MARKETING HEALTHCARE
How Covid-19 Continues To Affect Lives
By Tom Simba
One and a half years later , the world is still dealing with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic . It is safe to say that this topic will remain on top of most boardroom agendas for several years to come . For the Chief Marketing Officer of a healthcare institution , growing brand awareness and generating demand is a key priority area especially during Kenya ’ s cold weather season when upper respiratory illnesses are notoriously common .
It is said that every challenge presents an opportunity for change . Healthcare marketers must use this pandemic as a pivot to cause deliberate disruption . We live in the information age and harnessing ubiquitous data in effective ways offers key competitive advantage .
Healthcare marketers must understand and predict consumer behaviour . Consumers are quick to access information that helps them , but they often lack the ability to make sense of it , or to use it appropriately . With multiple sources of data available at our fingertips , the ability to manage how consumers interact with the data has massive consequences on the stickiness of your service and product offering .
Healthcare marketers can optimize patient experience using technology in several ways : Using the website to have the latest Covid-19 information well positioned and impossible to miss and with links to the Ministry of Health . Additionally , a robust FAQ section ; Mobile healthcare apps allow communication between the doctor and patient where the patient can send their doctors messages without a call . Documents can be uploaded as well , and test results sent and received . With Covid restrictions , mobile health apps should be playing a key role of giving patients all they need in a convenient and effective manner ; Many people go to Google maps to search for healthcare providers nearby . This makes it very important to have your Google My Business listing updated so that patients can find you with ease !
One key investment area must be Local Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ). Kenyans like to search for ‘ local ’ services or products and use of the words ‘ near me ’, tend to follow most searches . Take advantage of such opportunities by including your institution ’ s activities such as wellness baby clinic , urgent care , and elective surgeries , if they are taking place near where your target audience is located .
As more fake news and content floods our screens , there is a high demand for quality information especially in the healthcare industry . People are seeking information that they can use to protect their loved ones and keeping themselves safe . Parents want to know if their children are safe not only in school but in the matatus they take to school . At an individual level , consumers do not have the ability to sift through the huge data to verify its authenticity and they often get overwhelmed with the amount of information out there that they give up .
Healthcare marketers must become masters of ‘ attention management ’ - making sure that their audience is focused on the right set of issues and not distracted by the dozens of equally interesting but deflective issues that may be available online .
Necessity has been known to act as a catalyst . Covid-19 has been the catalyst that has seen a resurgence of telemedicine . This helps the patient and the healthcare providers limit face to face interaction , and it has also driven up opportunities for remote reporting especially where imaging diagnosis is required . This creates a new channel for the marketer to build the hospital brand around creating awareness of this relatively new service line . They can do this by creating dedicated website hubs for telehealth , updating their Google My Business Listings and social media accounts .
Having ticked all the boxes of driving your hospital brand especially online , the deal-breaker will be the user experience . If the user experience is bad , it does not matter how good your content is . Google Search has seen it fit to factor it in its ranking since May 2020 . What this means is we must create an effortless user experience . To the layman , it really means the website can load fast , information is easy to find and is accessible across all devices and platforms .
My parting shot is the need for quality healthcare is live and present . It is the patient who has become savvy and discerning than ever . Covid-19 is just one challenge facing the market . Our communication and messaging should have the patient as the focal point , latching on empathy marketing to drive a fruitful interface .
Tom Simba is Head of Marketing and Patient Experience at AAR Hospital . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Tmsimba @ gmail . com .
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