7 Healthcare IT Marketing Tips to Drive Traffic, Generate Leads and Increase Sales
Healthcare IT is one of the most challenging industries to be in if you’re a marketer.
Healthcare reform and other legislation has incited a flood of information and competing solutions into the marketplace. Technology options for healthcare companies are vast and complex, and buyers are often confused trying to distinguish one offering from another.
In addition, healthcare IT companies often have very similar messaging and must relay a complicated message amidst a background of industry issues and regulations. It’s not easy to stand out, be clear and reach the right people.
We’ve worked with a number of healthcare IT clients, and have learned a thing or two about marketing them successfully. Here are some of our top tips to help your company stand out.
- Know Your Unique Value Proposition. This is the core of marketing for any company in any industry. You must figure out what makes you different. Do a competitive analysis. Do a SWOT analysis. Talk to employees, customers, stakeholders, partners, etc. and determine what sets you apart. This is your hook. Know this, and everything else will follow.
- Know Your Audience. There are too many companies and people in this space to waste your efforts on a shotgun approach to marketing. Determine precisely who your target market is, and go further by creating detailed buyer personas. If you identify who your users are and their pain points, you can target them with helpful content that specifically addresses the issues they face.
- Be Clear, Concise and Consistent. Often companies in this industry suffer from TMI – too much information. In an effort to explain complex products and solutions, websites can become text-heavy and overwhelming to consumers. Find ways to streamline your copy, make sure it’s relevant to your audience, and that it’s clear and easy to read. You can also visually cut down on the clutter by making sure that all of your materials are consistently branded, clean and professional looking.
- Do What Works. It can be tempting to try to compete by using every marketing tactic known to man, but if you have a limited marketing budget or staff, it’s much smarter to pick a few tactics that have the highest ROI and work on doing those really well. Don’t spread yourself too thin.
- Make Sure People Can Find You. In such a crowded space, it’s vital that people can easily find your business. Do keyword research and make sure your website and all online materials are optimized for the keywords that your customers would most likely use. Consider setting a budget for a pay-per-click campaign so you can rank higher for your keywords, and create remarketing banners to recover lost traffic. Develop landing pages or microsites for your keywords to help you rank better and to capture lead information.
- Create Multi-Channel Multimedia Content. Great content can help establish your company as a thought-leader in your industry and drive more traffic to your site. Take the same topic and present it via different media – a white paper, an explainer video, an infographic, a webinar, a podcast etc. This makes the most of every subject and capitalizes on the fact that people like to learn in different ways. Then, be sure to promote those content types on your website, your social media pages, via emails, and in PPC campaigns.
- Nurture Your Leads Throughout the Sales Cycle. If you aren’t already using a marketing automation tool to facilitate your lead nurturing program, this can be the catalyst for giving you an advantage over the competition. A recent study said that businesses who use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. Especially in healthcare IT when sales are complicated and the sales cycle is long, being able to automatically reach out and provide leads with value throughout the sales process can keep a lead active and engaged.
Following these tips will help your healthcare IT company rise above the crowd. If you need any more help with your marketing efforts, we have a lot of experience in this industry, and we’d be happy to help. Let’s Talk.
Diane Callihan
With more than 20 years of experience writing for some of the country’s top brands, Diane helped to shape Roger West’s content strategy, lead generation, and PR efforts as Director of Marketing. She currently serves as President of Callihan Content Creation.