Developing a Content Strategy for the Healthcare Industry

By Brenna Lofquist, Senior Advertising and marketing Marketing consultant / Shopper Companies Operations at Heinz Advertising and marketing

There’s been numerous discuss developments for 2023, which we all the time see originally of a brand new yr as a result of, duh. Folks wish to know what the long run holds and what they are going to doubtlessly have to arrange for.

My colleague Mina lately wrote a publish on trends specific to the Healthcare industry and recognized that extra firms are transferring inventive studios in-house. I figured lets develop on that and discuss find out how to develop a content material technique, particularly since transferring inventive in-house can appear daunting and costly, hopefully this places you comfy (at the very least just a little bit).

What’s a content material technique?

Yet one more factor earlier than we dive in to the good things. What’s a content material technique? To place it merely it’s the planning, growth, and administration of content material. The Content Marketing Institute says consider a content material advertising and marketing technique as a top level view of your key enterprise and buyer wants, plus an in depth plan for the way you’ll use content material to deal with them.

In my expertise, issues like content material methods, can look very completely different relying on who you speak to. And that’s okay. There’s numerous selection within the advertising and marketing trade and the primary level is to find out which content material technique works greatest in your group. Okay, now lets get into it.

First issues first

Earlier than you’ll be able to even start to consider a content material technique there’s one thing it’s best to do first. Should you don’t have already got a content material stock, library, no matter you wish to name it, that is the place it’s best to begin. It’s nothing fancy. Create an excel sheet and stock all present content material. You wish to embody some essential data for every content material asset similar to:

• Target market
• Funnel stage (high, center, backside)
• Content material format
• Content material title
• Matter or focus space

When you’ve accomplished this, you’ll wish to conduct an audit of the content material to see the place you could have gaps. This may simply be completed by creating just a few pivot tables to summarize the variety of content material property by the knowledge listed about. Those to actually give attention to are audience, funnel stage, and subject or focus space. When figuring out content material for healthcare campaigns or different advertising and marketing efforts, you wish to ensure you have choices throughout the board so that you aren’t delayed since you don’t have content material obtainable.

After finishing these two steps, you have to be able to develop your healthcare content material technique.

Easy methods to create a content material technique?

First, should you don’t have just a few core matters or focus areas you’ll wish to begin right here. You can too consider these as themes. To develop themes, I like to recommend doing analysis to determine what’s happening within the trade, therefore the Healthcare industry trends post.

When you’ve discovered just a few developments, attempt to hyperlink them again to problem messages out of your messaging framework. That is essential as a result of it robotically creates a connection between the pattern and the way your product or resolution may also help or clear up the problem. A number of examples of healthcare themes are affected person consumerization and personalization of care, built-in applied sciences for a contemporary observe, and the chance of value-based care.

If you have already got core matters or focus areas outlined, you’ll wish to do the identical factor and establish developments which you could map to these problem messages. When you’ve accomplished this step, transfer on to the content material (or editorial) calendar.

Content material calendar

The content material calendar goes to take all of those items (content material audit and themes) and mix them to find out which content material to create when. Often a content material calendar is damaged down by quarter nonetheless, you’ll be able to modify it primarily based in your targets and aims. Whereas going by this train you’ll wish to maintain the corporate’s targets in thoughts. Perhaps there’s a selected initiative to give attention to similar to personalization of care. If that’s the case, you’ll wish to prioritize growth of content material in that space if it’s wanted.

That is the place the content material audit comes into play. Check out the audit and see what number of items of content material you could have for the subject and what number of items of content material fall through which funnel stage and by audience. In some circumstances, personalization of care is perhaps relevant to sure personas, not all, through which case you’ll wish to filter by the relevant personas. Do you could have any gaps? Or areas the place content material is missing?

Right here’s a situation utilizing the personalization of care instance. Let’s say this subject is particularly essential to your Champions (Follow managers) and Influencers (Physicians/medical doctors/suppliers) and when trying on the content material audit you discover many of the content material is for high funnel, there’s just a little little bit of content material for center and none for backside funnel. That is the place you’d wish to focus your content material growth efforts for the quarter. It’s essential to guarantee you could have content material obtainable to help the businesses’ initiatives.

Beneath is an instance template of an editorial or content material calendar. It’s fairly easy, simply fill within the blanks!

You’ll undergo the identical course of till you could have every quarter crammed in and perceive which content material must be developed when. After everyone seems to be aligned, you’ll be able to transfer on to content material growth.

Content material growth

This step can take completely different kinds, as famous earlier within the publish, determine what works greatest in your group. At Heinz Advertising and marketing when working with shoppers, we put collectively a desk of content material concepts. Concepts vary from internet new to repurposed property, specializing in filling the gaps recognized within the content material calendar. You wish to give attention to the quarter that’s arising, relying on the place you’re at within the present quarter. Content material growth can take time, so ensure you’re giving your self and your group sufficient time.

We use a precedence rating to assist shoppers know the place to start out when creating content material. The rating is normally primarily based on effort mixed with targets and/or the place the content material gaps are. If we proceed utilizing the personalization of care instance from above, you’d wish to prioritize creation of a backside funnel asset over center funnel. You have already got just a few center funnel property however none for backside funnel, so begin there.

Effort relies upon if the asset is internet new or repurposed. Repurposed content is simpler to create as a result of you have already got many of the data. An instance of a repurposed asset is perhaps taking a long-form whitepaper and taking the important thing sections and turning it right into a guidelines or infographic. You might be distilling the knowledge into a unique format that may act as a abstract and even lead-in to the longer kind asset.

Upon getting your priorities so as, you can begin creating content material!

Now what?

You’ll wish to revisit this train as soon as 1 / 4. Healthcare initiatives would possibly change which might influence the corporate’s aims; due to this fact you wish to make sure that your content material technique can help these modifications. There’s nothing worse than all the pieces coming to a halt since you notice you don’t have usable content material.  So, as you’re employed by every quarter, you’ll wish to proceed creating future quarters within the content material calendar so content material growth efforts proceed.