10 Healthcare Marketing Trends for 2023
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For the healthcare industry, the new normal never arrived.
The industry has forever been altered, and the last two years have been a race
to adapt and accelerate digital transformations. The post-pandemic recovery has
been fraught with provider and staffing shortages. Now, an economic downturn
seems unavoidable. So, what does this mean for the healthcare industry, and how
should you pivot your marketing strategy? Here are the top healthcare marketing
trends to keep in mind for 2023:
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1. Economic Uncertainty Impacts Marketing Strategy &
Investments
As we continue through 2023, the tumultuous economic climate
is beginning to impact some healthcare providers. With uncertainty still in the
air, marketers are holding their breath and remain hesitant to change the
status quo.
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank didn’t help things and
impacted healthcare as much as it did any space. The future of digital health
funding remains in limbo as things settle in the aftermath. While a recent
report showed that digital health companies in the US garnered $3.4 billion in
the first quarter of 2023, topping activity in the last half of ’22, 2023 is
still on track to experience the lowest rates of digital health funding since
2019.
While inflation has cooled, many Americans still feel the
burden of increased living costs. High deductibles will continue to impact
patient decision-making when it comes to receiving care, reducing some of the
protections organizations typically have when consumer spending decreases. If
and when we enter a recession, decreasing employment numbers will naturally
lead to more uninsured patients. All of this means that consumer sensitivity to
costs may increase, with many patients even deferring care.
As a result, some healthcare groups are reining in their
marketing budgets. In our conversations with clients and contacts across the
industry, we continue to see a good deal of caution when it comes to 2023
planning. While many are still investing in growth, caution demands that they
keep a close eye on budget and marketing performance over the next several
months. gaintrennds
If you want more from your advertising budget, read our
article 6 Easy Google Ads Optimizations to Maximize Your Healthcare Budget.
2. FTC Ruling, HIPAA Compliance & the Implications for
Digital Marketing
Recent changes at the regulatory level have triggered
industry-wide adjustments with regards to compliance in 2023. What happened? At
the end of 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services released a
Bulletin clarifying what is considered healthcare information and how it is
shared. According to the HHS bulletin:
“Regulated entities are not permitted to use tracking
technologies in a manner that would result in impermissible disclosures of PHI
to tracking technology vendors or any other violations of the HIPAA Rules.”
As a result, many healthcare marketers are reevaluating
their ad strategies and leveraging increased scrutiny to their methodologies.
There are safe routes forward, of course. As Rich Briddock, SVP of Strategy
& Analytics at Cardinal, put it, “If you want to engage effectively with
prospective patients and you can’t use first-party patient lists anymore, one
way you can do that is through what we call a full-funnel strategy.
Essentially, what that means is you would utilize broad targeted video campaigns
at the top of the funnel. Just to let them know about your business and drive
some awareness. You might use 15-second to 30-second video clips to just
explain the business to those consumers.” From there, ad engagers move through
the funnel toward conversion. marketing2businessdirectory
Want to dive into more detail? We’ve compiled a list of
recommendations in this article and our podcast.
3. Patient-centric Content Is a Must
Google rolled out its latest helpful content update in
August 2022. It has had a big impact on several industries, including
healthcare. While previous updates have focused on useless, dangerous, or spam
content, this recent update placed a far stricter requirement on content
quality and authenticity, with the goal being to make digital content more
relevant and helpful to humans. This is a sitewide update, meaning if one page
is spammy, it can impact your site at large.
In the months since the rollout, we’ve already seen an
impact on healthcare groups as a result of these new priorities from Google.
The good news is that healthcare groups could significantly benefit from this
update if they follow Google’s recommendations. But what does this mean exactly
in practice?
Healthcare service providers need a robust full-funnel
content strategy to answer consumers’ questions at the top (TOF) and middle of
the funnel (MOF). To optimize their approach, healthcare groups can do the
following:
Again, while this is a significant change that will continue
to impact healthcare entities into 2023, taking the right, patient-centric
approach to content should result in gains for the space in the long term. One
tool that may serve you well in the years to come? Artificial Intelligence. cosmetics48
4. AI-Powered Tech Changing Marketing
It’s one of the most popular topics of conversation out
there right now—chatbots are redefining everything from schoolwork to research
and, yes, healthcare marketing. These AI-driven chat interfaces are positioned
to have a real impact on marketing efforts moving forward, affecting SEO,
patient engagement, and more.
One particularly relevant chatbot is Bard, Google’s response
to ChatGPT. Although Bard is still working out its kinks, it seems it will act
as a companion to search, not a replacement. Understanding how it will
integrate with search is essential to any organization doing SEO or publishing
content online.
And how about ChatGPT, the other hugely popular chatbot out
there right now? It will be gradually rolling out plugins that will give its
system deeper and more recent knowledge. In the long term, this will create a
wide array of use cases that could impact the way and ease with which
healthcare consumers get information online.
As these technologies grow in quality and impact, marketers
are examining initial use cases, including how AI-technology can be used to
improve efficiency. While a chatbot’s facility with language is still evolving,
it is ready to help with certain workflows at healthcare practices. For
example, chatbots can pick up some of the “small” work in day-to-day workflows,
including helping patients answer questions or schedule appointments. This, in
turn, can allow healthcare teams to focus more on work that humans are well
suited for, including generating new ideas and jumpstarting projects.
In terms of generating content, AI-driven language tools
will continue to need to human touch. As Jacquelyn Green, Director of SEO,
phrases it, “When using AI for writing content, we are outlining it,
determining what keywords and headings are in it. We’re doing the strategy and
using the tool to create the answers to some of the questions. It’s more than
just letting a tool spit out 500 words and then us going in and adding
keywords. It’s a lot more of a hands-on strategy.”
5. Website User Experience Remains Paramount
We said it last year, and we’ll say it again—website UX
should be at the top of your list of priorities for 2023. Why? Google wants
good user experiences , and so do your patients. Google’s requirements and your
patients’ needs are closely aligned, too. Both want to find information
quickly, and part and parcel of that is: a) getting your site architecture
right and b) making sure that your site includes robust, in-depth content that
answers patient questions directly.
