If your hospital is like many others, you're always looking for new and innovative ways to engage the surrounding community. Content marketing is a great way to do that, and it's something that more hospitals are starting to embrace.
But where do you start, and how do you get your content strategy up and running?
What Is Hospital Content Marketing?
Just as you need to think outside the hospital walls to reach your target audiences, you also need to think beyond traditional marketing techniques.
Hospital content marketing is a digital strategy that helps market hospitals and strives to educate the public through online content. By creating and sharing engaging and informative content, you can reach a wider audience and build trust with potential patients and donors.
Why Is Hospital Content Marketing Important?
1. It helps build relationships with potential patients.
If they can see that you're transparent and knowledgeable about what you do, they're more likely to choose you when they need medical care.
2. It helps you build trust with donors and sponsors.
Since hospitals are often not-for-profit and can be research-driving centers, it’s important to use content to encourage fundraising.
3. It can help you attract top talent.
Hospitals in particular have suffered a staffing shortage as a result of the pandemic. By using content marketing, you can recruit nurses, doctors and other staff members.
4. It can help drive traffic to your hospital's website and social media channels.
Leveraging the power of content marketing can result in a massive boost to your audience engagement, which will result in increased funding.
Now is the time to start if you're not already using hospital content marketing as part of your digital strategy. Your hospital business will thank you for it.
11 Content Marketing Tips for Hospitals
If you're a hospital looking to get into content marketing, or if you're not seeing the results you'd like with your current strategy, don't worry — you're not alone. Content marketing is a complex and ever-changing field, but it's more important than ever for hospitals to get their story out there. Here are 11 content marketing tips that can help you on your way:
1. Build Your Content Marketing Strategy
When it comes to marketing, the healthcare industry is no slouch. In 2020, the estimated revenue for healthcare content marketing was a whopping $2.6 billion. And as the industry continues to grow, so does the need for effective hospital content marketing strategies.
So, how can you get started in hospital content marketing?
The first step is to build your hospital content marketing strategy by establishing your goals. This can include ways to improve the patient experience and engage donors and fundraisers. These goals should reflect the business objectives. If the goal is to increase fundraising revenue, it’s important to align the strategy with this key performance indicator.
Once you have your goals in place, you can start brainstorming hospital content marketing ideas to help you achieve them. From there, it's just a matter of putting together a plan and getting started.
2. Know Your Audience
You’ll want to reach out to your audience and learn what questions they may have that you can address in your content. This helps you create a foundation for a customer-centric content strategy. Some hospitals choose to create their community platforms in order to engage with their patients. It’s possible to source content ideas internally as well. This may include asking clinical teams about their passion projects and seeing how these ideas may align with the needs of your audience.
Additionally, traditional audience research is crucial to creating a content marketing strategy. You may get poor results if you rush into content creation before having a deep understanding of your content marketing audience.
3. Build a Strong Website
It’s essential to prioritize a patient-centric website that is informative and useful. When patients receive a life-threatening diagnosis or are placed in your care, it’s a stressful time for those affected. A clean web design will make it easier to navigate questions and expectations.
Additionally, different kinds of people will be coming to your website for information. Donors and sponsors will want more stats on the hospital, while doctors looking at jobs may want a better understanding of the work-life balance. Your website will need to balance these needs and be easy to navigate, so people can easily find the right information.
How do you foster a website that will hook readers from start to finish?
- Edit and refine your content, and identify any technical errors driving users away.
- Ensure your website is easy to navigate and optimized for mobile devices; nearly half of small businesses now have a mobile app.
- Understand why patients, family members and donors have come to your website and what they will want from you once they arrive, to ensure that your hospital content marketing strategy is still on point.
- Track your KPIs to improve your website.
4. Engage the Community
If you're like most hospital executives, you're always looking for ways to raise more money. And rightly so — hospitals are expensive to run.
But did you know that one of the best ways to raise funds for your hospital is by engaging the community?
That's right — by simply reaching out and connecting with potential donors, you can put your hospital on the path to success.
Here are a few ways to help you get started:
- Use events to raise awareness and funds.
St. Jude's Hospital does this extremely well — it mounts various events annually to engage potential donors and raise money for. A marathon that it organized in 2022 drew 20,000 people and raised over $12 million.
- Create great content.
This is a great way to connect with potential donors and keep them updated on all the wonderful things your hospital is doing. Be sure to post regular updates and include photos and videos whenever possible — people love visuals.
- Leverage social media.
With a wealth of active users, there's no reason not to use social media to reach potential donors. Post about upcoming events, share photos and videos and interact with users whenever possible.
- Create a promotion plan.
Use email marketing, text messaging and even apps to stay in touch with potential donors and keep them updated on the latest news.
By following these tips, you'll be well on your way to success in engaging potential donors. And remember: The more engaged your community is, the more likely they are to support your hospital financially.
5. Combine the Power of In-Person Events With Content Marketing
If you're looking for a way to engage your hospital's local community, why not combine the power of in-person events with content marketing?
Sponsoring community events and participating in wellness information seminars are great ways to build relationships within your community. And by incorporating content marketing into your event strategy, your hospital's message can reach even more people.
What’s the best way to combine your content marketing with in-person events?
You can create a local event and offer sponsorships, or create teams of hospital employees who participate in the event and raise funds for the charity. (For example, consider hosting a blood drive.)
You can also use this opportunity to promote your hospital's brand and mission by creating content that highlights your involvement in the event. This includes writing blog posts about your hospital's history of supporting the event, or creating social media posts featuring hospital staff members who participated.
By leveraging content marketing and community events, you can maximize your hospital's impact and reach more people with your message.
6. Focus on the Patients
Trust is essential in the hospital-patient relationship. After all, patients are entrusting their lives to hospital staff.
In a hospital setting, trust is the confidence patients have in hospital staff to make decisions that are in the best interest of their health and well-being.
How can you build trust with current and potential patients?
First, it's crucial to understand what patients look for when they visit your hospital's website or social media channels. They want reliable information about their condition and treatment options. They also want to see that your hospital is up to date on the latest technology and research.
Consider using blog posts about the latest advancements in treatment for a particular condition, health and wellness content or videos that feature hospital staff members talking about the newest equipment. You can also curate news articles highlighting the latest research or information on your hospital. Third-party content can be a powerful way to share objective information.
Finally, ensure that your content is people-centric. Patients want to feel like they're more than just a number, and that your hospital cares about them as individuals. They want to know that your hospital staff is compassionate and caring. Additionally, it’s important to avoid industry jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand. Communicate these ideas in clear and simple terms.
By understanding what patients are looking for and by addressing their needs, you can build the trust that’s essential for a successful hospital-patient relationship.
7. Distribute Content Across All Channels
If you're running a hospital marketing campaign, content is certainly top of mind. But what's the best way to distribute your hospital's content across all channels?
- Create a content and editorial calendar.
This will help you stay on top of where and when you post content, to remain consistent.
- Define your goals and track KPIs.
What metrics do you want to hit? Then, track them to see what's working and what isn't.
- Leverage news stories.
News can help showcase objective information and highlight research.
- Showcase stories and insights on social media groups.
Leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing by sharing interesting information with your followers.
- Experiment with content to see how it performs on each platform.
Instagram and Facebook operate differently, so tailor your content accordingly.
8. Showcase Industry News
Content marketing is more important than ever in today's hospital landscape. With so much competition for patients' attention, finding ways to stand out is essential. One way to do this is by sharing industry news with your audience. This can help to position you as a thought leader and build trust with potential patients.
But, how do you go about finding quality content?
- Start by looking for sources that deliver value.
This could include blogs that offer expert insights, videos that provide educational information or books that offer guidance on hospital administration.
- You’ll also want to consider outsourcing leadership content.
Or leveraging copyright-licensed content. This can be a great way to add value without creating all the content yourself.
- Once you've found quality content, it's time to share it.
You can do this by posting links on social media, including articles in your hospital's email newsletter or even writing a blog post about the latest industry news.
By finding quality content, you can help ensure that your hospital stays ahead of the competition.
9. Make Sure the Content Is Sensitive
Hospital content marketing can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be sensitive to the feelings of your patients and their families. On the other hand, you don't want to be too bland. It can be a delicate balancing act.
Here are a few tips to ensure that your hospital content marketing is sensitive and respectful:
- Make sure you respect privacy and laws.
Examples include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
- Think about the tone of your content.
Is it compassionate and understanding? Or is it flippant and insensitive?
- Consider your audience.
What kind of information do they need or want?
- Remember that sometimes, less is more.
If in doubt, err on the side of caution and omit potentially offensive material.
10. Promote Hospital Staff
As a hospital content marketer, you’re always looking for new and innovative ways to promote your hospital and attract patients. One effective way to do this is to get referrals from local doctors. When doctors recommend your hospital to their patients, it helps to build trust and credibility for your hospital.
Additionally, you can leverage your own hospital staff to demonstrate thought leadership. By having your doctors, nurses and pharmacists on panels at conferences, you can further improve the perception of your brand to attract top talent.
11. Be Careful With Personalized Content
If you're a content marketer, you recognize that personalized content can be a great way to engage your community. However, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between what is invasive and what isn't. Healthcare information is very personal, so respecting how patients feel is important. Here are a strategies to help you create personalized content that will resonate with your audience:
- Get consent before using data.
Make sure you secure explicit permission before using data for content personalization. It is not recommended to use patient data for personalization; instead focus on information such as contextual insights or opt-in data collected from donors at events.
- Keep it relevant.
When crafting personalized content, ensure it is relevant to the individual and provides value. Avoid coming across like a sales pitch or promotional effort.
- Be transparent.
Consumers should understand how their data is being used and why. Be clear about what you're doing with their data, and give them the chance to opt out at any time.
- Respect privacy boundaries.
Personalized content should never include sensitive information such as medical records or health history.
12. Bonus Tip: Feature Credible Content
When it comes to hospital content marketing, credibility is key. In an age of misinformation, your content must be fact-checked and credible. However, you can help ensure that your hospital content marketing is accurate and credible, which is exactly what patients are looking for.
Here’s how you can boost the credibility of content on your hospital website:
- Make sure your content is accurate.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to double-check your facts before you hit “publish.” After all, even a small error can damage your hospital’s reputation.
- Cite your sources.
Whenever possible, include links to the source of your information. This will help your readers verify the accuracy of your content and better understand your hospital’s stance on various issues.
- Choose reliable sources.
When researching a topic, be sure to consult experts in the field and reputable news outlets. You can help build trust with your audience by featuring content from trustworthy sources. Outsourcing content is a great way to do this effortlessly, and in a fraction of the time.
- Avoid biased language.
It’s important to be objective in hospital content marketing, so avoid using excessively positive or negative language. Instead, focus on presenting the facts in an unbiased way.
- Correct mistakes quickly.
If you do make a mistake, own up to it and correct it as soon as possible. Transparency is crucial in hospital content marketing, so don’t try to cover up your errors.
Hospitals are complex organizations with many moving parts — but sourcing credible content need not add to that complexity. By following the steps above, you can ensure that your hospital is always showcasing content it can be proud of.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to get started with content marketing for hospitals. But don’t feel like you have to do it all at once. Begin with one or two of these tips and incorporate them into your hospital’s content marketing strategy. And if you need help sourcing high-quality, trusted, licensed content, contact NYTLicensing today. Our licensed content, produced by experienced medical writers and editors, can be leveraged to improve your hospital's online presence.
