Healthcare Content Marketing for Hospitals and Clinics

Quick answer: Healthcare content marketing is publishing accurate, patient-friendly content such as articles, videos and guides that helps people understand a condition or service and trust your organisation. Good healthcare content is reviewed by a clinician, written in plain language, keeps patient data private and follows advertising and privacy rules such as HIPAA where they apply.

Healthcare content marketing means publishing accurate, useful content that helps patients and professionals find and trust your organisation. This guide explains what it is, who it is for and seven steps to start, including HIPAA considerations. If you want help, see our SEO content services.

What is Healthcare Content Marketing?

Content marketing in healthcare is a strategy involving the creation and dissemination of valuable and informative content. It could be through written articles, videos, podcasts, and other media to drive traffic, generate and convert leads, and engage and retain an audience. 

The approach enables healthcare businesses the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise, enhance brand awareness, and remain top-of-mind when consumers are ready to purchase products or services. 

Why Do Healthcare Companies Need Content Marketing? 

Healthcare content marketing supports SEO because useful, well-organised pages can rank for the questions people search. It also builds trust before a patient ever contacts you.

Many patients start with a search engine, and health topics make up a large share of everyday searches. Publishing new, relevant content consistently helps you drive traffic, increase engagement and keep patients coming back.

As a healthcare provider, you can use content to show your expertise. Your competitors are experienced too, so your audience may need evidence, such as clinician-reviewed information and clear credentials.

You can enhance your expertise by creating content to educate your patients about various health issues, diseases, and conditions. Patients use this information to make informed decisions about their health and well-being, which can lead to improved patient outcomes. 

Trust is essential in healthcare. Sharing accurate, clinician-reviewed information shows you care about patients’ health, and it supports the experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust (E-E-A-T) that Google looks for on health topics.

Target Audiences for Healthcare Content Marketing

Your content-making strategy depends on your target audience. If you target other businesses in the healthcare industry, appealing to your target audience requires an expert level of engagement since you are dealing with professionals. Share clear evidence, data and industry knowledge to hold their attention. 

On the other hand, as a B2C healthcare company, you may need to use plain language for an audience that is not expert in the field. Nevertheless, your content should demonstrate thought leadership and professionalism to gain your target audience’s trust and loyalty. 

Here are some of the primary target audiences in the healthcare industry and how to reach them: 

Patients 

Patients search for educational or quality content about specific health conditions and treatment options. Use visuals, including explainer videos and images, to capture their attention. Information requires simplicity without medical jargon to enhance their understanding. You can also use a variety of channels, including social media and email marketing, as healthcare content marketing strategies to boost engagement. 

Healthcare Professionals 

If your business targets healthcare professionals, your expertise level needs to match your target audience. Include published work, data supporting your product or service efficiency, content contribution to professional healthcare platforms, and educational resources that appeal to doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. You can also use targeted email campaigns and online ads to reach healthcare professionals. 

Payers 

Payers, such as insurance companies, are a critical target audience. They require data and statistics demonstrating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of your products or services. Your content marketing efforts should provide solutions to existing problems in this healthcare field, simplifying the process for end-users. 

7 Steps to Successful Healthcare Content Marketing

1) Create Sharable Content 

The easiest way to drive traffic to your website, social media pages, and practice are by making your content easily accessible on relevant online platforms. Aside from linking all your social media pages, you can enable online users to share your content. Sharing is a healthcare content marketing strategy that avails information to your user’s social networks.

By enabling the share button and providing different avenues to share your content, you allow your audience to market your content for free. Sharing also boosts content engagement, feedback, and interest. Therefore, always encourage your audience to share your content by posting interesting and informative topics. 

2) Video Marketing 

Video can help explain health topics clearly, and it works well for engagement and lead generation when it answers a real patient question. Short videos often work well on social media, but test formats with your own audience.

Understand your target audience, the social sites they use and the topics they care about before you plan video.

3) SEO and Keyword Research for Articles 

SEO helps your content rank on organic results so more people can find it. Online users hardly scroll beyond the first page of their search engine. The higher your domain’s position on this page, the more likely users will click on your website.

Here are SEO tips to remain relevant on search engines .

Keyword Research 

Online users use specific words when searching for healthcare-related content. Find the keywords popular in your niche, frequency of use in competitor sites, and keyword performance, then incorporate the best words and phrases in your content. 

Link Building

Search engines know your site through the information in your content, keywords, anchor texts, titles, and links. Links provide a deep dive into your content. They are also convenient for further research without opening another tab or leaving your web page.

Your site needs backlinks and internal links to rank higher in search results. The quality of your links also affects ranking. Incorporate links from trusted sources like healthcare databases, education sites, and reputable healthcare organizations to improve your content’s relevance. 

Image Optimization 

Images increase user and search engine’s understanding of your content. While an image with quality resolution is vital, you must also factor in load time. Most users will leave your page when it takes too long to load. Ensure your image is in the correct format, dimension, and resolution. 

• Use concise and direct image names: include keywords or your topic’s content.
• Optimize the image’s alt attributes: the alternative texts to images enhance accessibility when your website takes a long time to render the image.
• Include image sitemaps: search engines use web crawlers to scan images embedded within webpage source codes. Listing images in your sitemap helps crawlers find them. 

Include Interactive Tools 

Give your audience a place to ask questions, comment and give feedback, such as a contact form or moderated comments. Their questions show you what content to write next. Do not answer personal medical questions in public comments.

4) Provide Insightful and Relevant Content 

Healthcare content marketing is primarily about educating and enlighting your target audience on the necessity of your product or service. Your potential client craves to understand their health condition, treatment options, or a simplified service delivery strategy. Provide realistic solutions, show the need for your product or service, and spearhead the conversation. 

5) Work with Medical Professionals 

Another essential aspect of healthcare content marketing is partnering with professionals in the field. Have physicians, nurses, and other healthcare specialists contribute their expert opinion on blog posts. Invite professionals to your videos, podcasts, and social media live sessions. Such strategic partnerships cultivate trust, respect, and relevance to your target audience. 

6) Include Industry News in Your Content 

The healthcare industry is dynamic. New research and information affecting practice, technology, and processes always make rounds. Expand the scope of your content by including industry news in your content, showing its impact on your niche. You can share this on your blog and videos or avail it to your subscribers through newsletters or email.

7) Ensure You are HIPAA-Compliant 

While engaging with your audience is essential, it is crucial to prioritize data safety. If you plan to showcase customers’ or patients’ stories, ensure that you obtain their consent in advance. 

For other types of content, remove any identifying information, such as name, address, record numbers, photos, and health and payment details. Refrain from offering medical advice or participating in discussions about diagnosis or treatment on social media. Ensure the subject matter you share adheres to the legal restrictions to comply with HIPAA guidelines.  This is general information, not legal advice, so check your process with your compliance team.

Topics that are generally lower risk, provided no patient is identifiable, include:

• General health advice
• Wellness tips
• How-to guides
• Customer or patient stories (with explicit consent)
• Recent healthcare accomplishments 

greatinflux Can Help You with Your Healthcare Content Marketing

At GreatInflux, we are a digital marketing agency that helps businesses succeed online. We can plan and write healthcare content for your review while you focus on your practice. See our SEO content services, keyword research and white hat link building. Read more: healthcare content marketing guide for hospitals and clinics. Related: multi-location clinic SEO.