The 2nd Annual Health System & Hospital Marketing and Communication Summit

Organic search is a vital part of any digital marketing strategy, and improving SEO and keyword initiatives can increase digital traffic. Understand the impact content production and keyword use have on search results and — with more and more consumers accessing health information on mobile devices — ensure marketing content is appropriate for viewing on small devices.

• Evaluate the changes Google and other search engines have made that reduce the importance of link building
• Discover strategies to utilize content and keyword placement to rank higher on search results
• Adapt strategy to capitalize on niche markets and refine strategic planning to capitalize on new changes in search
• Determine tools hospitals can use to ensure all aspects of the organization’s website are mobile-friendly
• Explore how to create messages that are informative but not overwhelming on a small screen

According to Forrester Research, the U.S. digital marketing spend will reach $76.6 billion by 2016. The health care industry is using digital marketing techniques as a way to inform their communities and either interact directly with or provide a forum for interaction for their patients and prospects. They are spending online marketing dollars in a variety of ways: search engine optimization to increase visibility; online support group creation through social media channels as a value add for patients; YouTube channels featuring videos of procedures to inform current and future patients, potential donors, and the community; social media channels as a way to provide wellness-related tips to the community; and comprehensive monitoring of social media channels to observe negative feedback and respond to the patient directly, providing both a reputation management avenue and enhancing their customer service standards. These efforts produce a variety of results within their communities, target markets, and prospective donor pools. However, directly linking digital marketing investments to revenue continues to prove challenging.

• Explore options for tracking digital marketing efforts to determine ROI
• Learn how health care organizations can effectively engage on social media and link this engagement to bottom-line revenue
• Utilize website analytics to identify leads and improve patient acquisition and retention

Online reputation is making a huge impact on business as it is increasingly influencing the decisions of the health care consumer. With so many different outlets for consumers to rate and review both health care organizations and practitioners, it is extremely difficult to monitor and address every channel unless managed in real time, using technology to increase visibility in real time.

• Understand the trends in the market and where consumers are talking about health care facilities and practitioners
• Determine which channels to monitor, how to respond, and how you can leverage these channels to increase visibility
• Explore ways to enhance online reputation through consumer comments and reviews
• Bring your online reputation to par with your “true” reputation

Aligning with your audience is vital to the future of your business, but technology adaptation has empowered patients like never before and changed the path to consumption of your services. With patients conducting medical research on their phones, hospitals ranked in online patient forums, and medical apps proliferating, the best way to take advantage of the evolving media landscape to connect with the target consumer becomes unclear.

• Develop brands and create successful marketing strategies through insight from case studies, media trends, and the latest consumer insights
• Create a road map to the digital-savvy consumer
• Understand the significant changes in content and media consumption and how to utilize these to connect with consumers

Hospitals and health systems that have their own health plan can clearly benefit from co-branded outreach, but even those with no relationship to a plan can benefit from coordinated messages. Not only would these messages help to increase the number of insured community members, enrollment is a great time for hospitals and providers to build relationships with consumers

• Understand the benefits of creating marketing messages in collaboration with health plans
• Determine best practices for coordinating marketing outreach with health plans
• Hear various perspectives on this approach including hospitals with their own plan and those with no relationship to an insurer

Associating with a charity in marketing can not only help build a reputation for the hospital and promote a positive brand, but it can help raise public awareness about health concerns.

• Examine ways to create messages with a charity that meet the needs of both parties
• Discover how this marketing approach benefits each organization
• Uncover opportunities to provide health content via community organizations
• Hear from an organization that has implemented this approach and uncover the results

Marketing messages that aim to promote the organization as a whole vary from messages intended to market specific service lines. Hear how one organization creates engaging blogs and social media posts to promote specialty services, including a bariatrics program, colonoscopy services, and a pain clinic.

• Understand the role providers play in creating marketing messages
• Discuss strategies for determining service lines that benefit most from this approach
• Examine the results of this approach in building social media presence as well as increasing patient engagement and appointments

Consumers tend to make decisions about where they seek care based on a hospital’s reputation for either their primary care or specific service line care. Since hospitals market these separately, it is essential to determine how much time, energy, and resources should be focused on each to make the biggest impact on consumer choice.

• Discuss ways to ensure consistent messaging about the organization across marketing for multiple specialties
• Uncover how consumers make decisions about where to receive care inside and outside of the hospital’s walls
• Explore the balance between marketing for primary care versus marketing for specific service lines
• Address the paradigm shifts in measuring value and growth in marketing with health care reform