5 Healthcare Content Marketing Examples for Doctors

Healthcare content marketing arrived years ago. Physicians are using content marketing to build their medical practices. If you feel like you are running behind, here’s a quick definition:

Content Marketing:  attracting your target audience to your website with the information they are searching for and want to consume.

Creating valuable content helps you market your medical practice by keeping it relevant, and providing the fuel you need for the search engines, social media, email, and other digital marketing efforts.

Where should doctors start? 

There’s a common misconception that creating healthcare content is hard. It doesn’t have to be. Here are five content examples, and chances are, you already have several of these in place.

1. Patient Handouts
   Have you or your staff prepared handouts or other materials for patients? These might include:
   • Guides for at-home exercices and rehab
   • Treatment options for specific conditions
   • A guide on when to consider treatment for a condition
   • Travel considerations for specific conditions
   
   These materials are perfect to offer as free resources through your website, and you’ll begin building trust and credibility with potential patients.
   
   
2. Video Explanation of a Diagram or Model
   Why video? According to Animoto, 4 times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. 
   
   
   
   
   If you have a model or a chart that you frequently use to explain an injury or condition to patients, consider creating a video version of this explanation. You will want to avoid getting too detailed, but you will be able to cover the basics, common causes, etc.
   
   
3. Patient Testimonials
   Do you have a raving fan? A patient that is on the other side of an issue and had a positive outcome? Patient testimonials are a great way to let others tell your story. These can be as simple as a written testimonial, a simple video recording, or a more polished video/story with B-roll outside of the office.
   
   
   
   Asking yes/no questions lead to short answers. Open-ended questions are good, but our favorite approach is “Tell me about…”
   
   
   • Tell me about the problem or issue were you facing before you came to our practice.
   • Tell me how you feel today, after treatment.
   • Tell me about your experience with our staff.
   • What would you tell a potential patient about our practice?
     
     
4. Frequently Asked Questions
   If you are struggling to find content ideas, start with your patients. As a team, brainstorm the most common questions patients and potential patients ask. Aim for 10 to 15 common questions, and work through those to find 5 that would best educate and inform potential patients. Next, choose the best format of the content. Would it work well as a blog post? How about a video?
   
   
5. Health News and Relevant Topics
   According to Pew Internet Research, 805 of Internet users have searched for health-related information online.  With so many people turning to the Internet for health information, there is a huge opportunity to help people understand all of the information they are finding. A great way to create content is passing along this information that is relevant to your specialty and patients in a way that’s free of medical jargon and put in terms that they can understand.

Next Steps

Where do you go from here?

[If you're a chiropractor, start here.]

Three points that will help you be successful with healthcare content marketing:

• Create a manageable, attainable schedule. Whether it’s several times a week, once a week, or monthly, make sure it’s something your practice can maintain.
  
  
• Be consistent. For content marketing to take hold, you must be consistent. See point 1.
  
  
• Allow time for it to work. It takes time to build an audience and find your voice. Give it time and track what works best for your practice.