Healthcare Advertising: Benefits and Examples
Gone are the days of basic magazine advertising and expensive radio ads. Today’s healthcare institutions are investing in digital-first marketing efforts so they can send personalized messages to every potential patient. As healthcare advertising transitions from conventional methods to a more sophisticated approach, patients expect tailored, accessible experiences, and your medical practice needs to deliver.
This means simplifying how current and potential patients discover your medical services and schedule appointments. With an easy patient experience and effective advertising, you book more visits and keep your clients coming back.
Weave’s communication platform makes it simple to personalize your healthcare marketing efforts at scale. With our medical software, you can offer a seamless digital patient experience, allowing clients to book their own appointments or receive automated reminders before their visits. With our deep industry knowledge, we know what it takes to keep satisfied patients on your schedule, so we’ll discuss everything you need to know about healthcare advertising below.
Understanding the modern healthcare consumer
The majority (84%) of consumers in the U.S. state that wellness is a top priority. This means people want science-backed, high-quality healthcare brands to meet their medical needs.
Today’s patients demand clear communication, easy access to services, and digital engagement options. Relying solely on newspaper advertising or a commercial on TV isn’t going to cut it anymore.
Many organizations are leveraging technology to gain a keen understanding of their audience. This allows healthcare marketers to use patient data to deliver more insightful, helpful, and personalized electronic advertising. For example, you can educate patients on topics relating to their medical care needs and effectively reach them on the channels they prefer.
Building trust as healthcare professionals through ethical and HIPAA-compliant advertising
Before we dive into any healthcare marketing tips or ideas, it’s important to establish some ground rules. You’re not selling retail products; you’re dealing with private patient information. Because of this, your audience needs to trust that you’ll keep their valuable information secure and private, whether they’re filling out a form online or scheduling an appointment on the phone.
All of your digital marketing efforts need to be HIPAA compliant, and they should follow FDA guidelines. Regardless of the marketing campaign, maintaining honesty is always a good approach in the healthcare industry. This means focusing on education rather than exaggerated claims.
Advertising examples for healthcare providers
Good healthcare advertising comes in many forms. Let’s explore a few examples:
Digital advertising campaigns
It’s no lie that people spend a lot of time online. From scrolling social media to exploring the front page on Google, these digital channels consume our time. You can use this to your advantage.
Here are some ideas for online advertising:
- Leverage social media ads that target specific patient demographics.
- Use paid search ads to promote your local healthcare services.
- Create video campaigns highlighting patient success stories.
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising via mass media
While the world is certainly becoming more digital, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still value in print media. Traditional, physical ads help your practice become a household name.
You can pay for billboard space near hospitals or clinics, transit ads on buses or trains, or television banners at local sporting events. Whether you opt for television advertising or a simple newspaper spread, be sure to include key details about your services offered.
Omnichannel campaigns bridging digital health systems with direct mail
People typically put off scheduling their doctor’s appointments. They need constant reminders, which means you shouldn’t be focusing all of your resources on just one campaign.
Effective healthcare advertising requires an omnichannel approach. You can combine email, SMS, and direct mail campaigns to engage patients across all of their most frequently used apps.
Be sure to use consistent messaging throughout all efforts, as this will help strengthen brand loyalty. From your social media accounts to your web pages and in-office signage, your fonts, colors, and messaging should be uniform.
Patient education initiatives for healthcare organizations
When you publish educational content, even if it’s for marketing purposes, your practice appears knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. Your medical professionals can host webinars or virtual events that not only educate clients but also help you drive business growth by building long-term relationships with your patients.
Digital ads are a great way to promote your events, but you can also offer downloadable guides or fun checklists for people who can’t be there during the specified time. For example, you might offer something like “10 Things To Do During Back-to-School Season So Your Family Doesn’t Get the Flu.”
Brand building and trust campaigns
Striking the right balance between pushing business objectives and patient care is vital in your healthcare advertising. You want people to see your ads and trust your healthcare providers, rather than just seeing pushy marketing attempts.
But, how do you build trust while also advertising your healthcare information? One great option is storytelling ads, which feature real patient testimonials. Rather than telling people what you have to offer, you let your clients do the talking.
These types of positive patient reviews go a long way for healthcare practices. For example, a patient could share a story of their teeth before and after your dental services, highlighting the great care that your team provided.
Regardless of the ads you create, make sure that they focus on transparency and are HIPAA compliant.
Innovative technology use across marketing communications
When you open up your email and find messages addressed to your name, it feels personal and comforting. It’s much different than those mass emails sent to tens of thousands of people who will likely click “Send to Junk.”
With the latest innovative tech, your healthcare marketers can leverage AI to create more personalized advertising experiences. Here are some examples:
- Personalized appointment reminders via text or email
- Interactive ads or chatbots that answer patient questions in real time
- Ad, content, or blog recommendations based on the user behavior and interests
- Geotargeted mobile ads promoting your nearby healthcare services
Leveraging digital tools in healthcare marketing
You can really elevate your healthcare marketing strategy when you adopt the latest technology. As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the popularity of telehealth, it became clearer that people wanted fast, easy, and simple medical solutions.
Whether your practice adopts telehealth services, though, isn’t really the necessary solution here. It’s more about giving people the convenience they desire, which typically means interactive, online experiences.
For example, do you want to call to schedule an appointment, wait on hold for 20 minutes, and then converse back and forth with someone about their available time slots? Or, would you rather click a quick link that shows all open slots, allowing you to select the one you prefer to quickly schedule?
When you offer easy experiences, your healthcare advertising can perform better. Rather than attracting leads who might just give up when they see that they have to call, you can actually convert them by offering the simple click of a button.
By leveraging things like artificial intelligence, you can offer more personalized marketing and simple, automated tasks. AI also provides insights on clinical data so you can better understand how patients may engage with your experiences through predictive analytics.
Personalization: Tailoring messages to individual needs
We’ve talked a lot about “personalizing” your healthcare advertising, but what does this actually mean? This can sometimes sound like a buzzword, but it really does have a huge impact on media effectiveness.
Ads that work speak to customer needs. How do you do that?
You need to fully understand your target patient, their persona, and their customer journey before creating any campaigns. Think about every step they take, from Googling “dentist near me” to sitting in your chair, leaving your office a review online, and deciding whether or not to schedule their follow-up.
When you understand your target audience’s average demographics, common health conditions, and preferred behaviors, you can create targeted campaigns. For example, if your patients typically deal with the common cold during back-to-school season, you can advertise your fall check-ups. Post these ads across the platforms parents use the most to reach your target audience.
Omnichannel strategies for maximum reach
The more channels you reach your patients on, the better. When you combine out-of-home advertising (like billboards or newspaper spreads) with digital retargeting efforts, you can reinforce your brand’s name. Be sure to deliver a cohesive message across every patient interaction, from ads in online search engines to video marketing campaigns or in-office brochures.
Measuring the success of your healthcare marketing strategy
Measuring your marketing performance is essential. This allows you to make informed adjustments to your campaigns. Here are some metrics to track:
- Patient acquisition costs
- Return on advertising spend (ROAS)
- Patient retention rates
By keeping an eye on your healthcare data and regularly conducting A/B testing, you can refine your advertising strategies for better outcomes.
The future of healthcare advertising requires you to align marketing with innovation
Evolving your healthcare advertising strategies helps you meet the expectations of modern patients. At Weave, we make it easier to deliver more personalized, simple experiences. Request a demo today to see how we can help you land more engagement opportunities.
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