There’s no doubt that choosing the right healthcare marketing agency for your business is tricky. In fact, finding the perfect digital marketing agency specializing in healthcare to support your growth has never been more important.
Why? The IT healthcare industry has been steadily evolving over the past decade. Today’s accelerated demand for the kinds of remote healthcare and telemedicine services facilitated by healthcare software companies means that building a strong digital presence is a necessity, not an option. This rapid pace of technological change requires a solid marketing strategy to meet market demands and compete in this growing market.
Here are our eight top tips for finding top healthcare marketing agencies to work with that can support your organization:
As an organization specifically operating in the healthcare domain, you already know that needs of this market are uniquely complex. Building and implementing an end-to-end marketing strategy requires a healthcare marketing agency with a deep knowledge of the sector. Testimonials and case studies would be worth looking out for, as would healthcare-focused blog content or articles proving market-specific thought leadership.
You need a healthcare marketing agency that is familiar with the industry-wide digital transition taking place. They should be aware of technological developments that might be impacting your business or your target market, such as the great leaps forward in AI healthcare tools, remote patient monitoring devices, and emerging patient engagement solutions.
Healthcare is a notoriously tough industry for marketers, and not just because of its complexity. Trust is at a premium, purchase cycles can be slow, and massive brands tend to dominate. When you’re choosing a healthcare marketing agency, look for a partner that can work closely with you at both a strategic and a tactical level. Ideally, you should team up with an agency that is large enough to deliver a depth of industry knowledge but not so large that they can’t offer you a personalized service.
What’s more, with the rapid changes coming at the healthcare industry from all sides, you need a partner that will be able to make necessary pivots to adapt. Look for a healthcare marketing agency that can serve as an extension of your in-house marketing team, with a clear understanding for your unique product or service and an appreciation for your unique selling proposition (USP), buyer personas, existing brand position, and market opportunities.
In today’s digital age, medical service providers and individuals are making key purchasing decisions online. Yet, the healthcare industry tends to lag behind others when it comes to digital marketing. For example, according to HubSpot, challenges like HIPAA compliance and FDA restrictions often deter healthcare IT companies from digital marketing. This means that healthcare companies that can navigate the digital landscape with a trusted partner are at a distinct advantage.
While some healthcare marketing agencies specialize in a particular marketing area or technique — like SEO or social media — top healthcare marketing agencies should be able to help you build a global marketing strategy that pulls all your disparate marketing activities into a cohesive plan. Building online strategies can complement sales rep visits, industry conferences, and in-person events, and in many cases, is simply more effective as buyers spend the majority of their research time online.
Consumers expect a consistent experience across all touchpoints with your brand. In fact, 90% of customers expect a cohesive brand experience across channels. Delivering polished, well-branded content — across everything from social media platforms to your website to guest posts on industry publications to paid ads — is vital to building a healthcare brand that will perform in today’s climate as well as into the future.
As a result, it’s crucial to find a healthcare marketing agency that can implement your digital marketing strategy across multiple channels — both outbound and inbound. They should offer expertise and hands-on delivery on everything from SEO and keyword research to web design, advertising and PPC, inbound content strategy, social media, user experience, and video marketing. That way, you’ll know that your marketing offers the same high-quality of experience as your healthcare products or services.
In addition to building a brand that stands out, offering a positive, high-quality user experience across all marketing channels helps to build consumer trust. Trust is vital in the healthcare industry, where one misstep can have dire consequences. Research shows that trust remains important in 2024 — especially when it comes to embracing innovation.
Creating trust comes from a combination of providing a reliable, consistent experience (both pre-and post-sale) coupled with proving authority through content marketing, case studies, and client testimonials to develop an effective online brand reputation. The right healthcare marketing agency will be able to help advise you on winning – and keeping – your customers’ trust.
If your digital marketing agency isn’t up to speed with the latest evolutions of the healthcare industry, you risk falling behind the competition. On the other hand, if you work with a healthcare marketing agency that is “in the know” about the latest healthcare developments and how they’ll impact your target market, you can become the go-to source of information. In healthcare marketing, where success depends on authority, content marketing can play a key role in building your brand reputation as a thought leader on the latest news, trends, or technologies – but only if your marketing partner knows the lay of the land.
Do they understand how AI is perceived across your audiences? Are they familiar with the challenges of telemedicine? Can they provide insight into how your business could be using AI tools in a way that aligns with the expectations of end-users and consumers? Digital marketing moves fast, so you’ll want an agency with its finger on the pulse of the market.
An effective healthcare marketing agency should be able to help set up your strategy for current challenges, but also give you the training, skillset, and marketing technologies to deliver exceptional results for the future.
They might be able to suggest the best marketing automation solutions for your business, create evergreen content that will keep bringing in leads over time, or create an SEO strategy that keeps you permanently in Google’s top rankings. You should feel that you’re building a positive working relationship with a team of people who are in your corner and understand your business and unique value offering on a deeper level, not a short-gain service provider working on a one-off project.
It’s more important than ever to find a digital marketing agency that specializes in healthcare and can deliver real-world results, not just vanity metrics. While some marketing efforts can take some time to translate into sales, you should feel confident that your financial investment is directly tied to major improvements in your online presence. Within a few months of partnership, you should be able to see measurable results on key marketing metrics, such as web visitors, marketing-qualified leads, lead quality, sales calls, or lead conversions.
Read more about creating a digital marketing strategy in the healthcare industry with our guide. If you’d like to discuss how Spot On helps healthcare companies with their digital marketing goals, please schedule a time to chat with us and find out how we can help.
