Online Communities: The New Strategic Advantage in Healthcare Marketing

Contributed by LiveWorld 

3 RISING TRENDS IN HEALTHCARE MARKETING

While the pandemic has created overwhelming uncertainty for healthcare systems, there are some very clear trends and factors shaping the challenges and opportunities of healthcare marketing during 2022. These factors include:

1. Rebuilding Relationships

On a personal level, the pandemic forced us to see the value of relationships and connection; yet COVID-19 drastically reduced the ability of healthcare systems to connect with patients and families in personalized ways. The necessity of more virtual visits with providers, stringent visitation policies, and cancellations of elective surgeries combined with a lack of the resources needed to accommodate the demands of COVID made healthcare seem impersonal and cold to many patients and families. The result is that healthcare systems need to find new methods for rebuilding relationships.

2. Rising Use of Digital Health Tools 

One silver lining during the pandemic has been that more patients have embraced digital healthcare tools such as messaging with providers via portals, utilizing virtual visits, and seeking information from hospital websites and social media channels. Of course there has also been a drastic rise in health misinformation on the internet, driving healthcare marketing teams to work overtime to create videos, news interviews, and other content utilizing the system’s medical experts to counter this trend.

3. Enhanced Marketing

Technology Just as more patients are embracing digital tools, the world of healthcare marketing is increasing the steady emphasis on digital technology and strategy, including UX, attribution within the patient journey, AI tools such as chatbots, and more precise tracking of conversion rates. The Opportunity to Seize in 2022 The rise of pandemic-induced barriers that made healthcare feel impersonal paired with the increasing use of digital tools has created one of today’s most pressing healthcare marketing opportunities: finding new and enhanced strategies that utilize digital channels to build personalized connections and authentic relationships with communities and patients. The Strategic Advantage of Online Communities A number of healthcare systems are creating online communities as a way to build relationships and offer a valuable service. These communities are designed to meet the needs of specific patient or caregiver populations, helping members easily access reliable and practical health information from the hospital’s clinical staff and find peer support and conversation. Online healthcare communities are a synthesis of service delivery and subtle marketing, and they can offer hospitals a number of strategic advantages.

The Opportunity to Seize in 2022

The rise of pandemic-induced barriers that made healthcare feel impersonal paired with the increasing use of digital tools has created one of today’s most pressing healthcare marketing opportunities: finding new and enhanced strategies that utilize digital channels to build personalized connections and authentic relationships with communities and patients.

The Strategic Advantage of Online Communities

A number of healthcare systems are creating online communities as a way to build relationships and offer a valuable service. These communities are designed to meet the needs of specific patient or caregiver populations, helping members easily access reliable and practical health information from the hospital’s clinical staff and find peer support and conversation. Online healthcare communities are a synthesis of service delivery and subtle marketing, and they can offer hospitals a number of strategic advantages.

Benefits of Online Communities 

Patient and Caregiver Benefits:

• Provides a sense that you’re not alone
• Validates feelings and emotions
• Provides an avenue to exchange authentic peer information
• Offers access to qualified clinical information

Health System Benefits:

• Builds an emotional and trustworthy bridge to a population in need
• Goes beyond treating the condition to treating the full person
• Harnesses the emotional context of the healthcare experience through content and online conversations
• Creates a gateway to medical care and prompts demand for additional service line revenue

How LiveWorld Can Help You Build A Community 

LiveWorld is a digital and social agency that currently manages over 300 healthcare social media properties. We’ve been working with healthcare companies since 1996 and have expertise in more than 20 clinical areas. In addition to helping healthcare systems build online communities, we offer an array of other consulting, strategy, and creative services.

LiveWorld Healthcare Marketing Solutions

• Campaign strategy, research & planning
• Creative concepting, design & production
• Online healthcare community development • Social media marketing & advertising services
• Healthcare chatbots, apps & virtual assistants
• Content moderation & community management
• Social listening and reputation management

Click to learn more about LiveWorld!