Do hospitals and health systems require a different approach to content marketing?
They do. While hospitals fall under the general umbrellas like “enterprise healthcare” and “providers”, they have their own unique needs, challenges, and decision-making processes that differentiate them from payors, life sciences, or large group practices.
And everyone in the organization knows it.
That level of awareness means they can tell immediately whether a vendor is focused on them or simply dabbling in their general corner of healthcare. This is why a content strategy tailored to the hospital space can be so powerful—with a relatively small level of effort, you can differentiate yourself as more focused than your competitors and send a clear message to the market that you’re dedicated to getting results for these unique organizations.
Here’s what I typically see as the easiest-access to a hospital-focused content strategy for healthcare tech vendors.
Customer retention: The conversation extends beyond the sale
I’m a big believer that content marketing should start with retention. My clients have used my work to deepen relationships with current customers and prove that they are so proud of their results they want to publicly advertise their smart decision making and adept choice of vendors.
Hospitals need to hear that you’re listening to their needs and their environment—adapting your products and services to align with the challenges they face as enterprise healthcare providers.
Content should be used to connect with users at all levels in hospitals and health systems, from staff to the C-suite. Your content is also an opportunity to facilitate joint thought leadership goals and act as a platform for your customers’ career growth.
Suggested Solutions
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- Newsletters
- Product Education/Tip sheets
- Upsell campaigns
- Customer success showcases highlighting wins in the hospital space
Distribution: Meet hospitals where they are
Hospital decision makers and influencers spend their time in specific spaces. You’ll be focused on organizations like the American Hospital Association and platforms like Becker’s Hospital Review in addition to healthcare orgs like HFMA and HIMSS, and even specific spaces on LinkedIn. You should be meeting hospitals where they are.
But you’ll still need to tailor your approach to content distribution to fit how hospital decision makers engage with these organizations. Your content distribution strategy should be dedicated to meeting them where they are.
My clients have used my work to strengthen and refine email marketing efforts and improve results from conferences, both in-person and virtual.
Suggested Solutions
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- Virtual and in-person conference collateral
- Email campaigns segmented by hospital role/title
- LinkedIn Conversation Ads targeted to hospital prospect lists (free assessment)
Branding: Generic “healthcare” branding doesn’t instill trust
Prospects need proof that you understand hospitals—or at the very least that you’re focused on them. To that end, web pages dedicated to hospital-themed content can go a long way in cementing a brand as specialized in this corner of healthcare.
I’ve built out refreshed branding that clearly focuses on hospital needs and pain points that have resulted in branded website pages becoming the most popular on my client’s website.
Suggested Solutions
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- Hospital-focused content (blogs, case studies, white papers, infographics)
- Messaging targeted toward hospital roles and titles
- Website content dedicated to hospital challenges (not just “healthcare”)
- Hospital-focused market research
Sales: Selling into hospitals is takes a specialized touch
Healthcare enterprise sales cycles run long—12-18 months on average, and hospitals and health systems can run longer. This is because of the sheer organizational complexity and the way even simple solutions can intersect roles from clinical, to administrative, to rev cycle, to finance and beyond.
Timing in your content strategy and planning should be aligned with this reality—from marketing through sales and through retention. My partners’ sales teams have used my content in both print and digital versions to facilitate conversion, encourage questions, and condense their most common conversations.
Suggested Solutions
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- Personalized email campaigns
- Hospital-targeted case studies, white papers, and product materials
- Messaging decks to keep sales teams speaking the language of hospitals
If you’re curious how your marketing and sales teams can focus and send a message that you’re a great fit for the challenges that hospitals and health systems face today, shoot me an email or give me a call for a free assessment and three ideas on how to improve your approach to hospital content marketing.