Online Content on Your Website
Online content in marketing produces its strongest impact when your intended audience sees it AND when it causes response. Publishing is the starting line, and information and awareness are desirable process steps. But the uber-objectives for marketing success are the products of reader engagement, action and social sharing.
Simply creating content is relatively easy to do. Creating content that is informative and precisely on-point with the reader is a couple steps up on the challenge ladder. Fortunately, health, wellness, medical science and healthcare provide a generous and fresh field of raw materials.
Our previous post in this series provided ideas for greater impact, including Interesting Content, Audience Understanding, Purposeful Listening, and Regular Updates. Here’s a roundup of additional tips and springboard ideas for brainstorming.
Let your creativity take off from here:
The visual brain. People recall 80 percent of what they see, compared with 20 percent of what they read and 10 percent of what they hear. How can you include pictures, graphs, PowerPoint presentations, infographics or video for greater impact?
Two-way photo sharing. What visually supported content is suitable for opening the door to reader-contributed visual responses?
Storytelling. Facts become vastly more engaging when wrapped in the “emotional transportation” of a purposeful story.
Humor. An amusing illustration or lighthearted touch can reinforce an idea. (Provided that the subject is appropriate to humor and that it is truly humorous.) It’s a form of storytelling.
Checklists and templates. Providing how-to steps or easy to implement steps convert good intentions into a convenient and useful action plan.
Third-party voice. There’s a dash of self-interest you say about yourself. But what others say—reviews, testimonials, tributes—is independent validation, approval and “social proof.”
“Just imagine…” Challenge your audience to look beyond the horizon and visualize what the future could hold. How can you raise their sights and/or lift their spirits?
Doctors, hospitals and healthcare providers have, almost by definition, an authoritative voice. It’s a given platform that individuals—your target audience—tend to respect as a thought leader. And done right, delivering interesting and informative online content inspires engagement, action and sharing.
It’s a continuing process that contributes to your branding and ongoing “top-of-mind” messaging. We’d love to hear what you would add to this list.
Stewart Gandolf is CEO of Healthcare Success Strategies, a medical marketing and health care advertising agency. He is also a frequent writer and speaker. This article was originally posted on Healthcare Success Strategies and is syndicated with permission.