Healthcare marketing: definition and challenges

The terms “marketing” and “health” seem very distant to us at first sight. However, healthcare marketing in this sector is essential, in the public as in the private sector. Whether they are hospitals, practitioners, or pharmaceutical companies, healthcare players are interested in maintaining a strong relationship with their patients.

Today the marketing applied to players in this sector is already very developed with a strong digital presence. However, communication in health is subject to numerous regulations. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Summary

1. What is healthcare marketing?
2. The advantages and limits of patient marketing
3. Healthcare Marketing communication channels
4. Example of health communication with the health crisis.
5. Conclusion on healthcare marketing

What is Healthcare Marketing?

Healthcare marketing, sometimes called hospital marketing or patient marketing, is a common practice of practitioners, care establishments, and pharmaceutical companies to promote their activity and carry out prevention with patients. But this sector of activity must comply with certain ethical rules and legal obligations in their communication.

In addition to promoting specific health services or communicating medical advances, practitioners and healthcare establishments can generally use marketing tools to generate engagement with patients:

• by carrying out prevention,
• helping them stay informed about their care,
• making it easier to book appointments,
• by directing them to the right practitioners, drugs, materials, or other health services,

Healthcare marketing follows very specific rules. Indeed, communicating about health products and services remains fairly regulated. Certainly, health is not considered a commercial domain, and health actors should not aim to sell at all costs. Nevertheless, since January 2021, the principle of free communication in the health sector has been established in France, thus replacing the ban on direct and indirect advertising on health. This principle is subject to several conditions, such as the prohibition of comparing with other health professionals or encouraging unnecessary acts of care.

New teleconsultation practices, which are developing very strongly in France and around the world, also promote this phenomenon. Indeed, health information is now accessible online and very often supervised by medical professionals.

We can also think of a medical information site that offers many derivative products and referrals to medical SEO services.

The advantages and limits of patient marketing

The use of modern communication methods by hospitals. These establishments start from the observation that they can apply the same practices as in the industry.

Here are the advantages that marketing offers them:

• Promotes understanding and dialogue
• Highlights his expertise
• Strengthens the doctor-patient relationship
• Inform, help, and entertain patients
• Presence on social networks and digital in general
• Increases the number of patients because it generates commitment
• Create opportunities to engage like events

Conversely, healthcare marketing can lead to a natural tendency to consume, contrary to its ethics. Today, patients have slightly more advanced knowledge of medicine through their experience and talk about it on blogs, and forums, which can influence even though these are not official medical opinions. We can also compare health establishments and evaluate doctors as we could in the field of sales and commerce when this does not fit into health ethics.

Example of patient opinions towards practitioners…

Healthcare marketing communication channels

To keep patients informed, healthcare establishments can use different digital tools:

• SMS is a particularly effective tool for health professionals. This communication channel allows patients to stay informed of their appointments.
• Or to receive useful reminders concerning their health. By
• This information can also be found within applications. More and more brands and healthcare establishments are creating their application to guarantee real engagement on the part of patients. With the application, the patient can configure several medication reminders, write down questions for the doctor, and access an autonomous messaging system if he needs help because today, AI is part of the healthcare marketing trend.

Practitioners and companies can therefore use SMS, e-mails, and other formats such as podcasts, videos, and infographics for prevention and information. In addition, these actors are encouraged to produce engaging and fun content. These marketing materials can also be distributed on healthcare social media marketing.

Example of health communication with the health crisis.

During the Covid-19 crisis, the strategy of public health communications has widely used empathy: getting vaccinated is certainly protecting yourself but, above all, saving others.

The health crisis gave rise to several types of infographics concerning the virus because, in addition to empathy, transparency was part of the strategy. Through these infographics, citizens had access in a simplified way to knowledge of the virus and the vaccine.

Let’s not forget that the traditional means of communication were also used, in particular telephone calls from doctors and laboratories, after a positive test for Covid-19.

Here are some examples of communications related to Covid-19.

Conclusion on healthcare marketing

For the various health services and establishments, it is now important to establish a strong healthcare marketing strategy to generate patient engagement. This remains a communication strategy that must be extremely supervised because it is sensitive, but it opens up to trends and digital communication opportunities that can prove advantageous.