B2B Healthcare Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2021

Charles Berry, December 4, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year for businesses across all industries, but the healthcare industry took the brunt of it. And with everything that has happened, it is safe to say that there is no going back to business as usual. Although the healthcare industry was somewhat slowed down to embrace the digital age, it has to make up for the time lost because digital is now the norm. Marketing can no longer be an afterthought, especially now that people are more than thorough while choosing a healthcare provider. To come out on the other side of this global crisis, here are some trends that healthcare marketers must look out for in 2021.

Effective and Thorough Communication

Now more than ever, healthcare marketers need to inspire trust. They must put people first and profits second. According to Forrester, only 24% of adults online in the US trust that companies are prioritizing their well-being and health while making business decisions.

To inspire trust and confidence, healthcare marketers need to communicate information that people need when they need it. But this communication must be authentic, thoroughly vetted, and preferably sourced from subject matter experts. From information about symptoms, prevention, testing, and treatment, to a status update on the COVID-19 vaccine, any and every piece of information that people could benefit from, should be communicated to them.

In the future, marketers also need to be more transparent while communicating with their customers. If there has been any scaling back of operations, inform your customers. If there has been any revision in the appointment-scheduling, visitation, or cancellation policies, let them know. Also, the measures that you are taking to protect your customers from COVID-19 should be front-and-center, as 52% of adults online in the US said that they prefer to buy from companies that tell them what they are doing to keep customers safe from the Coronavirus (Source: Forrester).

Read More: 8 Hacks for Every Result Focused Healthcare Marketer

Telehealth or Telemedicine & Other Mobile Options

As healthcare institutions are burdened and already operating at maximum capacity because of the Coronavirus, in-person visitations are being avoided, wherever possible. Marketers need to work on a Telehealth or Telemedicine platform (a website or a mobile application) where users can seek help without having to visit. These platforms are becoming increasingly popular as people tend to refrain from stepping out unless necessary.

These platforms are likely to become the norm in 2021. The healthcare provider could offer consultation over a video visit, or users could be made to fill out a form and list their symptoms. From there, it could be determined whether an in-person visitation would be necessary.

Optimize your website for mobile, or develop a dedicated mobile application for Android and iOS. Doing so will maximize your reach significantly.

Enhanced Patient Experience

Marketers must determine how tech-savvy their target customers are. The website and/or mobile application should be developed based on the level of sophistication that the user is expected to possess. If the customer is not able to navigate your website/app, they will move over to another healthcare provider.

Marketers need to closely observe every touchpoint, and make changes wherever necessary, to enhance the patient’s overall experience. Be it pre-appointment communication or appointment-scheduling, everything should be well-thought-out so that patients do not have to figure things out on their own.

Convey as much information as possible. If the customers’ doubts and queries are resolved by the information available on the website/app itself, it will eliminate the need for a phone call, thereby unburdening your support staff. Create a dedicated page for COVID-19 information containing useful resources, links, FAQs, etc.

Test your website on all platforms, including Windows, Android, and iOS. See that the pages load fast, and if you have pop-ups running, make sure they are not intrusive and annoying, especially on mobile devices. Bear in mind that in 2021, the patient experience could make or break your brand’s reputation.

Read More: 7 Implementation Steps to Achieve Healthcare Marketing Success

Infographics, Video Content, and User Feedback

Video content is an effective way to engage with customers. It is easier to consume than written content, and also more attractive. Using videos, pictures, and gifs, etc., can help healthcare marketers generate a lot of traffic, especially on social media. Q&A sessions with various experts about a particular disease or healthcare issue, video testimonials, and ‘how-to’ videos are good examples.

Patients should always be encouraged to leave feedback. While positive feedback can be used as a testimonial, negative feedback will reveal problem areas that healthcare marketers need to resolve.

Search Engine Optimization

Keeping up with the latest trends in SEO is going to be a must for healthcare marketers in 2021, be it Voice SEO or Local SEO. People rely on Google Maps to find healthcare providers near them. Therefore, marketers must optimize their content and update their listings on platforms like ‘Google My Business’ to tap into their local markets more effectively. Also, using long-tail keywords in their blog content can improve their SEO performance as it is common practice for people to Google their symptoms.

Google Trends is a digital marketing tool you can use for free. It will help you understand how people use healthcare-related keywords in their Google searches. To help you make the most out of keyword data, Google Trends provides data points like related queries, related topics, and interest by region.

Where earlier people used more generic keywords in their searches, they are currently using words like ‘coronavirus’ or ‘COVID-19’ within their queries. Thus, using tools like Google Trends can help healthcare marketers understand what it is that customers need at a given point in time. Keywords like ‘boost immunity’ indicate that people want to strengthen their immune systems so that they don’t contract the virus. Whereas keywords like ‘pay off medical bills’ suggest that they are experiencing financial difficulties. Marketers can then use this information to offer products and services that meet these needs.

Read More: Catalyzing 2020’s Top 4 Trends in B2B Healthcare Marketing!

A recurring theme across all the healthcare marketing trends discussed above is that the patient is the #1 priority. In 2021, the only way for healthcare players to stand out among the cutthroat competition is by always putting their clients first. Designing products, services, and experiences that are easy to access and meet the patient’s needs, inspiring trust and confidence, will propel them to greater heights. This past year, people have put their faith in healthcare providers and relied on them to make it through this difficult time. In 2021, it is up to healthcare marketers to preserve that sentiment.