A blog is a powerful marketing tool for any business, but it can be especially useful for hospitals and other healthcare providers.
This is because the medical field relies so heavily on education.
Your patients are looking for answers to their medical problems, and a blog is a great way to provide them with the information they need.
Additionally, a blog can help to build trust and credibility for your hospital or practice.
By writing about your experience and expertise, you can show potential patients that you know what you’re doing.
But the benefits don't stop there.
Here are 5 reasons why you should include a blog in your hospital's marketing strategy.
1. It will be a key component in telling your hospital's story
Your hospital has a unique story to tell, and a blog is an excellent platform for sharing that story. Through your blog, you can share the stories of your doctors, hospital, and most importantly, the patients and families you've helped.
Including information about your unique approach and philosophy when it comes to treating patients is much more personable than general posts about specific diseases and their treatments. This is what WebMD and Wikipedia are for. Instead, your potential patients are looking to read real-life stories that they can relate to.
Another way to make your blog more personable is to include author pictures and bylines on each post. This helps humanize you and reminds readers that there's a real person behind the helpful content they're reading.
2. It serves as a way to represent your hospital
Your blog is an extension of your hospital's brand, so it's important that the content and design reflect the values and personality of your organization. It can create a deep dive into a specific specialty you may want to focus on, as well as contribute to the overall scope of information available on your hospital as a whole.
3. It can start and grow relationships
Gaining trust is key to any healthy relationship, and a blog can help you do just that. Your content is a great way to connect with current and potential patients. Providing valuable, relevant content, will allow you to build trust and credibility with them.
4. It can help potential patients discover you
One of the benefits of having a blog is that it can help improve your hospital's search engine ranking. When you include relevant keywords in your blog posts, Google values your blog more and gives it a higher ranking. This makes it easier for potential patients to find your hospital when they're searching for information online.
However, this does not mean you should try to game the system. Meaning, don't stuff your content with keywords in an effort to rank for them. Your content should be high quality and flow naturally. The higher the quality of your content, the greater its Google ranking will be.
5. It will humanize your brand
In a healthcare setting, it's important to remember that behind every hospital is a team of caring individuals. A blog can help humanize your brand by putting a face to your hospital and assure potential patients that your staff knows what they're talking about.
Your posts should open a conversation and invite comments, questions, and feedback. This way, you can connect with your readers on a personal level and show that you're approachable and friendly.
A good blog will help your hospital build expertise, increase awareness, and establish authority in your industry. It will also boost your SEO and enhance your overall patient experience, so long as it represents your brand just as thoughtfully as your other marketing assets.
For more help creating a content marketing strategy, schedule a free 45-minute marketing diagnostic call with Bizzuka. On this call, we’ll go over your current strategy and see where you may be falling short. If it looks like we can help in any way, we can set up another call to see what that looks like. If we can't help, we'll at least be able to point you in the right direction.