Boosting Digital Marketing for Healthcare Practices During the Global Pandemic
The global pandemic has created uncertainty for businesses worldwide, with long-term forecasting being thrown out the window as no one could have foreseen the onset of such a massive disruption to global business. The healthcare industry is no exception—in fact, they’ve been hit hardest of all. The need to continue providing essential services while containing the spread of the virus has put a strain on the industry, and with the pandemic still raging on, it looks like this will continue for a while longer. All this uncertainty makes it virtually impossible for healthcare practices to implement a long-term digital marketing strategy. So, we’re going to explain how you can boost your digital marketing in these exceptional times.
Predictive analytics and crisis modeling give you flexibility when the future is uncertain.
As the economy reopens, there will be ebbs and flows before everything gets up and running again. Long-term forecasting models aren’t a good option in this situation. It would be best if you instead turned to predictive analytics and crisis modeling that use real-time data to create a more agile and reactive approach to highly-changeable markets.
For healthcare practitioners, this would mean using AI-based crisis modeling and machine learning to gain in-depth predictions of where the healthcare market is heading and what patient concerns will be in the future. This will enable you to build a more robust, more pandemic-resistant digital marketing strategy over the next 1-2 years.
To gain a clearer view of how customer interests may react and change during the global pandemic, turn to predictive analytics. Predictive analytics uses internal data points to predict future demands and market trends, allowing you to gauge marketing and advertising effectiveness, patient churn and retention, and future sales forecasts. Having a good idea of these points can help you build a more effective digital marketing strategy that adapts to the ongoing pandemic rather than using guesswork.
Research and data science will help you recreate your marketing strategy and prepare for the future.
If you haven’t already done so, you should reevaluate your marketing strategy to meet your customers’ current needs. Use tools such as Google Analytics to obtain quick gains by identifying relevant data points to make data-driven decisions. You may need to redefine your customer personas, and customer buying journey as their priorities will have likely changed since before the pandemic.
A good example is the search term “effectiveness of wearing a mask”. This term was virtually off the map until April of 2020, when there was an upward trend in it as a search term, peaking in mid-July. This has since been on a gradual downward trend. Tracking these trending terms allows businesses to tap into what information customers want now, enabling them to react to rapidly changing events.
Using this data, you can update your website, add specific questions to your website chatbot, or implement a new blog strategy that adheres to customer concerns regarding the pandemic. This approach not only allows you to sculpt a digital marketing strategy that meets customer needs but also shows empathy with customer concerns in a highly stressful time—especially when it comes to healthcare. This will have a lasting effect on how customers perceive your business well after the pandemic is over.
Chatbots may be a significant benefit for your business now and after the pandemic.
The pandemic has created an influx of questions for healthcare providers from concerned citizens. While these questions are undoubtedly valid, and healthcare providers must answer them the best they can, dealing with this influx can be both time and labor-consuming. This is the perfect scenario for a chatbot. Chatbots use machine learning to provide answers for more basic questions, helping filter out those customers that need to be passed on to human representatives and those that need a bit of direction or simple answers. Installing one on your website will not only save time and money but also offer a better customer experience, offering out detailed information on the pandemic to help ease people’s anxiety.
Installing a chatbot goes beyond providing a simple service. They are a digital representation of your business and brand and should be considered part of your digital marketing strategy. Their tone, language, and even name can all be linked to your business, offering a digital “face” to your company and making it more personable and welcoming. Healthcare providers are often judged based on their bedside manner. A chatbot allows you to provide a particular “bedside manner” to your practice’s brand whenever existing or potential customers visit the website. At a time when people need extra reassurance, this can be the difference between providing a generic service or a great customer experience.
Adapting your digital marketing strategy to the current situation can have a long-term benefit.
The healthcare industry is extremely competitive, and while the pandemic has affected the whole industry, it doesn’t mean things are any easier. Switching to a more adaptive digital marketing strategy is a great way to build a more substantial customer base while the pandemic continues. But it’s also likely to give you a real boost once the pandemic is over, providing your business with a head start on the rest. Utilizing the three major ways of making a more dynamic digital marketing strategy mentioned in this blog will ensure you can ride out this storm, and maybe even thrive during the pandemic, emerging stronger once things get back to normal.
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