The Biggest Challenges Healthcare Marketers Face in 2018, and How to Overcome Them

// By Ken Robbins //

Go to any conference attended by healthcare marketers and you’ll hear the same sentiment: “We know we are lagging behind other industries, particularly in digital marketing.” There is no awareness problem. The issue is that many professionals stuck in the trenches are getting pulled from both sides. Executives really do want them to update their processes, attract more profitable patients, and improve ROI. But they often feel like their hands are tied by limitations imposed by disparate technologies, rapidly changing consumer demands, and patient protections like HIPAA.

These limitations are real. It’s a fact that healthcare marketers likely will never be able to work like their peers in other industries because the consumer shopping journey for care has its own unique set of features. People don’t shop for physicians or hospitals the same way they shop for televisions — the stakes are just too high and the experience is too personal. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t lessons healthcare marketers can learn from other sectors. Some best practices learned by retail marketers — tweaked appropriately for healthcare concerns — can be quite beneficial in moving marketing toward helping provide what consumers expect.

The key for healthcare marketers is understanding what solutions are available and how to match them to the challenges they face.

In this article, Ken Robbins discusses the challenges healthcare marketers still face in 2018, and better ways to think about:

• Connecting with today’s consumers
• Proving the value of marketing investment
• Advocating for more data sharing
• Choosing the right partner

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