What Are Your Patients Searching Online?
With a billion+ health-related questions per day, it’s clear that for many people, the internet has rapidly replaced Mom and Great Aunt Mildred as a primary go-to-source for quick possible answers about what ails them.
According to a CNN analysis of a Google Trends 2018 report, health topics are one of the most popular subjects searched by internet users. In fact, as many as one in 15 Google searches is health-related. That’s an estimated 7 percent of Google's daily searches – or 70,000 searches per minute – that are health-related, according to Google Health Vice President David Feinberg, MD ( The Telegraph ).
Patients are increasingly astute researchers. From restaurants to car purchases, vacations planning to career planning, we live in an age where knowledge is just a few clicks away, wherever we might be. And a person’s health is just another facet of their life to be managed with a few clicks of a browser.
Top searches over the last few years have included the Keto diet, ALS, lupus, the average duration of the flu, and length of time cannabis can be detected in urine. Patients are hungry for information on the conditions they are experiencing, and will begin with the easiest path to answers (which may not be waiting three weeks for a 15-minute appointment with you).
As a medical practice, why should you care what patients are searching online?
Two words: Content Marketing.
What’s content marketing?
The Content Marketing Institute describes content marketing as a “strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Content Marketing is a tool increasingly used by professionals to build relationship and engagement with patients and consumers by offering trustworthy, relevant, valuable information that the consumer can use.
Today.
Easily.
Without paying for it.
Content Marketing is not“Dr. Google.”
Content Marketing isn’t replacing your expert assessment and diagnosis. It’s a means to extending your expertise by sharing quality content that you can offer your patients. And in a world moving away from fee-for-service, how we help patients manage their health will matter even more. But content will never replace the medical degree you’ve earned. If anything, it augments and support it when you can’t be readily accessed to weigh in.
An Example: Content Marketing in Banking
Pre-internet, mortgage bankers were inundated with daily calls about very simple details on home loans, financing, and basic questions from consumers considering buying a home. Much of this was consumers simply seeking basic information before making a big, life-changing decision.
With the advent of the internet, not only could information be made readily available, but simple calculators could be shared to further educate potential home buyers, helping to set expectations but also tease out those with a real transactional need from the many that were simply exploring or curious.
When you use the “How Much House Can You Afford?” calculator or the debt reduction calculator offered by a financial service, and it’s simple, convenient, and full of useful information, where are you likely to go when you want to buy the house, or finance a new car? The financial institution is counting on your return to them. This is an example of effective content marketing.
Content Marketing is Industry Agnostic
According to the Content Marketing Institute, more than 70 percent of B2B marketers are increasing their use of content marketing in 2020.
Why is content development so important to overall communications strategy?
If you know what your patients care about, you have a much better idea how to reach them. Your goal isn’t to offer online diagnoses or offer advice out of context, and you don’t need to become a professional writer to be a powerful resource to your patients.
Using your expertise to curate content that you wish your patients would read before scheduling time for a visit. Content that could make them a better partner in managing their own health.
When you offer quality content and information to your patients, you both benefit. Here’s a rundown on how quality content helps link your patients more tightly to you and your practice.
ENGAGEMENT. Unlike other methods of marketing, content marketing encourages engagement. Whether the content is the form of a social media update, blog post or infographic, users engage. If the content is good, users will pause to consume, digest the brand message, possibly comment, and, in a best case scenario, like or share the content.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO). High-quality content on site or site blog has a significant impact on SEO and ranking on search engines. Original content published on a regular basis helps a site rank organically for relevant search terms and keywords. The higher the ranking, the greater the exposure of your clinic to consumers searching for the content you deliver.
CREDIBILITY. Consistently publishing superior content establishes your organization and your providers as an authority, and consequently increases credibility.
INCREASED PATIENT VOLUME. All this brand awareness and credibility you're building increases exposure which increases consumer interest and patient acquisition. While good content is more about providing value than patient conversion, it gives consumers an opportunity to see who you are. While inundating consumers with advertising content can have a negative effect on the relationship with the brand, good editorial cultivates a positive relationship, as consumers move from readers to consumers/patients, and sometimes even brand advocates.
VALUE. Content that adds value generally solves a problem in the patient's everyday life or teaches them something new. No wonder it's well received. The value isn't tangible and may not have a direct financial correlation, but it's essential to the business model and the relationship between consumers and the brand. Blog posts, instructional videos, webinars, podcasts, and infographics are all well-received formats for educational content.
TRAFFIC. In addition to increased SEO and improved ranking, high-quality original content drives people to the website and keepsthem there. A website with a blog that's full of engaging content encourages consumers to visit page multiple times.
In an increasingly mobile and competitive world, being more than a 15-minute conversation twice a year matters. How you show up for your patients between visits matters, and is in your control.
For all these reasons and more, content matters. But it can be overwhelming to determine where to begin.
From the brainstorming session and editorial calendar production to the development and execution of a content strategy, we have the experience and resources to create compelling content that converts. Schedule a no-obligation ten-minute call with one of our content strategists to see how KineticHealth might help you achieve your patient growth goals.