If you keep up to date with digital marketing, you know that trends and strategies change often. Within a specific niche, like healthcare, digital marketing trends are even more particular. If your practice is not keeping up with the latest trends and strategies, your business can easily fall behind the competition.
Here at AudiologyPlus, we are dedicated to helping you stay on top of your digital marketing plan so you can continue to grow your practice and gain new patients online. To help you achieve this goal, here are five of the top healthcare marketing trends you should be aware of for 2019:
1. Increased popularity of voice-driven SEO – As we have previously discussed on our blog, voice search is becoming more and more common. In fact, researchers project that 50 percent of all searches will be performed with voice search by 2020.
Voice search queries use more natural language than the typical text search query. Rather than stringing together keywords, people use natural language when they submit voice searches. To capitalize on this audience, it’s important that your website targets these natural keyword phrases.
2. Content is still king – Content marketing has played a large role in digital marketing for several years, and this will continue in 2019. In the healthcare field, content marketing is especially important because a huge number of people search for health information on the Internet. According to studies, healthcare is the second most-searched-for service
Make your content relevant and useful for people who are searching for healthcare information. As an audiologist practice, you can answer people’s most common questions about hearing care, hearing aids, and hearing loss. Don’t forget to include clear calls to action for website visitors to also contact your office and schedule an appointment!
3. Improved patient portals – According to recent trends, patient portals will likely become more user-friendly and useful in the coming year. These improvements to patient portals are expected to come in response to increasing demand from patients for useful, easy-to-use portals. According to a study by the CDW, 89 percent of patients want easier access to their patient portal.
Whether you decide to build your own patient portal or use a software company, start simple. You may consider surveying some of your patients about the features they would most like to see in their patient portal. The key is for the patient portal to be easy to use, to provide useful features and information, and to give the patient more control over their healthcare.
4. Improved user experience – As discussed above, patients want an easy, useful way to interact with their healthcare provider online. This extends to your entire website. You might not be Apple or Amazon, but website visitors still want your website to feel streamlined and easy to use.
If it’s time to revamp or reevaluate your website, keep in mind that users want their online experience to be useful, usable, findable, credible, desirable, accessible, and valuable. As a healthcare provider, patients want to be able to find accurate, valuable information on your website. By providing a user-friendly website with helpful information, you can become a trusted resource.
5. Increased importance of social engagement – On your personal social media pages, have you noticed your friends asking for recommendations? People are increasingly looking to social media for recommendations regarding their healthcare provider choices. In order to compete in this market, your practice should be involved in social media, too.
In 2019, it isn’t enough to simply have a Facebook page for your hearing practice. Patients want two-way conversations and engagement, which help to build strong relationships between patients and their healthcare providers. To keep up the latest social engagement trends, you may want to add video posts, and because of the diminished reach of organic social media content, you might consider paying for ads on social networks to give you a broader reach.
To learn how you can incorporate these five trends in your digital marketing plan for 2019, contact us today at AudiologyPlus. We’re ready to help your practice grow online.
