With almost two-third of the year over, we have seen a substantial rise in the use of social media amongst people.
This trend is being adopted in ascertaining and exchanging important information. More and more people are getting accustomed to using the internet as a source of getting information on various topics.
Social media has also influenced the way people approach health care and has changed their expectations towards the facilities and technology associated with it. With innovations reaching across the globe really quickly, the standards set for patients are very high.
Hence the health industry has realized the immense untapped potential which the social media marketing domain possesses. Given below are the top 5 trends in social media marketing that have the ability to make the health industry bloom in the years to come.
- Understanding micro-moments and changing online habits of patients–
Sometimes people look for information on a device such as a smartphone, computer or laptop. This is in order to ascertain information regarding any topic which helps in widening an individual’s ability to learn, discover, watch, buy or do anything of their preference. These are known as micro-moments. These moments are a determinant in the decision making and preference forming process for an individual.
The basic micro-moments that are relevant to the healthcare industry can be characterized in 4 main distinctions.
- What is wrong with me moment- More and more people are now turning to the internet in order to ascertain what is wrong with them. This is as easy as looking up for symptoms online and finding out what health complication has occurred. Websites such as docprime have extensive information pertaining to numerous health complications, medicines, diseases, symptoms, and causes etc. which help a person in the diagnostic process.
- Where can I get treatment moment- People generally look for the closest hospital or medical assistance available to resort to their need. There is significant factual data which states that “near me” searches for local assistance have doubled since 2015. Thus, medical practitioners and facilities are now being up-front and center about their geographical location to help an individual locate the closest facility.
- Who can I trust moment- Post accessing the center of treatment and the most convenient location for their medical condition, people generally like doing an extensive research on the proficiency of the doctor. This helps in building trust in the doctor even before meeting him/her. With the advancement of technology, more doctors are readily sharing their profiles on healthcare providers such as 1mg, docprime, and lybrate.
- I am ready to book moments- Time constraint is often the biggest concern for people to switch from their existing medical practitioner to a new medical practitioner. This is being used as an advantage for doctors who are providing online consultation as well as appointment booking options online.
- Reassessment of the website design
With more people accessing the web space for information regarding medical requirements, it has become indispensable for healthcare professionals as well as providers to create a website inculcating all elements that could be beneficial for the patient. More people are investing in changing the functionality of their websites to make them more users friendly in order to make the process of accessibility seamless and very easy. This can be done by inculcating 4 main factors in the website which are-
- Fast access
- Mobile friendly outlook
- Secure access
- Coded for search engine optimization
Other than the above-mentioned factors, the trends that are gaining popularity in making a health care provider website more user-friendly are-
- Online appointment scheduling
- Customized portals for patients to access their personal health data
- Online payment of medical bills
- Auto prescription renewal online
- Messaging capabilities so patients can communicate quickly with providers
- Details about the doctor
- Online consultations with specialists
- Emergency waiting room timings
- Hyper-targeted search engine optimization-
Almost 90% of patients turn to search engines for solutions to their health-related problems, which is why search engine optimization of a website is very important especially when it is a healthcare website. Searches such as “near me” and “online doctor consultation” have multiplied manifolds.
With the rise in users of online health-related issues, medical providers as well as professionals are using organic search rankings and paid marketing as a means of optimizing the user experience and reachability.
For ranking on the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing etc., highly classified and relevant information needs to be published on the website. This helps in drawing traffic towards the website. Here is https://zenserp.com/google-image-search-api, this can help you optimize your website.
The basic protocol followed at present is –
- Optimizing SEO for the website
- Publishing information that caters to the needs of the patients
- Finding the right keywords for the healthcare industry. Keywords are search phrases commonly used by people searching for information on a particular subject.
Social media marketing for healthcare works on the mechanism of pay to play. This means that if a healthcare provider intends to be visible and in the top ranking on the internet, they need to invest in paid promotions and advertisements. Most providers and professionals are now exploring the platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for their marketing because of the high traffic that these websites are capable of generating. An example of such marketing can be seen through the docprime Facebook page and docprime Twitter page.
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