Healthcare Advertising: 4 Ways to Keep Campaigns Healthy

4 Ways to Keep Healthcare Advertising Campaigns Healthy

It’s been a tough few years for hospital systems. Between rising patient volumes, employee turnover, funding shortages, inflation, and more, effective healthcare advertising is higher stakes than ever. 

Healthcare advertising needs to be adaptive, dynamic, and compliant to remain impactful. Let’s explore five strategies to keep your campaigns healthy.

1. Adopt a Bold, Brand-Safe Media Strategy

Creative thinking is crucial in an over-saturated advertising landscape. 

Media planners should recommend a media mix tailored to your priority audiences. For example, LinkedIn offers a professional platform to target specific industries or job titles

4 Ways to Keep Healthcare Advertising Campaigns Healthy
Regardless of platform, brand safety must be the number one priority in developing a media strategy for healthcare advertising campaigns. Your media team should recommend tactics that connect with potential patients or other intended audiences, but only if they’re safe for your brand.

2. Stand Out Early in the Customer Journey with Top of Funnel Tactics

Consumer decision-making in healthcare involves extensive research and consideration. 

What’s more, consumers have many healthcare options to vet and many are indistinguishable from one another. 

Investing in brand awareness is crucial if you want your hospital system to stand out from the crowd and become the brand preference.

Leveraging top-of-funnel paid media tactics through channels like TV, social media, or targeted display ads, you can capture the attention of patients early in their health decision-making journey This increases the likelihood of patient conversion down the road and reduced patient acquisition costs.

3. Integrate Paid Media into Your Community

To truly connect with your priority audience, paid media teams may recommend integrating paid media efforts into the community itself. 

Local sponsorships allow healthcare advertisers to support community initiatives and gain positive brand exposure. 

Marketing Doctor helped bring this type of activation to life with the Umbrella Sky Project – a whimsical out of home (OOH) display on behalf of Northern Light Health in Maine. The unique installation brought community members together, drawing significant media coverage and user-generated content. The compelling campaign package raised awareness and forged joyful connections with the healthcare organization.

4. Balance Paid Media and Health System Capacity

While more patients are generally the goal, sustainable foot traffic and attention to patient access are key. 

Confirm your paid media agency knows how to pivot paid media placements if a community-based clinic must close, or certain locations for urgent or emergency care would better serve patients. 

With instant gratification being the norm and an increased market share for Minute Clinic and commercial urgent cares, consumers increasingly expect their healthcare access to be efficient, too. That said, wait times for doctor appointments are on the rise, averaging around 26 days.

A savvy paid media agency will collaborate with you to drive patient acquisition while remaining mindful of service line capacity to mitigate patient frustration, staff overload, and unbalanced appointment books and ensure a safer, positive experience for everyone. 

Are Your Healthcare Advertising Campaigns Due for a Check-Up?

As the demand for urgent healthcare services grows and the market becomes increasingly competitive, effective paid media campaigns are essential. Marketing Doctor has a decades-long track record of solving business challenges for healthcare advertisers. Whether you’re seeking more brand awareness, patients, employees, donations, or otherwise, we’re ready to help make a difference.

Reach out today to get your healthcare advertising campaigns in tip-top shape.

It’s been a tough few years for hospital systems. Between rising patient volumes, employee turnover, funding shortages, inflation, and more, effective healthcare advertising is higher stakes than ever. 

Healthcare advertising needs to be adaptive, dynamic, and compliant to remain impactful. Let’s explore five strategies to keep your campaigns healthy.

1. Adopt a Bold, Brand-Safe Media Strategy

Creative thinking is crucial in an over-saturated advertising landscape. 

Media planners should recommend a media mix tailored to your priority audiences. For example, LinkedIn offers a professional platform to target specific industries or job titles

Regardless of platform, brand safety must be the number one priority in developing a media strategy for healthcare advertising campaigns. Your media team should recommend tactics that connect with potential patients or other intended audiences, but only if they’re safe for your brand.

2. Stand Out Early in the Customer Journey with Top of Funnel Tactics

Consumer decision-making in healthcare involves extensive research and consideration. 

What’s more, consumers have many healthcare options to vet and many are indistinguishable from one another. 

Investing in brand awareness is crucial if you want your hospital system to stand out from the crowd and become the brand preference.

Leveraging top-of-funnel paid media tactics through channels like TV, social media, or targeted display ads, you can capture the attention of patients early in their health decision-making journey This increases the likelihood of patient conversion down the road and reduced patient acquisition costs.

3. Integrate Paid Media into Your Community

To truly connect with your priority audience, paid media teams may recommend integrating paid media efforts into the community itself. 

Local sponsorships allow healthcare advertisers to support community initiatives and gain positive brand exposure. 

Marketing Doctor helped bring this type of activation to life with the Umbrella Sky Project – a whimsical out of home (OOH) display on behalf of Northern Light Health in Maine. The unique installation brought community members together, drawing significant media coverage and user-generated content. The compelling campaign package raised awareness and forged joyful connections with the healthcare organization.

4. Balance Paid Media and Health System Capacity

While more patients are generally the goal, sustainable foot traffic and attention to patient access are key. 

Confirm your paid media agency knows how to pivot paid media placements if a community-based clinic must close, or certain locations for urgent or emergency care would better serve patients. 

With instant gratification being the norm and an increased market share for Minute Clinic and commercial urgent cares, consumers increasingly expect their healthcare access to be efficient, too. That said, wait times for doctor appointments are on the rise, averaging around 26 days.

A savvy paid media agency will collaborate with you to drive patient acquisition while remaining mindful of service line capacity to mitigate patient frustration, staff overload, and unbalanced appointment books and ensure a safer, positive experience for everyone. 

Are Your Healthcare Advertising Campaigns Due for a Check-Up?

As the demand for urgent healthcare services grows and the market becomes increasingly competitive, effective paid media campaigns are essential. Marketing Doctor has a decades-long track record of solving business challenges for healthcare advertisers. Whether you’re seeking more brand awareness, patients, employees, donations, or otherwise, we’re ready to help make a difference.

Reach out today to get your healthcare advertising campaigns in tip-top shape.

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