HOW TO LEVERAGE

DIGITAL MARKETING
IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

The widespread distribution of

digital technology has changed
the nature of marketing.
Businesses are now moving away from the distribution of
massive, shotgun-style email campaigns and implementing

The healthcare industry historically

has not been keeping pace with these
developments. In fact, comparative
research done by MarketingProfs

targeted efforts aimed at getting in touch with more

shows it is about two years behind

focused demographics.

other industries. Healthcare marketing

is falling behind in just about every
aspect studied, using far more outdated
techniques than other industries.

Healthcare Content
Marketing Usage

86%

ARTICLES ON YOUR WEBSITE

81%

SOCIAL MEDIA - OTHER THAN BLOGS

78%

ENEWSLETTERS
VIDEOS

75%

IN-PERSON EVENTS

75%
64%

ARTICLES ON OTHER WEBSITES

58%

BLOGS

53%

CASE STUDIES

71%

48%

WEBINARS/WEBCASTS

OF HEALTHCARE MARKETERS
63% of all marketers
use YouTube

47%

52%

WHITEPAPERS

47%

PRINT MAGAZINES

58%

OF HEALTHCARE MARKETERS
74% of all marketers
use blogs

OF HEALTHCARE MARKETERS
35% of all marketers
use print magazines

46%

BRANDED CONTENT TOOLS

45%

RESEARCH REPORTS

43%

PRINT NEWSLETTERS

40%

MICROSITES
INFOGRAPHICS

36%

ANNUAL REPORTS

36%
32%

DIGITAL MAGAZINES

On average, 35% of all marketers use print magazines, but 47% of

healthcare marketers use them. 28% of marketers use print newsletters
compared to 43% of healthcare marketers, and 26% of marketers use

MOBILE CONTENT

31%

BOOKS

31%

MOBILE APPS

31%

print for annual reporting compared to 36% in healthcare. When it comes

to using blogs, 74% of all marketers use blogs compared to only 58% in
the healthcare industry. The situation is similar for social networks, with
an interesting exception 71% of healthcare marketers make use of
YouTube, more than the average of 63%. This is likely because healthcare
professionals use YouTube to televise procedures and interview doctors.

25%

LICENSED/SYNDICATED CONTENT

24%

EBOOKS

23%

PODCASTS
VIRTUAL CONFERENCES
GAMES/GAMIFICATION

21%
9%

Barriers to Entry
for Digital Marketing
in Healthcare
There are a number of reasons why healthcare is lagging
behind other industries when it comes to digital marketing.
Healthcare professionals, who deal with matters of life and
death, face unique challenges.
Patient confidentiality is very important, and potentially
hackable electronic systems raise concerns over a possible
loss of privacy. Workers who handle that data are
understandably uneasy about uploading it into distributed
networks. A survey conducted earlier this year through IDC
Canada found that:

O F T H E I T P R O F E S S I O N A L S I N T H E H E A LT H C A R E I N D U S T R Y

And yet another issue is currently being played out in

Colorado where a new computerized registry has been put

51%

36%

31%

are primarily
concerned with
data security when
it comes to cloud
technology, a major
player in todays
digital marketing.

were worried
about how well
the new systems
would perform.

were worried
about being able
to integrate the
new technologies
into their
existing systems.

in place to keep track of child vaccinations. The problem

is that the new central registry is not compatible with the
systems that most doctors are using in the state, so they
must input data into both systems. Doctors have found
that this is just too much extra work, and are not updating
the state database.

Online Marketing Strategy

for Healthcare
Despite these drawbacks, digital marketing technologies offer the most effective
means for the healthcare industry to modernize. Marketing automation tools
in particular provide ways to organize and streamline marketing tasks, and help
workers feel secure with new systems. Healthcare marketers can update their
operations and join other industries in the digital world by following this five-part
online marketing strategy.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MARKET

Times have changed, and few businesses today acquire knowledge about their
customers through traditional methods of outreach. Instead, market research
for many companies is conducted online leveraging social networks to get their
data. Todays consumers would rather have an actual conversation through online
channels than just be given snippets of information from a faceless business.

Social networks are one avenue

that helps healthcare companies
understand the concerns of their
customers. By creating an online
profile, people can share and
interact with a company as if it
were one of their friends.
People are more likely to open up
and express themselves through
social media, and companies
can collect and analyze that
data to better understand what
their customers expect from a
healthcare service.

In the offline world, healthcare marketers believe that qualitative, in-person

research is the preferred way to get in touch with the needs of customers.
Qualitative research, like comprehensive individual interviews and focus groups, are
the best ways to uncover how people truly feel about healthcare. Interactions like
these reveal more personal and meaningful information than can be gained through
a simple survey online.

Regardless of how you

gain the information
needed to understand
your market, it
is crucial to have
knowledge of how
your consumers buy
and how they want
to interact with your
business in order to be
successful with digital
marketing.

OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE THROUGH SEO & MOBILE

2
STEM CELL

CURE
ILLNESS

Optimizing a website can be the difference between an irritated

visitor and a successful conversion. It can also determine whether
or not the site is found in the first place. A search engine
optimization (SEO) program increases a sites ranking and
visibility in Google and other search engines. It also encourages
easy web browsing.

HOSPITAL
TREATMENT

In most cases, healthcare companies need to hire a medical

optimization service to ensure that SEO procedures are
implemented intelligently. This service should thoroughly
understand medical terminology and the needs of potential
patients. The best SEO services do their own market research
to provide the most effective keywords, metadata, site maps,
and targeted content for a particular company. Continuous
monitoring and modifying of SEO tactics is needed to compete
with other sites and stay on top of the rankings.

A major part of site optimization today includes being prepared for

mobile access. Gartner has forecast that 2013 will see more people
accessing the web through mobile phones than PCs, so there is
precious time left to become mobile-ready. Companies without
mobile-optimized sites will soon be behind the times, forcing their
customers to struggle with their web content on small mobile screens.

Mobile optimization generally

consists of resizing and
reformatting a site so that it can
be comfortably used on small
screens. Drop-down menus
and input forms usually need
to be re-thought. In some
cases, a website may need to
be completely redesigned to be
mobile-friendly.

Creating demand in the healthcare

industry doesnt require more people to
be sick, instead, it means encouraging
those people who are already ill or
injured to seek out the care they need.
It also means positioning yourself to be
the provider of choice when a patient
does become ill.

CREATING DEMAND

In order to create demand, a company must first understand why their target customers are not seeking
healthcare for their symptoms or what their customers look for when choosing a healthcare provider.
After defining a
priority group,
such as people
with a particular
condition, a
company should
examine the
following aspects
of the way they

1 2 3 4

HOW AFFORDABLE
IS THE TREATMENT?

HOW ACCESSIBLE
IS THE FACILITY
CAN ANYONE
COME? IS
TRANSPORTATION
PROVIDED?

HOW ACCEPTABLE
IS THE QUALITY OF
CARE AND THE
COMPANYS
ATTITUDE TOWARDS
PATIENTS?

WHAT IS THE
COMPANY DOING
TO SET THEMSELVES
APART FROM OTHER
FACILITIES OR
PROVIDERS?

deliver healthcare:
Furthermore, research must be done on how patients feel about their condition and what they think of the
available treatments.
Once these questions are answered, a company can go about planning a healthcare delivery strategy that takes
into account the perceptions of potential patients. It can make provisions to help transport patients, make their
care more affordable, or change the way it deals with patients. The final step is to continually monitor how
satisfied patients are with their care and the way they utilize healthcare services.

ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH SOCIAL CHANNELS

ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH SOCIAL CHANN

Social media provides a great way for healthcare

companies to engage their audience with interesting and
meaningful content.
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter let patients have
conversations with real doctors and healthcare workers,
and the ability to share such conversations help spark
interest and get more people involved. People love to
share their opinions and win competitions, and healthcare
companies can take advantage of this by creating surveys
and contests to be deployed through social media.

Amazing staff
and amazing
hospital.

The best
hospital
ever.

In fact, many healthcare companies are starting to

75%

FACEBOOK

82%

become more involved in social media. Take a look

at what platforms healthcare marketers are using

71%

YOUTUBE

63%

most often to distribute content.

70%

TWITTER

78%

Percentage of
Healthcare Marketers
Using Social Media

56%

LINKEDIN

74%
23%

GOOGLE+

39%
PINTEREST

22%
22%

SLIDESHARE

7%
19%

HEALTHCARE

VIMEO

ALL

7%
12%

FOURSQUARE

6%
9%

INSTAGRAM 3%
8%
STUMBLEUPON

4%
9%

FLICKR

3%
12%

QUORA

3%
5%

TUMBLER 2%
7%

The Lexington Medical Center made

great use of the 2012 Pink Glove Dance
Video Competition to attract attention
to itself, engaging practically the entire
state of South Carolina.
They used social media, content
marketing, and YouTube to ramp up
their efforts and get the community
involved. This is also a great example
of a healthcare facility going outside
of the box and having some fun with
their marketing.

Social networks give businesses a place to be innovative.

Take, for example, the fascinating idea of using Twitter
to share live broadcasts of surgical procedures.
The first was a tumor removal operation that took place in 2009 at Henry Ford Hospital
in Detroit, and many have followed. These live broadcasts fascinate audiences and can
showcase the facilities and level of care given by a healthcare facility.
And once you have this great content, whether it is a video or maybe an infographic
that details healthcare statistics, you can not only use it for engagement through social
channels, but you can also leverage it in your email marketing campaigns.

Social networks give

business a place to be
innovative.

MEASURING RESULTS THROUGH MARKETING AUTOMATION

Sophisticated analytics programs offered by many marketing

automation platforms are designed to track each step of a digital
marketing campaign, from lead generation to conversions to
customer retention. Only by properly measuring and analyzing the
individual costs and benefits of a campaign can the overall effect
on ROI be determined.

The most difficult aspect of

measuring results in healthcare
is determining a time-frame by
which to judge whether a positive

Automated marketing tools provide the easiest way to collect

return has been made. The only

data and make conclusions. Besides taking most of the hassle

solution to this challenge is a

and personal effort out of analytics, marketing automation tools

comprehensive tracking system

can also compare the relative successes of different marketing

that takes into account all

tactics to help you make adjustments so you can increase the

expenses and revenue.

effectiveness of poorly performing content.

CONCLUSION
Although healthcare has been
historically behind when it comes
to digital marketing, it is clear
that they are starting to catch up.

Through leveraging social media, content

marketing, and marketing automation,
healthcare professionals can engage
consumers on a much deeper level,
positioning themselves to be the provider
of choice.
By following the five-stop process
illustrated in the ebook and continuously
testing and evolving your tactics, you can
fine-tune your marketing campaigns and
be innovators in your industry.

About Marketo
Marketing Software. Easy, Powerful, Complete.
Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO) provides the leading cloud-based
marketing software platform for companies of all sizes to build and
sustain engaging customer relationships. Spanning todays digital,
social, mobile and offline channels, the Marketo solution includes
a complete suite of applications that help organizations acquire
new customers more efficiently, maximize customer loyalty and
lifetime value, improve sales effectiveness, and provide analytical
insight into marketings contribution to revenue growth. Marketos
applications are known for their breakthrough ease-of-use, and
are complemented by the Marketing Nation, a thriving network of
more than 150 LaunchPoint ecosystem partners and over 30,000
marketers who share and learn from each other to grow their
collective marketing expertise. The result for modern marketers is
unprecedented agility and superior results.

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