How to reach the most influential healthcare consumers

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On February 1, 2016
Custom publishing, Print magazines

What does your ideal patient look like? I’d bet influence is an attribute you value highly.

Influential healthcare consumers have value beyond the potential to become patients. They’re those who make decisions for their families, or whose recommendations are trusted by their friends and loved ones. Their knowledge and experience make them a reliable source of information. The benefits of reaching them are multiplied because every one of them could mean multiple new patients for your hospital or health system.

But how do you reach these ideal consumers? Online targeting is powerful, but there’s no “influential” check box in Facebook’s ad manager or Google Adwords.

The answer is simpler than you may think: To reach super influential healthcare consumers, you need to invest in print.

Posted by Nigel Edelshain
On January 29, 2016
Blogging

A few weeks ago I was sitting at my desk writing one of these blog posts when I received an email from one of our editors. He said he had several new blog posts ready to go and I should review them before they were sent to the client.

So I stopped writing my post and hopped over to review the client’s posts (clients come first!). What I saw was not what I expected. In fact what I saw put me in such a state of uncertainty that I could not even start writing my blog post again.

Instead, I ended up conducting a few hours of research on the Internet. Finally, I gathered together enough data to shake me out of my writing paralysis. In fact, it inspired me to write an additional post—this one! Here’s what I found.

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On January 25, 2016
Social media

Hospitals have realized that when it comes to interacting with patients and prospective patients online, social media can’t be beat.

Virtually every hospital in the United States has some sort of social presence these days. One study found that 94 percent of hospitals have Facebook pages, while the Mayo Clinic shows that around 64 percent have Twitter accounts. That makes social media a much more competitive space than it was a few years ago—hospitals need to optimize the ways they use social platforms to maximize engagement.

To help, we looked at some of the hospitals with the biggest Facebook and Twitter followings to see what they’re doing right and found seven examples we’d click “like” on.

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On January 22, 2016
Custom publishing, Print magazines

Print isn’t dead. In fact, it’s making a comeback.

As a medium, print is seen as more trustworthy than digital media, and as a content marketing approach, it lends its credibility to the brand that sponsors it. Here are some measurable benefits that make custom publishing one of the most effective tools in a hospital marketer’s arsenal.

Posted by Nigel Edelshain
On January 18, 2016
Blogging

This is the second part of my post about driving more readers to your blog. (That is if you have a blog, our research shows only 40% of hospitals have one.)

Last week in part 1 of this post, I described three keys to getting more readers to your blog: knowing your reader, knowing the influencers in your space and making friends with these influencers.

In this post I lay out four more ways to grow your blog audience.

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On January 15, 2016
Mobile marketing

Nearly two thirds of Americans own smartphones, including more than half of Americans over 55. Of those smartphone users, 62 percent have used their phones to look up health information.

Patients want to engage with their healthcare providers on their phones, but hospitals and health systems that haven’t adopted a mobile-first mindset are limiting their ability to do so, and most that have still have room to grow. Here are six areas to be mobile-friendly in 2016 and beyond.

Posted by Nigel Edelshain
On January 8, 2016
Blogging

If you’re one of the 40% of hospitals that have a blog, nice work!

If you have a blog, you’re starting 2016 with a great foundation for your content marketing. Content marketing is one of the hottest trends out there for hospital marketing in 2016 and you’ve got one of the key tools in place.

But as we bloggers know once you’ve got a blog you want an audience, and once you’ve got an audience, you want a bigger audience.

So how do you grow your blog’s audience? Here are some ideas.

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On January 4, 2016
Email marketing

Are your email results as good as they could be? For most marketers, the answer to that question is no.

Following email best practices is good when you’re getting started, but the only way to optimize your emails for your particular audience is to test what you’re sending. Most commercial email marketing platforms allow you to run A/B tests, where you send two different versions of the same campaign so you can track which one performs better.

Posted by Richard Iurilli
On December 23, 2015
Video

71 percent of marketers say they plan to increase their video marketing budget in 2016. If you’re not sold on what video can do for your hospital or health system, or if you need some help getting higher-ups on board, these six reasons to use video could make the difference.

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How to reach the most influential healthcare consumers

What’s the perfect blog post length? Examining the data

6 benefits of a custom magazine for a hospital

How to have readers flock to your blog—Part 2

A 6-point mobile hospital marketing checklist

How to have readers flock to your blog—Part 1

7 elements to test in your next email campaign

6 reasons to use video in your hospital marketing

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