The healthcare industry wasn’t previously recognized for its agility in embracing novel technologies. These days, patient tastes are changing quickly, much like the healthcare system as a whole.

It’s critical to keep up with the most recent developments in healthcare marketing if you want to maintain your competitive edge( like gathering patient reviews!) and make sure you assist as many patients in need as you can. For this reason, we’ve compiled a list of the best healthcare marketing trends for 2024.

10 Health Care Trends

The healthcare industry has been severely tested in the last few years. Many providers are finding it challenging to give the quality of treatment that they would like to their communities in light of significant increases in healthcare demand and a widespread staff exodus. As a result, the majority of healthcare institutions nationwide are now required to accomplish more with less.

Although the past few years have been challenging for healthcare, they have also produced some unexpected breakthroughs. Who would have imagined, for example, that telehealth would not only grow popular but that many patients would come to prefer it over in-person visits?

The top healthcare marketing trends for 2024 are as follows:

1. Patient-focused content

A positive experience for the patient usually results from excellent patient participation. 61 percent of patients wish to see an increase in patient engagement. In the end, patient engagement comes down to talking to patients and making sure they feel heard and noticed. Content with a patient focus is a fantastic method to encourage this.

Create a content marketing strategy that centres on the experience and needs of the patient. Come up with a list of subjects that the community and your audience would be interested in, such as seasonal allergies, ways to stay healthy over the winter, and advice on mental health.

Write blog posts that highlight caregivers and humanize your organization in addition to your patient-focused content. Do you know a doctor who has a strong interest in a particular subject? Allow them to appear as the face and name of an item on it!

2. AI-Powered Personalization

Healthcare marketing experts are still capitalizing on patient demands for more individualized communications. To encourage ongoing interaction and cultivate devoted clientele, they are producing marketing collateral and communications. To reap the benefits of increased brand recognition, more targeted care and suggestions, and personalized treatment plans based on patient demographics, requirements, and interests, doing so demands vigilance to preserve HIPAA compliance with every interaction.

AI-powered analytics are being used by healthcare marketers to segment audiences according to critical parameters. AI can instantly examine patient histories, electronic health records, and behavioural data to improve the relevance, appeal, and education of every marketing communication for the patient. AI also aids in the more efficient use of marketing budgets by advertisers to target audiences with specific campaigns, predict emerging trends, and take preventative patient care actions.

3. Content Customization for Voice Searches

Since voice search functions on search engines are being used by 58% of adults between the ages of 25 and 40, your healthcare content marketing strategy should take advantage of this trend.

There are various methods for creating content that is voice search-friendly, including:

• When conducting keyword research for voice search, long-tail, question, and conversational keywords are the best areas to concentrate on.
• Examine and improve the material on your website. Look for ways to make the content already there more effective for the keywords you want to target in voice search.
• Boost the technical SEO of your website by making sure it is accessible, crawlable, and indexable. This will have an immediate effect on how well your website performs in voice search results.
• Boost the local SEO. By making your Google Business Profile and other local directories as optimized as possible, you can ensure that prospective patients can locate your medical services through a local service.

4. Emphasis on mental wellness

For a long time, discussions about health and well-being have neglected mental health. Over the past few years, this has altered, particularly after the plague and quarantine took hold. In the initial year of the epidemic, there was a minimum 25% increase in anxiety and despair.

In 2024, healthcare firms should include greater discussion of mental health in their marketing, particularly as they expand their content marketing initiatives. Create works that assist patients in overcoming tension, anxiety, etc. Next, focus your marketing efforts on spreading messages related to mental wellness.

5. Pay attention to HIPAA

It is becoming more and more crucial to ensure that all Protected Health Information (PHI) is handled by HIPAA’s Privacy Rules as healthcare marketers look for ways to tailor their messaging to maximize relevancy. To run successful marketing and engagement efforts without invading patients’ privacy, healthcare institutions and the businesses they partner with must take immediate action to ensure that retargeting programs are HIPAA compliant. 

They also need to investigate and implement privacy-friendly alternatives. To enable the safe transfer and sharing of information among authorized institutions, these would involve putting blockchain technology into place along with sophisticated encryption and security mechanisms.

A growing number of healthcare organizations are integrating consent management platforms with Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to aggregate data from websites, applications, and other touchpoints. They use encryption, data storage security, and access control measures to provide both technical and physical protections for PHI. Verification is crucial to prevent any HIPAA violations, though, as not all CDPs are HIPAA compliant.

6. Improved social media presence

Social networking isn’t limited to trendy merchants. It can be used by any industry, including healthcare. Healthcare businesses should make sure they have a presence on key social media review platforms as the usage of these sites keeps growing.

Make social media content that relates to the problems that patients are facing and humanizes your brand. Provide mental health advice, topical medical advice during flu season, etc.

Add further social proof to your website by featuring reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers, but remember to adhere to HIPAA regulations. Make sure you’re also engaged on the appropriate social media review platforms. TikTok and Instagram Reels are two popular platforms used by doctors and healthcare organizations to connect with their audience.

7. Attractive Website Content

If the content isn’t interesting or the layout isn’t appealing, 38% of users will quit browsing the website. This implies that more than a third of visitors will quit your website if there is a problem or poor content. In 2024, you’ll need to keep an eye on your website and other digital media to maintain audience engagement.

As we said in the voice search section above, SEO audits can help with a lot of the technical issues that can result in an ugly website. To make sure that every piece of content on your website looks fantastic, entertains users, and contains useful information, you need to regularly evaluate your content and have a strong content strategy. 

8. Apps for Healthcare

In 2024, medical professionals should closely monitor the applications that their patients utilize. An app is one of the greatest methods to stay in touch with your patients, and a well-thought-out marketing plan will cover as many avenues for them to do so.

Patients can utilize apps to schedule visits and receive the most recent guidance on managing their health. But if you want to soar to the top of the medical rankings, develop health systems that connect with your patients via applications. Targeting potential patients with useful online tools that aim to reduce travel time to practices while enhancing the patient experience, can improve patient engagement.

9. The Development of Telehealth

Telehealth is an excellent means of connecting with patients who would rather get consultations at home. It can offer guidance and assistance, enhancing patient happiness and assisting with the patient’s medical journey. 

Thus, if you’re a healthcare marketer looking to invest in new technology, telehealth marketing remains a top choice despite being one of the biggest developments in healthcare marketing in recent years. In 2024, telehealth marketing will still be around. In reality, healthcare providers will be expected to improve the services they offer if they currently have it and to incorporate it if they haven’t already.

10. Reputation Management 

Reputation management is very important to healthcare businesses since they are important and held to high standards in their communities. They must anticipate that before making a decision, a potential patient or customer may consult internet reviews and suggestions to validate and support the continuation of the connection. 

To keep a bad patient experience from turning into a PR disaster that turns away customers, constant attention to detail is necessary. Positive evaluations can also enhance brand appeal, help with service and care delivery, and serve as a source of leads.

Savvy healthcare firms are handling these interactions and gathering patient reviews of doctors to increase online visibility and achieve good search engine rankings, as opposed to viewing patient reviews and recommendations as tedious tasks for customer service. To find out more about how Checkthereviews, an online reputation management software can significantly enhance your healthcare website, get in touch with them right now.

Conclusion

There is no bubble in the healthcare industry. Numerous factors set the healthcare sector apart from other industries, but many best practices for marketing still hold. To position yourself for a prosperous 2024, keep an eye on your rivals, keep abreast of developments in digital marketing, and pay attention to your patients.
Patient reviews play a pivotal role in the healthcare sector, significantly influencing patient decisions and perceptions of care quality. They act as a direct feedback mechanism, providing insights into patient satisfaction and areas needing improvement. In today’s digital age, prospective patients often consult internet reviews as part of their decision-making process, making them a critical component of a healthcare provider’s online reputation.