Healthcare Marketing’s Top Trends for 2014 – PART 2

Digital strategies, social media, integrated marketing and brand journalism

To attract and engage healthcare consumers in 2014, marketers will be challenged to adapt their messaging for delivery through digital media channels. In Part 2 of our article on top marketing trends for the new year, we’ll look at changing digital strategies, integrated marketing initiatives, social media developments and brand journalism for hospitals and physician practices.

Part 2

• Integrating Traditional & Digital Media: Offline In Support of Online Marketing
• Embracing Digital Change: Investing in Digital Media Technologies
• Designing for Mobile Consumers: Embracing Responsive Design & Mobile Apps
• Revitalizing Social Media: Exploring New Platforms and User-Generated Content
• Images & Video Gain in Social Channels: Short, Shareable Content on the Rise
• Storytelling with Brand Journalism: Corporate Media Trumps the Press Release
• Rewarding Content Creators: Author Bylines Boost Google Search Rankings

Integrating traditional and digital media

Offline efforts in support of online marketing
2014 promises to be the year that online and digital marketing take center stage in an integrated healthcare marketing plan. In “The Digital Journey to Wellness: Hospital Selection,” a research study on Google Think, it was reported that 84% of patients use both online and offline sources for research, compared to 32% of patients who use TV for research. And although the effectiveness of traditional media continues to decline, there is still an important place for offline marketing channels to support online efforts.

The high cost of mass media real estate means that in most formats, there simply isn’t time or space to deliver deep, informative content that consumers want. However, offline advertising can be highly effective in building traffic and audiences for your online inbound marketing content. By using short URLs, or links to campaign landing pages, healthcare marketers can use mass media channels to drive consumers to websites or social channels.

To read more, download the white paper, “Healthcare Marketing’s Top Trends for 2014” here.