Medical and Healthcare Advertising in the Digital Age
Doctor360
Medical and Healthcare Advertising in the Digital Age
Healthcare advertising in the digital age needs a digital approach.Even though many traditional offline strategies are still viable, a well-rounded, effective medical advertising strategy needs an online multi-faceted approach with accurate targeting.
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211%
increase in new patientsSydney Eye Associates
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5 providers
Sydney, NSW
308%
increase in new patientsMelbourne OB/GYN
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1753%
return on investmentKhan Foot & Ankle
Podiatrist
1 provider
Brisbane, QLD
A Shift in Medical and Healthcare Advertising
Healthcare marketing and advertising no longer comprise of billboards and magazine ads only.The digital approach to healthcare advertising uses precise targeting and tracking to ensure paid ads are reaching the correct audience for maximum return on investment (ROI) and conversion.
Modern Advertising Tools for Medical and Healthcare
Digital advertising in the medical and healthcare sections consists of multiple crucial parts: Google ads and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, social ads, email campaigns, and even mobile.
The Perks of Digital Advertising
Digital advertising is much more than traditional advertising, and permits practices and brands to reach the right people with advanced targeting and tracking.This means advertisers witness a better ROI, a greater rate of success rate with patients, and an enhanced experience for the user and brand.
Medical and Healthcare Advertising Trends
The tools being used in medical and healthcare advertising won’t be altering significantly in the near future, but the ways in which ads are presented will.Ads will start appearing less like ads and more like natural content that can relate to target audiences.
Medical and Healthcare Advertising in the Digital Age
Similar to modern marketing, medical and healthcare advertising in today’s outlook needs a digital approach that is well backed by research.Traditional commercials and billboards have been replaced by paid search campaigns, social media ads, and website promotions, each targeting a specific audience.
A Shift in Medical and Healthcare Advertising
Before the popularization of social media and online platforms, medical and healthcare advertising were simpler in their approach, even though less effective than today’s advertising.Billboards, magazine ads, TV campaigns and direct mail were the general tools of an advertiser.Nowadays, advertising needs a largely digital approach. Google Ads and paid search often have an ROI of $2 for every $1 spent, while social ads give practices the opportunity to get to those on Facebook or other platforms.With the highest number of users on smartphones and connected via the internet, digital advertising isn’t a convenience, it’s a necessity.The healthcare advertising rules have altered, and you need to follow them to stay in the lead.
Modern Advertising Tools for Medical and Healthcare
It’s common for potential patients to search on Google prior to contacting a doctor. In fact, one in 20 searches on Google are related to healthcare.Digital advertising gives practices the chance to capture this audience with the use ofmany tools at their disposal.
Paid search or Google Ads (formerly AdWords)
A paid search campaign, typically handled with Google Ads, is one of the most popular forms of digital advertising. In a paid search campaign, a company or practice can bid on certain keywords they would like to capture.They then fix a budget, which will last differing amounts of time as the cost-per-click shifts. Even though there are some restrictions on the medical and healthcare industries, Google ads can still be very effective.Targeting the rightterms gives practices the chance to capture audiences searching for those terms. In this case, a dental practice could bid on words relating to various conditions.With the use of advanced targeting, Google ads would be shown to those searching, enhancing your chances of that person seeing your ad and getting to know your practice.Google ads can also take advantage of retargeting, allowing various versions of an ad to be shown to a particular user as they frequent different websites.This can result in your ads targeting users at different levels of the funnel, and aggravate the chances of them clicking.It’s important to remember that, for privacy reasons, Google does have restrictions pertaining to remarketing certain medical products and services.
Paid Social Ads
Much like to paid search, paid social ads are targeted ads that run for a particular period on different social media platforms.Social ads have many advantages that makes them different from search ads:
- Their click-through rate is much greater than usual display ads
- With the help of these you can target your audience in a more passive way
- They’re often more affordable than paid search ads
- Social ads are generally easier to use than paid search campaigns
- They offer network-based targeting that is much more than traditional targeting
With approximately 1.5 billion people using Facebook every day, social ads are a great way to ensure your ads are reaching the people on the go. Apart from this, social ads can be great for testing different demographics, as they’re more economic than PPC in many cases.Get acquainted with Facebook’s ad guidelines and restrictions here.
The Perks of Digital Advertising
Prior to the digital revolution reaching advertising, ads followed a very much “fire and forget” approach.With digital advertising, analytics are easily available, allowing you to sharpen your targeting and reach the correct audience.This is only scraping the surface of digital advertising’s various strengths.
Social ads can go viral: Dissimilar to a billboard or magazine clipping, a digital ad has the potential to go viral and be shared across social media, providing you free exposure.
They’re Adaptable: If you realize an ad isn’t performing well enough or if the market quickly shifts, digital advertising is far easier and faster to change to meet the demands of your audience. An ad that is not working well or resonating can be easily stopped.
Advanced Targeting: Instead of performing extensive research through expensive test groups, you can easily experiment with targeting with the use of digital ads.Not only this, with the help of retargeting you can make up for missed opportunities by showing various versions of an ad across numerous sites.
Insights and Analytics: Keeping a track of analytics on physical ads is not easy, while digital ads have many analysis and reporting features built in.
Medical and Healthcare Advertising Trends
Unlike the digital marketing scenario, where trends are altering every moment, the digital advertising scenario isn’t altering as drastically right now.Yet still, there are a few trends coming up that are worth investing in at the earliest.
The Rise of the Omni-channel Experience
TThe days of an ad experience ending with a billboard or single viewing of a popup ad are long gone.In order to stay involved and be distinguished, brands need to deliver a multi-channelled ad experience that effortlessly bridges the gap between physical and digital ads, and their actual practice.
Native Ads Will Continue Growing
Native advertising is the practice of merging ads that match their surrounding platform.These often appear on social media basically Instagram and Facebook as they can easily blend in with the look of the platform and appear like a native post. With the help of native ads users can interact with the ad, this gives them the ability to comment and respond.This makes them a great way to publicize to your potential audience, and also involve with them to spread brand awareness and develop trust.
Landing Pages Play a Bigger Role
Landing pages hold importance in digital marketing campaigns, but until lately have played a smaller role in advertising.It is predicted by experts that landing pages should and will play a greater role in digital advertising campaigns, with landing pages associated with ads with the intention to guide people through different levels of the funnel.These landing pages can provide information to people who are interested by giving more information than an ad, and also allow for users to put in their email address in exchange for white papers, guides, or other materials created by your practice.
Healthcare Advertising Companies
If an in-house healthcare advertising specialist is unattainable, merging with a healthcare advertising agency could work the best for you.In fact, there are many benefits that come from working with an external healthcare advertising company:
They are well aware of the Rules: There are many regulations when advertising in the healthcare industry is considered.Advertising agencies are often well-acquainted with the latest in healthcare regulations, meaning they can get right away to work on the ads and do not worry about the small print.Besides this, typical ad agencies will stay on top of the healthcare advertising trends much better than the layman.
A Focus on Creative Healthcare Advertising: you have an internal advertising specialist, that’s superb. If not, you have a long period of hunting, interviewing, hiring, and training.Contracting with a reputable third-party agency permits you to get to work at once with specialized advertising consultants.Agencies that specialize in medical advertising are well-aware of the latest advertising plans, and often have creative partners that can take an innovative healthcare advertising campaign to a higher level.
You Can Train Them: When someone applies to be your ad expert, you can go through their resume and portfolio. Still, things can be easier when you’re with an agency. Agencies often have vast online portfolios, testimonials, and evidence they know their work. Look for top healthcare advertising agencies in your area, and have a look at their portfolios to understand what types of healthcare ads and campaigns they’ve run previously. You just require one that matches your requirements not the one who has won any healthcare advertising awards.
Before you take the plunge and lock in a costly ad agency, consider looking at the many ways Doctor360 can take your practice straight into the digital age.
