Digital Marketing Trends in 2020 — The Impact of COVID-19

// By Ben Dillon //

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every industry in the U.S., but not all in the same way or to the same degree. Healthcare’s experience has been unique, with the combination of shutdowns early in the crisis coupled with costly emergency response plans for many health systems. Teams pivoted to focus on prioritizing telehealth, then a process for reopening — not to mention a completely re-engineered experience for many patients throughout.

This crisis has been communications-heavy. Healthcare marketing teams took center stage quickly as the central point of communications about what was happening. You were educating the public on your organization’s evolving understanding of the disease. You were building trust within the community around when it was safe and appropriate to come back and receive care. You were leading reopening efforts, balancing the safety of your community and your care providers with the pressure to get schedules filled and revenues flowing again.

You were the linchpin of a national challenge that had a very diverse set of local implications. And every local market was impacted to different degrees. Some never really shut down, some never really saw a surge of cases, and others were overwhelmed. The same is true of rebounding: Some are back to capacity, while others are struggling to regain service-line volumes.

In the middle of it all, we launched the 2020 Healthcare Digital Marketing Survey. Our survey advisory board helped guide us on the proper timing and helped craft additional questions about the impact of the pandemic on marketing, particularly digital marketing, within healthcare organizations. The results paint an interesting picture, and one that is just as diverse as the impact of the pandemic on different geographical areas.

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