Juice cleanses. Intermittent fasting. Mindful eating. These trending wellness topics are popping up everywhere online, and people are looking for trusted sources to create content that addresses their questions. You can use your expert opinion to help prospective patients navigate wellness and get rewarded with a robust online reputation and a boosted bottom line.
In this blog, we define content marketing and wellness and share how healthcare practices can use wellness content to attract new patients.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing original content to generate awareness and interest for a business without explicitly selling any products or services. Many businesses that want to attract new customers have implemented content marketing strategies in recent years.
In the healthcare realm, hospitals and health systems often boast robust content marketing strategies. Crozer-Keystone Health System, for example, produces blog posts for its blog, Healthbeat; publishes social media updates on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn; and creates videos for YouTube.
What Is Wellness?
Wellness is the idea of becoming more aware of and making health-conscious choices toward a healthier, more fulfilling life. Globally, wellness represents a $3.4 trillion industry. Innovations that have fueled the industry’s exponential growth include wearable technology like the Apple Watch and Fitbit, group exercise classes like SoulCycle and Barry’s Bootcamp, and food trends like cold-pressed juices and alternative grain bowls.
These products and services are designed to improve the health of the consumer — and to enable the consumer to discuss their wellness on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Related: What Healthcare Professionals Should Know Before Blogging About Hot Medical Topics
Attract and Engage Patients with Wellness Content
Wellness represents a valuable opportunity for healthcare providers to market their practices. “Patients have questions like, ‘Is it true drinking apple cider vinegar every day will improve my health?’ They’re not waiting until their next appointment to ask your advice, they’re looking for answers online now,” says Joel Headley, PatientPop director of local SEO and marketing.
When you create and share unique, helpful wellness content, you add value to topics patients are already thinking about. Over time, patients will view you and your healthcare practice as a trusted source and partner.
There are many different kinds of wellness content you can create. A few types of content to consider for your healthcare practice include:
Blogs
Writing wellness blogs can be easy. For an example, look again at Healthbeat. Wellness blogs include topics like tips for fueling workouts, diets that actually work, and the benefits of yogurt.
To write wellness blogs for your healthcare practice, first research wellness topics that relate to your specialty. A dentist, for instance, could write about whether at-home teeth-whitening kits are as effective as professional teeth whitening. Once topics are brainstormed, outline them and make sure you have compelling statistics and quotes to use in your story.
After writing your blog, select an image to complement your text. Publish the post, and then share it across all of your social media platforms. For a few dollars, you can pay Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to promote your post to a targeted audience in your vicinity. This can be worth the ad spend because not all of your content is always organically visible to all of your followers.
Keep Reading: What to Do After Posting a Blog to Your Healthcare Practice Website
Videos
Video is a type of content that works especially well for healthcare providers. “You have to engage people quickly online. Being able to succinctly address a healthcare concern or discuss a trending health story in 60 seconds or less is powerful,” says Kyle Johnson, PatientPop director of marketing technology.
You can work with a professional videographer to create wellness videos for your healthcare practice, or you can try to do it yourself. Quality videos have become increasingly easy to produce thanks to advances in camera and editing technology and tools like live video.
Social Media Content
If you don’t think you or anyone on your office staff has the time or expertise to blog or create wellness videos, turn to social media. Your healthcare practice’s Facebook page, Twitter profile, and other social media profiles are ideal for sharing bite-sized pieces of wellness advice. Put your medical expertise to use by adding expert commentary on trending wellness topics related to your specialty.
Remember, social media should also be used as a vessel to promote original blogs or videos you create.
Add Wellness Content to Your 2018 Healthcare Marketing Plan
In 2018, use wellness content to generate awareness and interest in your healthcare practice among prospective patients. Make your practice part of patients’ every day by offering wellness tips from a source they can really trust, whether in a blog, video, or on social media.
To learn more about wellness content and other healthcare marketing trends on the rise in 2018, download the whitepaper 2018 Healthcare Marketing Trends for Providers.
