In today’s world, so many aspects of the Medical community draw the continual ire of the masses. From outrage over the profiteering practices of the Pharmaceutical industry to constant criticism of the costs associated with Health insurance providers, a large share of the general public has voiced a growing sense of detachment from the healthcare community, as a whole.
Regardless of both the perception from within the industry and the lack of actual influence over the industry enjoyed by the average consumer, it’s hard to discount the important role that marketing plays. And in terms of marketing initiatives, the medical community stands as a perfect example of the power of the visual medium. Why?
Appealing to the Generations
Of all consumer markets, the medical industry as a whole distinguishes itself by its near equal relationship with all consumers, regardless of age. From birth until death, people of all ages require medical attention, be it scheduled, preventative or emergency treatment. And prescribed medical treatments are distributed for physical, mental and emotional disorders across all generational demographics.
So how do you get the word out to such a diverse number of demographics? Whether advertisement or informational in nature, it stands to reason that digital marketing has the most payoff. Here’s why…
The eldest of all patients count themselves as members of the Traditionalist generation. With a large portion of these patients utilizing younger family members as beneficiaries and medical proxies, the burden of information falls predominantly on those between the ages of 54-72, the Baby Boomers. Previously the largest segment of our population, many Boomers have embraced the digital landscape with fervor, and are perfectly comfortable with online research. But if we accept the fact that 2/3 of the Baby Boomer generation are aged 60 and above, it becomes easy to see how the pattern will continue. As the Baby Boomers age to a point where they hold the senior demographic, Generation X will assert themselves as beneficiaries and proxies.
Enter your Digital Marketing initiatives. Once we get to Generation X, Y, Millennials, Post-Millennials and Generation Z, online marketing should be the lion’s share of your dedicated spend. And that spend should be diversified across multimedia platforms, to ensure that your message and/or educational content is infinitely accessible.
A major component of an effective online strategy consists of video content. As the preferred means of accessing information content by younger consumers, the statistics on video are staggering. Take YouTube for example; with over 1billion users worldwide; YouTube accounts for nearly 1/3 of ALL internet activity. Each day, users consume approximately 500 million hours of content, and nearly half of all internet users consume a minimum of one hour of content per week. With that in mind, is your consumer base getting their information from you…or receiving misinformation from a competitor?
Video Marketing
As we tiptoed into 2018, it was estimated that almost 90% of corporate marketers either include or have planned to integrate, video content into their marketing spend. Are you part of this 90%? And most importantly, are you already using video? If not, you’re already falling behind on the marketing trends that are solidifying the successful companies of tomorrow.
Do you realize that businesses that employ video content into their marketing strategy enjoy revenue growth up to 49% faster than non-video users?
Think of this in terms of pharmaceutical products. Regardless of your audience, it is unlikely that they’re aware of the products and the impact those products can have on their lives. They’re even less likely to be aware of products you might have in development or are ready for release. Whether directed at healthcare providers or the consumer themselves, well-produced video content can get their attention, serving up information in an accessible manner and starting the conversation about how your products might be ideal for treatment.
The same applies to healthcare services in general. Unless a patient has first-hand experience with treatment options or the array of services available to them, they may live in a state of blissful ignorance. Utilizing video content to communicate those options and services can empower a healthcare facility or medical practice, to communicate with their customers more effectively.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at current video marketing trends that every kind of company with the healthcare industry might consider utilizing, in order to remain on top of marketing trends.
Top 3 Video Marketing Trends for 2018
Going LIVE
The power of LIVE video content is that it allows for more informal, and organic interaction. Consider the possibilities for pharmaceutical companies, to produce content that humanizes them in the manner-yet-unseen. Or think of the impact a hospital administrator, or primary care physician could have on both existing and prospective patients, through interactive real-time videos. Accessibility is key to continued success in today’s digital marketing landscape, and LIVE videos could prove enduringly influential.
360 Video & VR
The ability to create an immersive and explorable digital environment allows a patient to grow comfortable with an environs that might otherwise be strange and unrelatable. Consider, for a moment, the intimidating nature of surgical procedures or medical research. With most major procedures preceded by an informational class, intended to help the patient grow comfortable with the events to follow, a digital exploration of surgical facilities might be a perfect translation of this video technology.
Animated Content
What better way to explore the benefits of treatment, than through accessible animated content. By presenting (what may be) complex ideas in a simplified visual manner, it becomes easier for the general layperson to both comprehend and embrace the options available to them.
While each of these approaches are proving HUGE for online marketing in 2018, we fully expect each of them to continue and evolve in the coming years. Visual Marketing is the future of any business’s online presence, and the medical community is well-served by this trend. It enables improved transparency and a more dynamic means of sharing of information, improving the general consumer’s comfort with, and trust of, the industry as a whole.