- January 16, 2015
- Posted by: growth@locutushealth.com
- Category: General Healthcare
Ok, yes. This concept is a bit self-serving, since content marketing specifically for healthcare is what this site is about. The thing is though, even if 5 years from now I’m off the healthcare grid and fulfilling my dream of a world tour of culinary schools, I hope to have seen healthcare in general deviate from the path so many mainstream brands have gone down when it comes to social media and online content.
I don’t think though, that it’s too wild a claim to make, that anyone in healthcare looking for help in content marketing (or any marketing), are likely best off sticking with their own kind.
Why? Well, we simply can’t risk the drift into triviality and superficial effectiveness that’s so common in marketing in other fields (give that video a watch). There are few areas in particular though, where I believe we have to be the most careful.
Tone
Can we all agree that Cracked is addicting? The site is so good at drawing you in, that I entered that hyperlink manually just to avoid the 1 hour trip down the rabbit-hole that a visit to the site inevitably results in. As a writer, I marvel at the way they craft, and standardize their distinct voice.
Would I like to see its equivalent in our industry though?
No way. The essence of a Cracked article is basically (trend+snark-reverence)humor+profanity…all that equates to the holy-grail of online activity—generic attention. Let’s be honest though. The people at Cracked, talented though they may be, aren’t really trying to do anything. I don’t mean to take anything away from the importance of laughter and the joy some of their articles have brought (they’ve definitely saved my sanity a time or 10), but their goal isn’t to get people to be more proactive about managing their cholesterol or understand the importance of not taking their medication with grapefruit juice.
That isn’t to say that healthcare doesn’t have room for levity…it does and it needs it. But it needs it in a way that’s personal and focused on understanding and comfort, not just entertainment and trendiness.
Privacy
Storytelling. It’s big in content marketing, and for good reason—it works. Adults, just like five-year-olds, love stories. What’s more important, is that we’re moved by them. They can hold attention and convince like no amount of facts can.
That’s why, even in healthcare, telling a story is touted as a good idea. Anecdotal evidence supports it, and I’m inclined to believe that it’s a good idea in general—specifically because healthcare is always personal.
Our stories have to be different. The tablet I got as a gift for Christmas? The same as anyone else’s. It comes in the same box, delivered the same way, I open it just like every other iPad/Nexus/Galaxy/Surface/Nero. You can’t say that about treatment for fibroids or even a routine doctor’s visit. Healthcare can only commoditized so far. What that means, is that you’ve got an enormous population of people, having very individualized experiences, and who are likely looking to share, and connect with others going through the same thing.
The most rational way to approach storytelling in healthcare, is to start spreading accounts of patient experiences (likely one where your company brought, or can bring about a positive outcome). So you start rifling through your brain, and possibly even medical records, for some moving experiences and personal details.
While other industries can spout off in-depth testimonials with little to worry about in the way of repercussions, we have HIPAA…and patient trust…and images as serious care givers or health entities. We have more to lose, and more people watching.
Timeliness
It’s a bit counterintuitive, but I think part of the reason healthcare lags behind other industries (in tech, marketing and business trends) is exactly because we have to be on time. We don’t have the luxury of playing with innovations that are too cutting edge (like pure IT), nor do we have the freedom from legal repercussions that allows us to get mired in our own history (like art). Everything we do is tested on the metrics of life, death and health, and we’re all pretty aware of that.
So when we create content, the actual meat of what we write can’t be too experimental (because being too early can be just as bad as being too late) and it can’t be outdated, because there’s always room for improvement in healthcare.
Responsibility
People listen to us. As much as I appreciate the work of Seth Godin, I believe the concept of the “death of the expert” has been greatly exaggerated. An ivy league degree might not mean what it used to, but peer-reviewed journals and medical degrees carry a lot of practical weight. If you write for the natural medicine set, the weight is a bit different, but every sector of healthcare has their professionals who are respected and trusted for reasons beyond just their words and ideas.
That cannot (and I believe will not) ever completely go away, because as an institution and a market, we are responsible for positive change.
Target
The Internet in general, but social media in particular, is painfully skewed toward millenials. That’s a mistake in “regular” content marketing.
It’s absolutely ridiculous in healthcare.
The NIH gives some nice breakdowns here, but long story short, we’re looking at person making almost half their total life health expenditures after age 65. Yes, NikeFuel has launched a mini-frenzy around fitness monitors (and the apps that love them), and there is a bit of cash to be eked of the 20-something set, but even if you look at healthcare from a purely profit standpoint (I hope you don’t), there is much more to be had in the Golden Girl’s age group.
It’s worth mentioning that I don’t think healthcare should wall itself off—there’s a lot to be learned from other industries. It think it’s essential though, when looking to some other industries for input, to recognize how much more important what we do is and that we should act (and market) accordingly.
Megan Williams, MBA