Healthcare Marketing must also adapt to new digital technologies
The number of ways in which potential patients can find your healthcare facility is growing by leaps and bounds: be it social media, an online review, search engine ads or a voice search query, stay ahead to the target audience requires a multi-faceted approach.
As the number of smartphone users in the United States has grown to over 224 million in 2017, voice searches have also grown in popularity. With the increase in access to voice assistants like Alexa and Siri, the way patients search for information is changing rapidly and healthcare professionals need to adjust their SEO strategies for Healthcare Marketing or risk being left behind.
Here are the two main reasons why voice search should be encouraged to attract new patients and then build around future Healthcare Marketing campaigns:
1. The popularity of voice search has exploded
In 2017, it was estimated that over 35 million Americans used a voice-activated help device, with about a billion individual searches every month. This represents an increase of + 128.9% compared to 2016 .
Although only 10% of Baby Boomers currently use voice assist technology, the number of Millennials expected to use voice-enabled digital assistants will be over 39% by 2019.
As technology evolves, it is increasingly essential to correctly position one’s business in front of the target audience by incorporating the best voice search practices into Healthcare Marketing strategies.
2. It may change the way new patients look for health professionals
Consumers use voice search as a personal assistant for various activities, such as getting entertainment news, sports results and, above all, to quickly search for local information. In fact, almost one in five voice searches find contact information for a local business. Since new patients are more likely to consider healthcare professionals in their area, making the necessary SEO corrections to capitalize on voice search represents a significant opportunity for healthcare professionals seeking to outdo the competition.
Is your company well positioned to take advantage of voice search?
Although voice search is still a new and rapidly evolving technology, keeping up and adding new Health Marketing strategies will give you a competitive advantage. The way patients look for healthcare providers is changing, making the integration of SEO keywords into all of your company’s online content more important than ever. It is important to note that the way consumers search using text is often different from how they look with voice-enabled devices. The key is to take a holistic approach to Healthcare Marketing for SEO and consider which phrases can be used for typed and/or vocal searches. Also, making sure your website is built with a mobile-first approach, will ensure that your company ranks higher in all types of research.
