In this period it is difficult to ignore the influence of digital marketing activities and strategies. No sector is really behind in the use of marketing techniques and the health industry is no exception. The adoption of digital marketing is already widespread in the healthcare sector worldwide, a little less in the Italian scenario. In the beautiful country, healthcare marketing is beginning to be understood and applied as a tool for the preparation of territorial health strategies.
A great advantage of digital marketing is not only its economic final application but also its adaptability and ability to be a very effective tool. This makes the use of digital marketing strategies child’s play for health professionals and social media the fastest and simplest tools that allow the achievement of the great masses.
Healthcare specialists (doctors and specialists) have begun to adopt digital tools to do ” professional networking ” with LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook so that patients can find the specialist best suited to their needs.
With an increasingly digital and connected world, consumers, patients, can easily find the hospitals or the best health facilities around the world through the web pages of the hospitals themselves, learn about the services that the various structures provide and which services best suited to them. Those who have benefited from services outside the country or outside the region can share their experience by influencing other user-patients around them, creating a knock-on effect, which can negatively influence (if not monitored and managed) or positively with the growth of the structure health.
Healthcare marketing must aim for reliable and practical content for the user
This digital transparency consequently obliges health professionals and healthcare facilities to create increasingly reliable, practical and educational content. Everything can be monitored and it becomes an advantage for healthcare activities to update to meet users’ needs and consequently differentiate themselves from other competitors on the market. Healthcare professionals must adopt effective digital tools and update strategies through website development or the use of new customer management systems (CMS).
Healthcare marketing must provide content that helps patient-clients find the services that are best suited to their needs/requirements, financial availability and make decisions quickly.
Very often, people consider the best hospital the one closest to home or that of their region, compared to what appears in web searches for specific diseases. This makes us think that the structures must invest in the production of relevant and relevant contents that stimulate the interest of average consumers.
Keywords: innovation and digital promotion
However, it is difficult to converge traditional marketing with digital marketing tools in the health sector. No one understands the value of social media presence or the importance of a clear, easy to navigate and well-defined website. A good project is only possible if the marketing budget of a healthcare company is well distributed and is in line with the set objectives.
Another point to stress is the tool with which most users surf the internet or smartphone. Therefore, digital marketing in healthcare must focus in particular on the user experience on mobile devices. If the website is not properly designed for mobile devices, people will automatically begin to doubt the professionalism of the healthcare facility and the quality of the services provided. Therefore, when designing (or re-designing) the website, marketing professionals should consider the user’s experience in using the information and the relevance of the information and the overall appearance.
Patients will always choose a healthcare facility that offers the best service, it is up to the heads of the communication of the healthcare facility to best promote their brand so that the quality of the service is not left only to dialogue based on word of mouth, but also correctly transmitted, disclosed on the internet.
