The healthcare industry has become more and more open to reaching out to more people through advertisements. According to Statista, there’s a dramatic increase in digital ad spending of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the United States from 2011 to 2019. Moreover, Becker’s forecasted that the global expenditure on advertisements will be about $36 billion. The data speaks for itself and it’s a clear manifestation that the healthcare industry is not losing its track to embrace more ads in the coming year. Read on and let us know more about the trends in healthcare ads in 2020.

 

More Ads about Telemedicine

First on the list is telemedicine. This is a kind of practice that allows patients to have remote access to the doctors, and vice versa. You may think of it as having a FaceTime with your doctor at your comfy place. This kind of medical technology practice makes use of video-conferencing tools that comply with HIPPA, also known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Some of these video tools include thera-LINK, Doxy.me, Zoom, Vsee, and more.

Telemedicine is perfect for those who have busy schedules since you don’t have to drag yourself to the hospital or the clinic. Access and comfort are probably the reasons why more and more healthcare companies are now investing in this kind of technology and are allocating more budgets to advertise this kind of service to clients.

As a healthcare provider, you need to also consider the privacy and security of your patients’ data. You need to work with a reputable video conference provider with the best reputation.

 

Video Ads and Content 

With the rise of social media comes the consumption of more videos. Photos still stay but the consumption of video content has become more and more prevalent. Trending video content includes live streaming, video blogs (vlogs), tutorials, product videos, customer testimonials, and ads. 

In 2019, cinemagraphs and user-generated short video content (like Vine) have become popular. With the increasing consumption of visuals, it is just wise to say that video will continue to be in demand when it comes to healthcare ads in 2020.

So how do you make the best video ads? There are tons of video content to choose from but the best thing to do will test everything out. Run several campaigns and see what attracts your customers. You need to connect with your customers (be it the patient or the friends/family of patients) by showing empathy. You also need to build trust and reliability. One of the best ways to establish a connection is by educating your patients.

 

Paid Search

Pay per click or PPC is the other term for paid search. You pay search engines like Google to display your ads when users are searching for keywords that your company is targeting. The usual slots for PPC ads are on top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). There are also times that your ads will be displayed on the right side while some are on the bottom of the page. Getting the ads on the top of the search results page is the best way to target.

It’s best to pair up your paid search campaigns with search engine optimization or SEO. They’re different from each other when it comes to methodology but the end goal is to dominate the search engine results page. 

In other words, both of these digital marketing strategies aim to display your brand at the top of the page when potential customers are looking for products and services that your company is offering. The huge difference is that PPC involves payment to the search engine. 

With SEO, it’s more or less manipulating the search engine bots to display your website to customers. PPC provides instant results as long as you have the budget for your healthcare ads. On the flip side, SEO will take time to see the results but it certainly has long term impact as long as your website adheres to the search engine’s rules.   

 

Display Ads 

Display ads are quite similar to paid search – it involves paying money to the publishers. Its difference with paid search is that display ads involve banners and for some instances, videos. Most display ads are seen on different publishing platforms like blogs and websites. 

Google also provides display ad services to advertisers. Partnering your paid search with display ads is a great strategy as long as your company has enough budget for these types of campaigns.  

 

Social Media Presence 

Whether we like it or not, social media has become an extension to most people. Since most of us have more or less a social media presence, brands must also follow suit. Creating and running ads to different social media channels is a vital move to connect and expand your brand‘s reach.

Usual healthcare ad types for social media include short videos and photos. Instagram only allows 60 seconds of video while Facebook and YouTube allow longer video content. Facebook and Instagram now allow customers to purchase products and book services on their platform, not needing to access external websites. If you want to stay in the demand, you need to keep up with the latest healthcare ad types – think of it is an eCommerce within social media.

 

Blogging/Sponsored Content 

Do you recall how I mentioned the importance of educating your patients? Blogging is one of the best ways to do that. Yes, videos are more engaging but there are times when blogging or text-based presentation of facts and knowledge is more applicable. 

As a healthcare brand, you can manage your blog and educate your customers. Apart from educating patients on medical information, you can also take advantage of your blog to keep your customers up to date on some company rules and other information.

Sponsored content is another way working with influential bloggers and content creators to extend the reach of your products and services. This type of healthcare ad is coined under influencer marketing. You collaborate with these people who have a huge following and engagement with their audience.  

 

AR + VR 

AR means augmented reality while VR means virtual reality. Both of them involve close interaction with the end user. As their name suggests, they provide a reality-like experience to users. With VR, you’ll get to experience another realm as if you’re into that virtual reality. On the other hand, AR is more or less adding digital elements to an existing reality. See those filters on Instagram and Snapchat? Those are feed through AR technology. You’ll have instant access to how a particular product looks on you.  

 

Wrap Up

Keeping up with the healthcare ad trends is very important if you want to keep ahead of the game. As a brand, you don’t have to apply every trend but choose something that is best applied to your customers. Running healthcare ads is not just about expanding your brand reach but it’s also a way of getting to know more about your customers.