A new survey on healthcare marketing tells us that 83% of respondents are using content marketing this year. That’s a big jump from last year. 93% believe that content marketing is effective, but 58% feel like their strategies are just “somewhat effective” — that’s the same as last year. About one third actually say they’re doing a good job.
What’s challenging for those who answered the survey? #1 is judging the effectiveness of their content efforts. About 87% said that was challenging.
But the largest number of answers was about producing the content:
- 69% said producing engaging content is hard.
- 67% had trouble producing content consistently.
- 61% said it was hard to produce a variety of content.
- 59% had problems finding qualified content providers.
Chances are, this adds up to more than 87% of respondents. Creating content seems to be the biggest issue. Our experience bears this out.
The respondents to the survey were the people in charge of marketing for hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare facilities. The content they were trying to produce was mostly social media posts, blog posts, newsletters, and videos.
How does this apply to doctors?
Physicians may have just one person involved in marketing decisions. They may even be that person. And no physician is sitting around wondering what to do with too much free time.
Content marketing is time consuming by its nature. Doctors are busy. In fact, your whole team is busy. And your team probably doesn’t include any professional writers.
Do you need to create content yourself? Short answer: no. We often hear,”Oh, we’ll just all take turns writing and posting blogs and social media.” The actual percentage of clients who produce a variety of engaging content consistently in-house? Exactly zero.
The value of occasional random bursts of content may not be zero, but it’s much lower than a strategically planned calendar of fresh, original content for your website, social media, and email marketing.
So how can content marketing for doctors work?
First, hire trained professionals. Here at Haden Interactive, our writers have relevant college degrees, are native speakers of English, and have completed HIPAA training. We are all full-time professional web content writers. Hire someone in whom you can have that level of confidence.
Second, develop a good system. At Haden Interactive, we have a finely tuned system for producing web content. This system allows our clients to review and approve content on a convenient schedule, or to leave it all to us with confidence about what content will be published and when and where. You should not have to put a lot of time into oversight or wonder when you’ll receive your content.
Third, use that system to develop a strategy and a calendar for your content marketing. Identify the metrics you want to measure and review them regularly. These points should actually be built into your system, but they need to take center stage when you get started.
Content marketing is effective. With the right web partners, it can also be practical for doctors. Contact us to discuss your needs.
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