The landscape for new patient acquisition has shifted as healthcare providers now have more media channels than ever to market to prospective patients.
And healthcare CEOs have taken note, citing the change in consumer behavior toward more digital communication as a top healthcare marketing trend to watch in the near-term.
Marketing Trends in the Healthcare Industry
Digital marketing channels have taken the spotlight in recent years and offer the ability to collect vast amounts of customer data. This has led some in the healthcare industry to increase digital marketing spend to 25-50 percent of their advertising budgets, a significant increase from previous spend at or below 10 percent.
This should come as no surprise, as more and more, consumers are interested in engaging online. Healthcare marketers are starting to pay attention, with some completely abandoning traditional media in favor of enhanced digital options.
Why You Shouldn’t Abandon Traditional Marketing for Patient Acquisition
The shift in consumer behavior is driving the change for more digital engagement from businesses and healthcare providers alike. But, it is important to note that not all healthcare consumers are created equal, and not all healthcare consumers choose to engage with providers in the same way.
While many healthcare consumers do begin their search for a provider on a mobile device, this shouldn’t be your only channel when trying to attract new patients. And, thanks to the drive for quality metrics in digital advertising to measure success, this has led to an increased demand to better track return on investment through more traditional channels like direct mail, print ads and TV. Organizations deploying traditional ads can create calls to action driving traffic to specific landing pages, using form fills or unique phone lines to track inbound calls and more, creating a more seamless and trackable experience between all channels.
It is important to note that although consumers are turning to online avenues when searching for providers, trust in ratings websites and other online channels remains low. This presents opportunity for providers to leverage multiple channels to reach new patients, including a mix of traditional and new media outlets.
How to Develop a Multi-Channel Healthcare Marketing Strategy
The key to increasing your marketing return on investment begins with knowing who your prospective patients are and what services they are likely to need, creating a consumer-centric approach to healthcare marketing. When consumers are actively searching for a healthcare provider they overwhelmingly look for these three factors:
- Expertise in the care needed
- Easy to access location
- Convenience in engaging with a provider
A predictive healthcare marketing model can take these patient insights a step further and help you dive deeper into the lifestyle characteristics of your prospective patients by analyzing not only demographics, but also psychographics, media preferences and lifestyle interests. Armed with this information, you can create targeted messages that resonate with your audience and deliver them through the channels that they are most likely to engage.
A predictive healthcare marketing model can help you increase your marketing ROI by targeting those likely to respond through the channels they prefer. No more wasting dollars on awareness only campaigns, unable to measure the response. With better measurement tools in marketing than ever before, you can truly communicate the value of your efforts.
Drive New Patient Acquisition and Increase Marketing ROI with Predictive Analytics for Healthcare Marketing
As consumer behavior continues to evolve, healthcare marketers need to be more efficient and effective in how they spend their marketing dollars. Watch our webinar “Drive New Patient Volume and Increase Marketing ROI” to more about how you can leverage healthcare predictive marketing to shift your marketing from cost center to profit center.
