If you work in marketing for a healthcare agency, chances are you’re being asked to do a lot with few resources. Rather than telling you to do more, more, more, we’re here to encourage you to focus your efforts so you can be more effective with your existing resources. 

We sat down with Sarah Hancock, our resident editing expert who has also worked as a communications director for a local healthcare system and serves on the board of the Kansas Association of Health Care Communicators. Sarah had some great tips for marketers in the healthcare industry to help keep you focused on what matters most.

1. Think like a patient.

“People in healthcare forget how scary this world can be,” Sarah said. “Navigating making appointments, managing health conditions and medications, understanding and paying bills, finding specialists, being heard, understanding the jargon, etc. — it's a lot. Make it easier for your patients to understand and navigate.”

Start by mapping out your patient journeys. Consider a newcomer visiting your website for the first time. Would they be able to easily navigate the website to find a physician or specialist? Walk through your website to find key information or, better yet, ask someone unfamiliar with your organization to try. Can they intuitively find what they’re looking for?

Streamline your content and user flows accordingly to make your website easier for patients to navigate.

Sarah was adamant on this last point. While it’s common for many companies to share their values, history, mission and so on, few people are actually looking for that information. On the homepage, it can get in the way of more important details. Best to house that information in an About section.

Sarah summarized it this way: “Put the basics front and center. Also keep service line descriptions SHORT and TO THE POINT.”

2. Think like a prospective employee.

Hiring healthcare employees is especially challenging right now. Projecting an inviting work environment will help enhance your recruiting efforts.

“If your website and application portal isn't easy to use, your organization's efforts will suffer,” Sarah said.

Walk through the application as if you were a prospective employee. Does the content make sense? Is the user flow optimized? Is your human resources department able to respond quickly to inquiries and applications?

“Prospective employees will look at your social media channels too,” Sarah said. “Will they find content that highlights the work of employees and makes your organization sound like a good place to work?”

Consider showcasing employees and fun internal events as regular features on social media.

3. Prioritize your messages.

From monthly observances to numerous service lines, there’s a lot to juggle in healthcare marketing. Chances are you have a lot of different entities reaching out to help you get the word out about their practices or services.

“Put your marketing budget behind the big priorities,” Sarah said, adding you want to tie those efforts into your strategic plan and make sure your leadership backs those decisions.

If something isn’t a high priority, incorporate it into your social media calendar. This is a great way to share various messages without stretching your resources too thin.

4. Consider influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing isn’t just for big brands. Look for locals who would be willing to advocate for you and help you amplify important messages.

This could be going beyond the traditional patient story and having an influencer tell their own story to their followers. They might persuade people to get checkups and vaccines or encourage reluctant people to head to the gym. Or they might simply provide some basic health education to their followers.

“Explore some possibilities and help leadership understand the potential,” Sarah said.

Having someone else tell people how great you are will always be more compelling than you telling them.

5. Go all-in on community engagement and building relationships.

“In an increasingly digital world, relationships are valuable,” Sarah said. “Host that health fair or school field trip, visit that senior center, write that column in the local paper, get staff out and about at community events, etc.”

Community engagement takes time and is a lot of work, but it builds trust in your organization, which is exceedingly valuable. If community engagement isn’t part of your marketing plan already, work with your leadership to develop a roadmap and sponsorship budget. Planning ahead can make engagement less of a hassle, so consider dividing up the year into segments to clarify priorities. What community festivals or fairs offer opportunities for face-to-face communication in spring and summer? What fall and winter events are already in place where you could have a presence or perhaps offer a fun, branded giveaway item? 

6. Simplify your social graphics.

Catching people’s attention while they scroll social media can be challenging. If your graphics have a lot of text or cluttered imagery, people won’t take the time to read them. They’ll simply scroll on by.

“Be sure graphics are branded, recognizable and easy to read,” Sarah said. “Spend a little time looking at other healthcare organizations' posts with a critical eye to see what does and doesn't work.”

If possible, use original photography instead of stock photos. This will more authentically represent your organization, which will help instill trust and build connection.

When in doubt, remember this rule of thumb: anything you post on social media should be clear, concise and compelling.

Still stretched too thin and need some help taking your marketing to the next level? We’ve worked with many different healthcare entities.

How Can We Support Your Efforts?