Although times may be tough for hospitals throughout the country, they still seem to be able to come up with millions of dollars for advertisement campaigns. In the first half of 2011 hospitals spent $717.2 million on advertising, which is up 20% from the same period in 2010, according to the New York Times.
Traditionally, healthcare marketers will reserve large portions of their marketing budget for television advertisements, which is perceived to be the most effective way to build and sustain a brand. However, a recent study from Forrester Research is challenging the old adage of television advertising. The study found that, overall, adults spend the same amount of time on the Internet as they do watching television and adults age 18 to 44 now spend more time on the web .
Furthermore, a recent Harris Interactive poll found that nearly half of the women seeking health answers did so online first before talking to their healthcare provider. The same study, also, found that about 30% of the women who responded to the survey first solicited information from online communities, such as Facebook, prior to their visit. According to the United States Department of Labor, women are most likely to make healthcare decisions for their families and be the care giver when family members are ill. In fact, women make approximately 80% of the healthcare decisions for their families.
This begs the question of healthcare marketers whether or not they should allocate just as much time and resources in web advertising as they do with more traditional means of advertising.
Prior to launching an advertising campaign healthcare marketers should conduct qualitative and/or quantitative research to ensure the correct messaging is being used. Similarly, before turning to social networking sites to advertise your facility and services it is important to do your due diligence and conduct the proper research to understand the topics people are most interested in and what kind tone you should be using in your social media outreach. Without these valuable insights you won’t achieve the full potential of your marketing efforts.
