10 Important Marketing Trends Shaping the Healthcare Industry in 2022

However, the rise of data privacy measures and virtual care has transformed the world of healthcare marketing. As other industries find ways to maintain data privacy due to regulations like CCPA and GDPR, healthcare marketers have benefitted from the increased security and techniques to reach target audiences.

Healthcare establishments and providers that keep up on the latest marketing trends will experience several benefits:

• Maintain an advantage in a hypercompetitive market
• Increase ROI by finding more qualified leads
• Enhance patient engagement for better loyalty and retention rates
• Find more patients with health goals that align with your establishment’s service line
• The ability to connect with patients where they are across channels
• Enhance productivity and efficiency with complete data analytics

Patients are looking for healthcare organizations that will meet them where they are. In fact, patients use digital sources 2.2 times more than doctor referrals when looking for a primary care provider, and 51.1% turn to search engines.

Here is what you need to know about the latest healthcare digital marketing trends of 2022 and where the industry is heading in the future.

Important Marketing Trends Shaping the Healthcare Industry in 2022

The world of healthcare marketing has rapidly expanded over the past few years. The rise in technology and innovations in marketing has made it possible for healthcare organizations and providers to find their target audience and provide them value.

The most significant new trends in the evolution of healthcare marketing include:

Multigenerational and multicultural marketing is more sophisticated

Multigenerational and multicultural marketing enables healthcare practices to embrace patient population tastes, buying behaviors, and attitudes. Healthcare marketers are seeking to embrace the diverse face of America and stay relevant to the needs of a varied population and cultural fluidity.

Healthcare establishments now need to implement messaging that reflects a deeper understanding of the diverse populations in their communities. Simply relying on stock images of people of color or translating content into Spanish no longer cut it.

Some questions you need to ask as you create a multigeneration and multicultural message include:

• Who is your target audience? Is it across multiple generations or one specific demographic?
• What do they expect from their healthcare provider? Do they want personalized service, for example, or to be able to access care at any time?
• Where will they likely be? For example, are they on social media, billboards, or streaming services?
• What sets you apart from other providers?

Getting an accurate view of your audience and marketing base will help you create more accurate messages to reach them and reach them where they are, either online or in the analog world.

Telehealth is a service, not a temporary solution

Telehealth predated the pandemic, but the need for social distance caused this form of healthcare to explode. In fact, telehealth went from less than 1% of visits at the beginning of 2020 to over 80% by April 2022.

Even as in-person appointments become possible again, telehealth continues to be a popular option. Many patients and doctors discovered telehealth as a great way to receive timely, high-quality care, and 38% of patients opted for virtual care in 2022.

Reviews are critical for social proof

Top healthcare establishments are now organizing and managing patient feedback to get crucial social proof. Most people than ever are looking up their healthcare providers and organizations to see what others are saying about them.

In fact, over 72% of patients surveyed said that they read online reviews when looking for a new provider. It doesn’t take long for a potential patient to form an opinion about your business. Even just a few reviews will guide their decision-making.

While providers can’t control what patients say about their practice, they can take a more proactive role in their online reputation management. Spotlighting positive experiences, proactively cultivating reviews, and engaging in social outreach will go a long way in creating a positive online presence.

Likewise, if medical providers choose to respond to negative and positive reviews, they should do so in a professional, empathetic, and HIPAA-compliant manner.

Video is the preferred form of content

Before patients commit to a treatment or procedure, they need to gain confidence in their provider to provide knowledgeable, effective care. Medical video content offers healthcare providers the ability to demonstrate their skills, culture, and results with other patients. In fact, 96% of people said they had watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.

In addition to giving patients the information they need, video content also remains a powerful way to increase traffic to your webpage. In a recent survey, 87% of marketers stated that videos helped increase traffic, and 93% said they helped raise brand awareness.

Patient-evolved SEO is the focus

With the rise of consumerization of healthcare due to the pandemic, patients are changing the way healthcare approaches SEO. Many patients were forced to take their health into their own hands without access to medical facilities. As a result, they are more prone to self-diagnosis and self-treatment through Google and digital assistants.

Healthcare establishments need to change their SEO strategy to meet the significant shifts in patient attitude and approach to care.

To reach this patient base, they need to provide high-value, authoritative content that provides them with the accurate information patients need to make health decisions. This content requires user-friendly, fast-loading pages and easy-to-understand, conversational content with SEO-optimized language to appear on search engines.

The days of healthcare establishments looking down on “Dr. Google” are over. Instead, they need to ensure patients have access to factual content that enables them to take a more active role in their own care.

Claim and unify business directories to improve local search

For a long time, patients that used Google to find a provider would end up with nationally-focused materials on the critical first-page search. However, Google has become more focused on the concept of local SEO to become more relevant to users.

As a result, this is great healthcare marketing news for organizations that concentrate on proper local SEO techniques. The top of the search page now typical shows Google’s local results and directory listings so that prospects can quickly find top-rated practitioners.

As a result, healthcare establishments and providers need to claim and unify their business directories to improve their location-based SEO ranking. Google My Business, Healthgrades, rateMDs.com, Yelp, and other business listings are critical to ensuring that patients find local practices, so claiming them is vital.

More targeted data to reach key demographics

The rise of social media and Google ads allow practices and healthcare establishments to be more targeted in who they reach. Ads can find the perfect audience for those at a drivable distance. Multiple healthcare advertising trends enable more patients to find out about the places close to them. Just some healthcare marketing examples using target data include:

• Connected TV, such as Hulu Ads, are more readily available to capture the attention of potential patients.
• Quizzes are especially pertinent to potential patients who want more targeted content and recommendations.
• Social media ads allow practices to target organic search traffic.
• Marketing automation increases campaign conversions by reaching out to potential patients right away instead of letting leads turn cold.

While third-party data is changing some of these trends in the future, they continue to drive traffic today. Healthcare marketers that use the benefits of target data will be able to increase the accuracy of their campaigns.