A look back at hospital marketing trends: Marketing in micro-moments

2016 hospital marketing trends wrap-report

Note: This is part of a series of blog posts related to our 2016 Hospital Marketing Trends White Paper. We will review and discuss one trend a week, provide feedback about what happened in 2016 and what’s to expect in 2017. If you’re interested in finding out more, then download our 2017 Hospital Marketing Trends white paper today. 

Due to significant changes in government and our current political climate, the future of healthcare is more uncertain than ever before. Although we can’t predict what’s in store for next year, when you’re informed about the past, planning for the future is easier.

We recently challenged our agency to review our 2016 Hospital Marketing Trends white paper and report about what stayed the same and what changed for the future.

Here’s what we came up with:

What we said:

Hospitals can capitalize on Google’s theory of marketing in“micro-moments,” which refer to different purchase decision scenarios on mobile devices. The first is “I-want-to-know moments,” when consumers search for information. The second is “I-want-to-go moments,” characterized by consumers searching for places “near me.” The third type of moment is “I-want-to-do,” which is often searched for on YouTube. The last micro-moment is “I-want-to-buy,” which translated to healthcare would probably mean “I-want-to-schedule.”

What happened:

Today, these micro-moments go hand-in-hand with smart home assistants. Amazon Echo, Google Home, etc. are an ever-growing presence in our homes and play on our impulsive buying behaviors. The difference between this and a smartphone, aside from the device existing only in our homes, is that users aren’t actually ON a device (i.e. no phone in hand, no viewable screen). That doesn’t mean our marketing efforts don’t have an impact on smart home buyers— far from it.

To keep up with this trend:

(1) Make sure location results are 100 percent accurate, ex. “How far is the closest emergency room?”

(2) SEO needs to be top of mind when building content, ex.“Find the best pediatrician in Charlotte, NC.”

(3) Keep an eye on the endless ways these devices are improving (we are not far off of scheduling on these) i.e. “schedule the next available appointment with Dr. Murray.”

(4) A final, more conspiracy theorist strategy to consider is aligning your advertising with what these devices might be hearing. 

-Kayla Germain