The healthcare industry has undergone a massive transformation in recent years and is growing at a rapid pace. By 2028, the global healthcare market is projected to reach $665.37 billion. With national healthcare spending projected to reach $5.7 trillion by 2026, healthcare companies must continue to innovate and evolve their digital experiences to remain agile in this increasingly competitive environment.
In recent years, access to trustworthy content and convenient care has become a top priority for healthcare consumers — and studies like the Kyruus 2023 Care Benchmark Report indicate that the public is beginning to shop for care the same way as any other good or service. This means that people are evaluating where to get care on a matrix of quality, cost and convenience.
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To meet these evolving expectations, providers must have a strong digital marketing strategy and user experience online. Here are 5 healthcare marketing trends to pay attention to in 2024.
- The rise of retail in healthcare
In recent years, we’ve seen well-known retailers seriously invest in primary care services and health technology. Multinational retailers have spent billions in acquisitions and developing new technologies — like remote patient care and wearable devices — signaling a disruption in the overall healthcare supply chain that leaves retailers with more influence over consumers and their health decisions than ever before.
Retail health brands are skilled at delivering a clean, easy-to-use digital experience designed to convert site visitors into loyal customers. Given that 83% of consumers say their experience with a brand is as important as its products or services, we can expect that the “retailization” of healthcare — which prioritizes patient convenience as the primary goal — to influence the expectations consumers have of all healthcare companies — especially ones that have traditionally relied on a physician-centered model.
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Healthcare brands hoping to compete with retailers should audit their website’s user experience, appointment scheduling, and content to ensure they are adequately addressing consumers’ needs related to cost, location, and convenience.
- Content marketing to increase share-of-voice
With retailers ready to position themselves as a voice of authority in the health space — and the rise of AI-generated content — consumers are increasingly concerned about the credibility and trustworthiness of the health content they read online. About half of U.S. consumers are concerned that the health-related information they encounter is trying to sell them something, instead of providing accurate information that answers their questions.
Healthcare marketers should consider how they might leverage content marketing to expand their organization’s digital footprint in a way that delivers relevant and reliable information to consumers while continuing to elevate the brand’s expertise, reputation, and commitment to the patient experience. This can be supported through a small in-house team of specialists or even by outsourcing content creation to an external resource or agency. In a recent survey, 62% of healthcare organizations said that they outsource content creation to be able to publish new material at scale.
- Consumer preference for internet search when shopping for care
While many consumers still engage with traditional resources — like loved ones, their health plan, or their insurance provider’s website — to guide their healthcare purchasing decisions, more than half begin their journey through a general internet search. When looking for routine care, consumers often begin with location-based queries like “primary care near me” which has over 27,100 monthly searches.
Healthcare organizations should prioritize SEO and SEM efforts to maximize their presence on search results pages — this includes creating an SEO strategy to lead consumers to the content marketing efforts described above.
Marketers looking to attract potential patients in nearby communities should ensure their websites include the right schema markup and structured data needed to improve the possibility of obtaining rich results and appearing in the first few positions of location-based searches. Marketers should also ensure page content is optimized for voice search devices to better acquire the 50% of consumers who use voice search every day.
- Online patient reviews as a conversion driver
While online reviews are important in any industry, consumers are increasingly turning to patient reviews when deciding on a physician, clinic, or other health care provider. According to a recent study, 74% of consumers said that the quality of online patient reviews is extremely or very important when deciding where to get care.
Online reviews can be a powerful tool when motivating a consumer to choose a particular doctor or clinic — but they can also serve as a deterrent. A recent survey conducted by HealthGrades indicated that 84% of consumers would refuse to see a provider they were referred to if that provider received four stars or less.
Because online reviews can impact everything from organic search visibility to a prospective patient’s likelihood to make an appointment, it’s recommended that healthcare organizations routinely ask patients to share their feedback online.
- Digital accessibility and telehealth
The consumerization of healthcare has led consumers to expect always-on access to care through digital channels, whether that be the ability to book online, receive telehealth, or communicate with providers through a mobile app. According to a recent survey from KeyCare, 45% of consumers said they prefer telehealth visits to in-office visits for minor but urgent issues. With retail health brands emphasizing the availability of appointments at convenient times, locations, and often as telehealth visits, healthcare organizations should consider how to elevate the visibility of telehealth options and invest in a satisfactory process to book an appointment online. A 2022 Kyruus study about patient access to healthcare revealed that 40% of consumers prefer to book appointments online — and about half of this segment is willing to switch to a different provider to be able to do so.
The increasing consumerization and digitization of healthcare highlights how important it is for health systems to provide patients with a seamless digital experience throughout their journey. Healthcare marketers who take the time to audit their organization’s digital experience and make improvements will not only improve patient volume and satisfaction, but patient access to care and outcomes overall.
Allison Roy is currently the Digital Marketing Manager of Content Strategy at Capgemini Americas. She leads a team of consultants who specialize in customer experience, storytelling, and omni-channel marketing strategies. She has over 10 years’ experience helping clients execute digital transformations, grow brand awareness, and drive new customer acquisition growth.
