The New Year is nearly upon us, and if you haven’t sat down with your healthcare marketing team in the past few weeks to plan your 2014 marketing budget and strategy, you’re running out of time. With so many new healthcare marketing techniques for physicians and specialists, even hospitals, to utilize, 2014 is going to be a complex marketing year. But, as always, if you stick with the team that does it best, you have nothing to worry about. Here are our top marketing strategies for 2014:
1. The Website: In 2014, your website will need to be simple, informative, search engine optimized, socially integrated, and, most importantly, intuitive, or mobile-friendly. While your hospital website is no longer the initial, first impression, it still needs to make a strong, clean and precise statement. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Call to Action – Needs to be clearly visible and completely easy to understand.
- Testing – If you haven’t run any A/B tests on your website to increase conversions, this is the time to do it. Determine which colors, fonts, buttons, forms, and visuals increase conversion rates.
- Local SEO – You’ll hear a lot of SEO’s talk about targeting keywords throughout the website, and consistent keyword saturation. While all of that is great, the key to SEO in 2014 will be local marketing. Be sure to have your local SEO in check.
2. Content Marketing: Whether on your website, via 3rd party sites such as Youtube or Blogspot, or on social media, fresh and consistent content is key in 2014. Integrated content with marketing campaigns across all platforms will generate the greatest ROI in 2014.
3. Online Presence: For a physician, specialist or hospital, 2014 will be the year of reviews and testimonials. From Facebook Recommendations to Yelp Reviews, Healthgrades and video testimonials on Youtube and Vine, 2014 will be a big year for your online presence.
A recent Nielsen online study of 29,000 consumers across 58 countries found that about 70% of consumers trust online reviews – making them the third-most trusted form of advertising. Another recent study from Harvard Business School showed that something as simple as a one-star improvement in a Yelp business listing can deliver a noticeable increase in a restaurant’s revenue. – SearchEngineLand.com
4. Social Media: Social media has been an integral part of marketing for some time now, and yet there are still many physicians and specialists who are afraid to get started with social media healthcare marketing. Now is the time to begin planning our your social media calendar for 2014, including the platforms you plan to jump on, the strategies you plan to use, and the ultimate goal you wish to achieve. Learn more:Capitalizing On Digital Doctor-Patient Communication In 2014 – Key Statistics
5. Audience: This will also be the year of understanding your audiences like never before. With Big Data in healthcare as well as improved targeting across digital advertising, in 2014 you will be able to precisely segment your target audience for highly effective, cost effective campaigns.
Of course, there are many more strategies which will take hold in 2014, and the experts here at Quaintise have a strong grasp of each and every one of those strategies. Give us a call today to go over how 2014 will be your biggest year yet!