Healthcare Content Marketing: Not All Content is Created Equal

What’s the best type of content for your healthcare brand? Well, as Einstein says, it’s all relative.

Good content is defined by whether it speaks to your target audience and gives you the results you want. You may deem Kim Kardashian’s self-promotional antics cringe-worthy, but by consistently delivering relevant content to a highly-engaged audience, Kim is considered the reigning queen of social media.

As a healthcare brand, it’s vital to know your audience and identify the goals you want to achieve. Whether you want to entertain, educate or influence, your goal will determine the type of content you will create. Examples of popular content can be found in this Buzzsumo blog, “Be Inspired: The Best B2B Content Of 2015.”

Healthcare brands typically seek to educate and influence healthcare administrators, practitioners, policy makers, nurses, and patients. To this end, Scott Public Relations recommends the following types of content.

Case Studies

A case study is a story-telling opportunity. It breathes real life into your healthcare solution and illustrates what you do, the process, and the results of your solution. A case study is a powerful customer testimonial highlighting the organizations and clients you’ve worked with and the success you’ve achieved. Potential customers are likely to have more confidence in your brand due to real-life client endorsements.

Case studies can be created in various formats such as PDFs, blog posts or videos. Be sure to use photos, infographics, and highlight quotes to draw attention to key components of your case study.

White Papers

If you want to establish yourself as a thought leader and expert, a white paper is a good way to exhibit your critical knowledge and expertise. A white paper is like a research paper – a formal, authoritative report that takes an in-depth look at a complex industry topic. It’s typically written by an industry expert and incorporates formal copy, charts, graphics, and expert resources. According to HubSpot, people who download white papers are further along in the customer buying cycle.

EBooks

Ebooks are the hipster, cool version of the nerdy white paper. While both formats focus on solving industry-specific problems and educating the reader, the eBook is casual, conversational, and jam-packed with highly visual content and infographics. Because eBooks are typically quicker to produce than white papers, you should try to provide new, timely, and targeted content. Include actionable tips and keep the generic fluff to a minimum. By providing high quality educational healthcare content, the more likely your audience will associate you with being a thought leader.

Surveys

Independent research surveys are a great way to position your brand as a thought leader. Independent surveys can be costly, but the statistical results can be repurposed in multiple formats such as infographics, white papers, and videos. Additionally, PR campaigns can be created around survey results to generate news stories, thereby strengthening your brand presence and in turn, generating leads.

While these forms of content can be time-consuming and resource heavy, your work will pay dividends in the form of original, valuable content that can be leveraged and repurposed across social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Slideshare.

As a healthcare professional, what type of content do you prefer to read? Share your feedback with us!

For examples of case studies, explore our healthcare case studies.

For examples of white papers, download our healthcare white papers.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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