions, keeps patients informed, attracts new patients and providers, and drives higher-quality leads through digital marketing.
As new technologies, practices, and medical innovations arrive, content can educate healthcare facilities and clinics on how innovative products and services can help them better serve their patients.
Better content can boost success metrics for:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Biotechnology
- Equipment
- Distribution
- Healthcare facilities
- Managed health care
In fact, no matter what your business is, if you communicate with people, you need a content strategy to be most effective.
What Makes Good Content?
“Good content” isn’t just an opinion; it’s a measurable commodity. It builds trust, enhances your reputation, and drives the right kinds of leads.
Trust
We live in a world where the public harbors more doubt about medical advice than it used to. The content you distribute will help your audience decide if they trust that you have their best interests at heart or think you have ulterior motives.
Healthcare content is difficult to create because it must be absolutely correct and sound professional while engaging the reader. This is invariably true regardless of your target audience.
For example, the target audience for a patient payment platform–administrators and healthcare systems–is unlikely to be searching for short blogs on Google.
Instead, build trust through:
- Case studies of how your solution has worked in practice to improve patient outcomes or hospital revenue
- Testimonials from clients describing how your solution helped solve their issues.
- Infographics with data and examples showing how your platform is different and better than that of your leading competitors.
Reputation
Once you establish trust, you can focus on reputation. By placing your content on reputable channels like Becker’s, KLAS, and other leading healthcare websites, you will slowly build a reputation backed by trusted experts.
A good reputation also comes from producing long-form pieces such as:
- eBooks
- Buyers guides
- Reports
These types of pieces put your brand in a position of thought leadership in the healthcare space. An extensive library of documented examples and references can establish credibility.
Achieving thought leader status is more than a marketing trend. It prevents you from “random acts of marketing” and focuses your effort on content that will drive leads. Being a thought leader in the healthcare industry is imperative to building trust since the content you produce can help empower your audience in their healthcare journeys or in their mission of improving patient outcomes.
If patients or providers don’t trust you, lead generation is going to be a tough battle.
Lead-generation
The healthcare world is competitive. With growing local competition and large hospital systems, standing out and promoting medical services or healthcare technology can be challenging. Effective healthcare marketing allows you to increase your visibility to the right audiences by directly crafting your content around their needs and desires.
Regardless of your standing strategy, take some time to go back to the basics. Picture your target audience, whether they are patients, doctors, or healthcare administrators.
Ask yourself:
- What is their background?
- What do they care about?
- How do they measure success?
- What are the consequences if they fail?
- What are their challenges?
- What solutions can you offer them?
- What are the outcomes of those solutions?
- What are the lasting benefits if they choose your product or service?
Now review your current strategy and determine if the content you’re producing speaks directly to these. If so, you’re on the right track. If not, it’s time to pivot.
Creating a Robust Healthcare Content Strategy
A robust healthcare content strategy should be patient-centric, utilizing multimedia content such as videos, infographics, and podcasts. It should be SEO (search engine optimization) oriented and data-driven, using analytics to understand content consumption patterns.
It should also adopt a story-first strategy, placing the patient or provider (depending on your target) at the center of the narrative. Make them the hero wielding your product or service as their secret weapon.
SEO in the healthcare industry
While some healthcare entities have successful content strategies, there’s always room for improvement. Healthcare organizations need personalized content that retains authority and SEO.
Patients often do a quick search on Google before contacting providers. If you can be there to provide them with advice and answer their questions, you have their attention.
Challenges in implementing a healthcare content strategy
The foremost challenges healthcare companies face when implementing a content strategy include compliance with HIPAA guidelines, maintaining patient confidentiality, producing reliable and scientifically accurate content, and addressing health literacy issues.
It’s important to develop a robust content portfolio that incorporates the input of subject matter experts. And a reliable team that can maintain a consistent cadence of thought-provoking, informative content is indispensable.
Need a Content Strategy Partner?
A well-crafted content strategy can build trust, engage and retain consumers, increase reach, educate, and position your brand as a thought leader. Despite the challenges of creating it, the benefits of a strong content strategy in the healthcare industry are undeniable.
If you’re looking for help creating a robust content strategy or need a partner to help fulfill your current plan, Content Workshop is here to help. We’ve built fantastic relationships with clients in the healthcare industry seeking to improve patient outcomes and assist facilities with their bottom line. We look forward to hearing from you!
