With the advent of the internet and cheap data, the reach of a commoner to the web has risen exponentially. Online Healthcare marketing has seen a boom with the use of the internet, but now the competition is getting very stiff. The need of the hour is to equip yourself with new emerging technology, aka the next-generation technology.
What are the challenges faced by Healthcare Marketing Agencies?
- The growing number of digital marketing agencies involved in the space has created tough competition.
- With the entry of agencies backed by big corporate houses, the financial viability and resource use are also shrinking.
- The emergence of new marketing options in the Least Developing Countries also leading Healthcare giants to outsource the marketing work.
- Re-skilling is being done at a much slower pace in contrast to the rising demand from the healthcare sector.
In the midst of the internet revolution, digital healthcare marketing soared exponentially, and the market is all set to raise its bar to a whopping $20billion by 2024. But the moot question is, who is going to get benefited? The answer is derived from the Darwinian Theory of “The Survival of the Fittest.” If you are ready to walk a step ahead of others, certainly you will be the winner.
How to Cope up with the emerging challenges of the Healthcare sector marketing?
- The first step towards solving a problem is, deciphering the nature of the problem. In contemporary times, sectoral growth isn’t an issue. Rather making space for yourself is.
- Brace yourself for next-generation technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Machine Learning, etc., are the tools of this decade to improve your performance.
- Investing in the next generation of technology is a one-time investment to step your marketing capabilities to unprecedented heights.
- Cut-throat competition is only observed in the usual segment of healthcare marketing, but if a marketing agency starts using next-generation technology at this point in time. You have made a space for yourself at the top of the food chain for at least the next two decades.
- The sudden spike in the competition is visible, and it’s only going to worsen with more and more marketing agencies entering the arena in the upcoming years. To have an edge with a planned strategy involves new financial models, new technology, and re-skilling your existing workforce.
- A Harvard Business Review report quoting World Economic Forum stated that hiring someone from outside can cost six times more than re-skilling. This suffices to prove the need for re-skilling in healthcare marketing.
New Approach in the New Normal
- If a digital marketing agency has all the necessary expertise to set up a perfect video interaction tool for a medical practitioner, most likely that agency will get more referrals from that doctor or hospital.
- All the approaches should be consumer-centric since your performance metrics solely depend on the results, which is the customer.
- Making the services more accessible through Telehealth tools, using videos to demonstrate treatment methods, and making post-treatment calls are few services that don’t need much investment but can be a game-changer in terms of consumer response.
- Helping Healthcare brands forge partnerships across sub-segments within the sector can also help in revamping the overall business architecture.
The problems are enormous, so are the solutions. Our way of looking at the challenges will ultimately determine whether we are going to convert these challenges into an opportunity or succumb to them. Few fundamentals need tweaking, and the rest will follow automatically. The crux of the matter is that “We don’t have to do different things, rather do things differently.” This only change in strategy and outlook can completely revamp healthcare marketing.
