by Josh Thompson, Founder & CEO — Impact Health USA
The first place many of today’s consumers turn to when they have a health concern is “Dr. Google.” When people are worried about problems ranging from a high fever to high cholesterol to high blood pressure, they frequently seek guidance from the search results Google provides for their medical questions.
The popularity of Dr. Google has caused some problems for the healthcare community. Countless doctors report frustration about patients ignoring their medical advice after finding contradictory information by googling — but there is a silver lining. Healthcare providers willing to partner with Dr. Google can increase their understanding of what patients need and how to best care for them by learning from search trends and other patterns of online activity.
If you are looking to grow your telehealth business, connecting with potential customers who are researching medical treatments online is an excellent approach. It fuels a strategy known as inbound marketing that seeks to build long-term, supportive relationships with those seeking healthcare solutions.
The basics of inbound marketing
Essentially, inbound marketing meets customers where they are, addressing the needs and concerns they bring to the online arena rather than pushing a company’s products and services out to consumers in an intrusive and interruptive way. Conventional marketing drops an advertisement into a consumer’s Instagram feed, offering something that might be relevant thanks to the magic of algorithms but wasn’t necessarily asked for. Inbound marketing provides consumers with a helpful blog post and other insights when they google questions like, “How do I know if I am clinically depressed?”
It is easy to see why inbound marketing would be better received by consumers than conventional methods. Research also shows it is more effective, with 93 percent of firms that utilize inbound marketing reporting a greater return on investment than experienced with conventional methods.
How to optimize inbound marketing
As with all marketing, the first step to optimizing inbound marketing is understanding your ideal customer. This process, sometimes described as developing a buyer persona, seeks to understand for whom you should be developing marketing based on the products and services you offer and the problems they solve.
Common questions to ask yourself as you are developing a buyer persona include:
- “What does the buyer need to achieve?” For example, if you are focused on providing telehealth services for families, you’ll need to consider the unique challenges of parents seeking care for young children.
- “What are their unique objectives?” If you cater to low-income communities, you’ll need to provide guidance on maximizing care with limited financial resources.
- “How do they make decisions?” This is especially important for online marketing as it helps you understand the various phases consumers must go through before making a purchase.
- “Where do they get their information?” Identifying the most popular online sources for information relevant to your ideal customer will guide you as you seek to link content or seek out effective partnerships.
Once you have established a buyer persona, you can develop a targeted content strategy that caters to its unique characteristics with the goal of generating new leads by driving visitors to your website. Ideally, the content will serve potential customers in the three main phases of the buyer’s journey.
1. Awareness phase.
The first phase of the buyer’s journey is awareness, which is when they recognize they have a problem and begin seeking more information. To serve buyers in this phase, it is important to provide information that answers general questions rather than focusing on the company’s solutions. During the awareness phase, a video on how telemedicine can help those seeking mental health counseling is more valuable than a listing of your business’s mental health counselors and their credentials.
2. Consideration phase.
This is the phase where the consumer has been educated on the problem and is starting to explore solutions. To assist consumers in this phase, offer them e-books, guides, checklists, and other premium content that will help them fine-tune their understanding of the solution that will best fit their needs. Ideally, you’ll gather contact information in exchange for the premium content you provide.
3. Decision phase.
At this stage, consumers are preparing to make a purchase, which means you need to show them why your products and services are the best solution to their problem. Decision-phase marketing should provide clear communication on all the aspects of your offerings and a clear call to action that will move them from shoppers to buyers.
How keywords should guide content development
Partnering with Dr. Google also benefits telehealth businesses because it reveals the keywords consumers are focusing on as they search for solutions. From Google Trends to Keyword Planner, Google offers a variety of tools businesses can use to identify the search pathways consumers are using to get from problem to solution. Leveraging those keywords allows you to increase your online visibility.
As you begin to explore keywords, keep in mind that telehealth is a competitive field with a lot of competition for top-ranking keywords, so as your business grows, your best options may be focusing on long-tail keywords with fewer competitors. For instance, optimizing your content for “online doctor appointment” or “online therapy for anxiety” may prove more fruitful than focusing on more competitive keywords like “telemedicine” or “telehealth.”
Interest in telehealth has increased considerably since the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a new market for those who can provide customized and convenient healthcare solutions. Inbound marketing gives telemedicine companies a powerful tool for connecting with consumers and creating long-lasting relationships that support long-term business growth.
Josh Thompson is Founder and CEO of Impact Health USA and Impact Health University. With a rich background in healthcare, Josh has revolutionized access to medical services through his national telehealth platform, offering primary care, obesity medications, and mental health support. Josh’s dedication to improving healthcare access and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of healthcare leaders make him a prominent figure in the industry.
