Don’t Have Time To “Do” Health Content Strategy? Here’s Your Shortcut.

“You can’t afford not to be online.”

It’s true. If you’re hoping for any long-term success, most businesses will need some sort of strategic approach to content, and you’ll need to do it well. The awesome news about doing it well though, is that it’s relatively simple, and can be summed up in three words.

Have a purpose.

Purpose is something pretty magical, especially in healthcare. It does most of the work involved in having a productive online presence (very different than “being online”). Have a purpose, and you’ll know what platforms you should be on, what you should blog about, how long your posts should be, even how often you should be tweeting. It will help you keep a tone and strategy that is mindful of the importance of our industry.

Once you know your purpose, you’ve got the simple part out of the way. Problem is, now you’re left with work that takes time — something I believe startup founders when they say they just don’t have enough of it.

As important as it is for a founder’s or CEO’s vision, personality, and voice to be connected to their online branding and interaction, I fully accept that you just don’t have the time to do that, on top of running your business.

That though, doesn’t change the fact that it needs to be done, and it needs to be done now — not once you get your first sale, or after launch, or after you find the right VC. It needs to be done today, because part of the reason you’re active online is to talk to your target audience and use what you find out to refine your product. It’s easier to make those kinds of changes before launch, right?

So I want to give you something.

Whenever I kick off a project with a client, we talk purpose. We try to get that all hemmed up nice and neatly, so that when I work on their content strategy, they need to do as little as possible going forward. The great thing, is that once you have the process of getting that information together, you can use the answers to guide your assistant, CCO, intern, whomever you’ve charged with the heart of your online business presence, in getting everything right from the beginning, with the least amount of input from you as possible.

What I want to give you are the questions you need to answer. You’ll find them below. Take the time (15-20 min) to answer them honestly and thoroughly. Give it to that intern/CCO/assistant as a guideline, and you’ll be light-years ahead of your competitors in the online space, and well on your way to an online presence that’s actually productive.

What benefit would you like your online presence to bring your business?

What excites you most about the possibilities of your company in the online healthcare world?

What other sites/brands do you like within healthcare? What about outside? Why or why not?

What’s your biggest challenge doing business in healthcare so far?

Three words describing your brand…

Why do people come to you?

Who is your ideal client?

What competitor do you most admire? Why?

What kind of problems/pressing questions have you run into in healthcare?

What do you have to offer patients (even if indirectly)?

What does a customer need to believe about health to be a great fit with you?

What do your current customers like about working with you?

Are there frequent objections from your customers that you run into? What have you found is likely to make a client want to do business with you?

Do you know where your target audience currently hangs out online? If not, how can you find out?

Those will be enough to get you started, but if you’re looking for more in-depth help, contact us now. 

Megan Williams