June 1st, 2010
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Healthcare marketers have been accustomed to directing patients and customers to a single Web site address. Now, many healthcare provider Web sites include links to Web applications such as Twitter™ and Facebook™. How can you best utilize these tools to make your Web site more memorable, user-friendly, and noteworthy?
Traditionally, healthcare Web sites were used for one-way communication. A user visited a Web site to obtain information such as physician directories, health information, recipes, and directions to medical facilities. With increased interactivity, Web sites are no longer a one-way street for communication. READ MORE »
April 22nd, 2010
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If you have become a member of popular social networking sites like Facebook™, Twitter™, or LinkedIn® in recent years, you have seen their popularity grow to almost baffling proportions. As online social networking continues to expand its reach, one thing becomes clear—social networking is here to stay, and successful marketers of the future will be those who participate in conversations and effectively disseminate their messages throughout those avenues.
These days it seems that just about everyone is a member of some type of social networking site. In recent years, the popularity and scope of these sites has vastly expanded from maintaining contact with friends and family. Businesses, political organizations, artists, and even tourist attractions are finding their way onto the pages of these sites and amassing throngs of followers who receive regular updates about their activities. For healthcare marketers, the question isn’t if —but when—social media will become an imperative for their organizations. But before you dive in, you should know the pros and cons of social media in order to develop a focused online marketing strategy.
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September 21st, 2009
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Approximately 6.5 percent of all traffic on the Web is taken up by social networking. This number only continues to grow, which creates an enormous opportunity for healthcare marketers to reach their target audience.
Social networks are online communities of people with similar interest that can include blogs, comment threads, polls, surveys, videos, or anything else that allow readers to write, post, vote, or otherwise participate beyond just reading. Social network participants are able to interact with each other through e-mail, posted comments, instant messages, and chat. READ MORE »
August 28th, 2009
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Whether we take much notice of it or not, our lives are becoming increasingly digitized. Huge shifts have occurred in the way we receive information, and our warp-speed progress down the digital highway, past exits with formerly nonsensical names like Twitter™ and Facebook®, have led us to the present.
In March 2009, the Custom Publishing Council (CPC) conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 adult Americans, age 18 and older, to gauge their feelings on digital media’s increasingly prominent place in our society. In a result that would surprise those trumpeting an imminent digital takeover, the overwhelming majority (75 percent) prefer the printed publication while only a quarter of those surveyed said they would prefer a world in which newspapers, magazines, and catalogues were available solely in a digital format. READ MORE »
June 13th, 2009
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You just switched car insurance companies, checked out the weather forecast for this weekend, caught up on past episodes of The Office, and ordered pizza for dinner—all with a few simple clicks of your mouse. Today, more and more Americans are using the Internet for everything. As a result, healthcare marketers are raising the bar to provide the necessary tools that will drive consumers to their Web sites.
Consumers can be found on the Web seeking information on a diagnosis, checking for provider information, and even filling prescriptions. In an industry where patient and provider interactions have long been the norm, the consumer is playing a new role in the electronic health (e-health) revolution. READ MORE »
