If you work in healthcare or medical marketing, you will know that you have a huge team of experts in the building who carry around important knowledge that could be transformed into great content. But they usually have other priorities. Doctors are very busy. At the end of a very long night or day of taking care of patients and helping prevent and treat illness as well as death, they don’t have enough energy or time left. You should know that your inbound marketing efforts are going to be a lot stronger if you can have the medical professionals at your hospital involved in making content. You also know how hard it can be for them to commit to one more thing.
Physicians and Content Marketing
You have to find the delicate balance between respecting the time of your physicians while showing your expertise. It is very tricky but it’s possible. The first thing you can do is make a persuasive case. For people who do inbound marketing, there is an obvious value to it. For everybody who is not into inbound marketing, there is a learning curve.
You need to explain what inbound marketing is and what it can accomplish. How will the involvement benefit the hospital and medical practice? Also, you need to explain to them how it will benefit them specifically. You will find that there are a few statistical facts that will show you how useful inbound marketing can be. Businesses that prioritize blogging have 13 times more chances of getting a positive ROI for their marketing efforts.
54 percent more leads come from inbound marketing compared to traditional marketing tactics. 82 percent of consumers report that they feel more positive about a business after reading custom content. 70 percent of consumers are saying that being able to encounter the content marketing makes them feel closer to the company.
Personalized Approach
Your physicians are very complicated individuals that have their own preferences. Some wish to have total control over anything that have their name on it, and others can be alright with answering questions on a quick call now and then, but they want to only have light commitment. Some could be more open to creating videos or podcasts, but others are quite comfortable with writing.
Creating content is not the main job of physicians, it is the job of healthcare marketers. Any work that you do which will minimize the input of physicians should be welcomed. Always develop so that physicians can keep their commitment level low. Always give physicians plenty of time. Plan your content calendar early enough so that if your physicians get back late, your publishing schedule will not be held back.
Also, don’t ask too much from physicians. You don’t need any physician to write a blog post if you can write it with the outline and the notes that physicians give you. It could be even easier if doctors will agree to a 15-minute call. This is usually enough to come away with important insights for a blog post. Also, give physicians something that they can start with. A few doctors could be brimming with bright ideas but others might not have anything on their minds on what to start with. You should be ready with suggestions or questions that would prompt them to discuss topics relevant to their fields of expertise and field.
As soon as you get physicians to become involved, make sure they are happy with the results. Have them review the final version of whatever content before publishing and checking with them every now and then to make sure that they are satisfied with the process of the creation of healthcare content.