Beyond the rollout of the Affordable Care Act are newly empowered consumers ready to access health advice and book medical services online, but are you ready for smartphones and tablets?
You’re responsible for executing healthcare marketing strategy. You’ve heard a lot of buzz about responsive web design and development and adopting a mobile-first strategy, but like other healthcare organizations, your hospital, MCPS, HMO, IPA or PPO is slow to adapt. How do you convince your board that it’s time for change? How can your healthcare organization better target, reach and engage consumers to build loyalty, trust and business on the Web?
We understand how hard you often have to work to convince C-suite team members and other decision makers about the indispensability of relatively new mobile-driven digital marketing practices. Your healthcare organization has unique challenges, which include regulatory constraints and privacy mandates. Plus engaging patients in safe, secure and sustainable ways.
No healthcare organization can afford to continue to be complacent in the ever-evolving digital marketplace. It’s time for all healthcare organizations to look closely at the 72% of consumers that seek health information online to forge a firm argument for mobile (Source: Pew). Digital content is a key part of decision-making. 44% of consumers use smartphones to book appointments and one-third of them use tablets to book appointments (Source: Google Think).
Interactions between healthcare organizations and consumers on mobile phones happens anytime, anywhere. Google Think found that when it comes to consumers booking medical appointments on mobile devices, 61% are at home, 27% are at work and 16% book while at the doctor’s office, perhaps finding it easier to do than getting the attention of a busy receptionist.
Search marketing is key to mobile-first strategy for healthcare. Not only does creating a responsive site help boost mobile visibility, search drives nearly three times as many visitors to hospital sites versus other digital marketing channels, such as social networking, email marketing or video. Most conversions begin as searches on symptoms (Source: Google Think).
Social networking continues to perplex healthcare organizations. Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh eludes to the unique challenges of social media for healthcare, which include patient privacy and a lack of best practices for physicians. Argument for healthcare joining in on social networks outweigh those challenges. When your organization connects to research, healthcare networks and thought leadership, you build rapport with healthcare providers and patients alike.
Explore ways to adopt a mobile-first strategy for your website, search marketing, email marketing and social media activities. Find ways to share professional experiences that can lead to better care. Connect with peers to find support, inspiration and continued professional development. At Inflexion Interactive, we help medical business managers work through healthcare marketing strategy barriers to embrace new opportunities for business growth.
Contact us to discuss ways to fortify your online presence for the fast future of digital marketing.
