What patients expect from your content marketing?
In previous blogs, we've discussed how medical content marketing can improve your rankings on search engines and help you attract more patients.
However, this inbound marketing strategy goes beyond posting entries on your blog or reels on social media.
→ To truly succeed with your content, you must know what your patients are looking for and target it directly.
Your content may be well-structured and written, but if it doesn't address the questions of your potential patients, it won't be fulfilling the main purpose of content marketing. Don't let that happen!
These are our top tips for creating content that your patients will want to read.
1. Market research (medical sector)
Before you start writing content for patients, it's essential to know what types of information patients are seeking in your area or specialization.
→ Market research will help you identify the topics that interest your potential patients, an excellent starting point for the content you will create.
If you skip this step, the content you create is likely to be about what you consider important and not what your patients want/need to hear.
And, if your content doesn't align with what your patients are looking for, they probably won't even take the time to read it.
2. Be educational
Write educational content and, above all, avoid "complex" medical jargon whenever possible.
Users seeking health information online ask simple questions about a particular condition, symptoms, risks, diagnosis, and possible treatments.
Heavy, technical content that is difficult to understand is an obstacle for patients seeking answers rather than advanced knowledge in the field.
→ Try to simplify your content and explain everything as simply and understandably as possible.
Informed patients are better equipped to make the right decisions for their health, but they must be able to understand the information to reach that point.
3. Answer common questions
The most common reason why a patient visits a clinic's website is to find answers to their needs or problems.
They want to know how you can help them!
This can be before, during, or after the service/treatment.
For example, patients requiring surgery may have doubts about pre and postoperative recommendations or the techniques and technologies used during the procedure.
Market research can help identify some of these questions, but your greatest resource lies in the questions patients ask during their assessment appointments, post-operation reviews, etc.
→ Taking note of common doubts will help you effectively execute your content plan for clinics. Lean on the rest of the staff to do this.
4. Guide the patient through treatment
When patients seek health information online, they are genuinely looking for guidance.
Your content should guide patients through the process of determining if they need treatment and, if so, what options are available.
→ You need to accompany the patient's decision-making process with information.
A structure that can work quite well is as follows:
- What symptoms indicate a particular condition/problem?
- What is this condition, and what does it mean for the patient's health?
- When should a patient seek treatment for this condition/problem?
- What treatment options are available?
- How can your clinic help with each treatment option?
- If a patient undergoes surgery/procedure for that particular problem, what do they need before and after treatment?
Whether you separate this content on different pages or cover it all on one page, the important thing is that the content follows a similar structure to the one proposed.
Remember that the purpose of content marketing is to educate and guide patients in their purchasing process.
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If your content isn't what patients are looking for, you won't solve the patient's search intent, which, in turn, won't help your clinic or practice.
→ Answer the questions patients are always looking for, and you'll be on the right track.
If you want marketing that delivers results, contact us!
At Medical Marketing, we can help you create a content strategy with local market research for your clinic.