daily searches are health related. This number does not include the recent COVID-19 pandemic which has undoubtedly driven these numbers upward. This makes it imperative that hospitals and healthcare providers have strong, up to date, accurate information on their website. A content strategy is important to hospitals, healthcare providers, and healthcare foundations in order to help with brand awareness, build loyalty, and provide reliable and helpful information.
What is a Content Strategy?
In a nutshell, a content strategy allows you to define the goals of your hospital or practice and work out your priorities. From there you can make sure all of the marketing and content you are putting out is fine tuned to helping to reach those goals. For example, if one of your goals is to get more people to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine at your location, you could focus your content marketing efforts on informing people about COVID-19 as well as the benefits of the vaccine. Within your content strategy, you will decide on the different types of content you’d like to use to reach your audience. E-mail newsletters, blog posts, articles, white papers, and social media updates are all content examples that you can use to bring people to your healthcare location.
Importance of Content in Healthcare 
Creating content in the healthcare field is much different than other areas. Content posted by healthcare
providers and hospitals is often important health related information to help patients and potential new patients find answers about symptoms, conditions, illnesses, and more. According to Pew Research, 80 percent of overall health queries begin at search engines, so making sure you have a wide catalog of information and content is important to being found. It is also very important that all of your content is accurate and clear, as misinformation in the healthcare realm can negatively affect credibility, hurt your reputation, and your overall brand.
Especially now, with COVID-19, it is imperative to share accurate and timely information and content to help people find the answers they are looking for. With news about COVID 19 variants and new numbers being released daily, it is vital that you keep your website and social media information updated with the most current and factual information.
Content Marketing for Healthcare Foundations
Another very important part of many hospitals and healthcare providers are healthcare foundations that raise money for a range of services such as treatment for cancer, stroke and heart disease and more. These foundations have to get themselves in front of potential donors and have their message seen and heard and get a reaction out of their audience that drives them to make a donation. Much like Arc 3 Communication’s work with the Grady Health Foundation, much of the content should be emotion driven and show what the money donated can achieve. Patient recovery stories, coverage of fundraising events, and other attention-grabbing topics will go a long way in driving donations. Blog posts, e-mail, social media, and even print mailers and events are all proven ways to drive traffic to your website and your cause.
Healthcare Now and in the Future
Healthcare is a vital part of our everyday lives. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that hospitals and healthcare providers are sharing relevant, accurate content. It is also important that content strategies be in place to bring people to your website and ultimately to your healthcare facilities. Showing your trustworthiness, dedication, and experience through your content is a great way to provide for your current patients while also bringing in new patients. Content strategy is important now and will continue to be in the future, so be sure your strategy is up-to-date, strong, goal oriented, and implemented to drive success.
For help with your content marketing strategies contact us here.