The Importance of Storytelling in Healthcare Marketing

Now, more than ever, there are tools and methods available to allow marketers to understand what makes people tick. It is crucial we appreciate the wants, needs, and habits of each and every one of our personas to be relevant in an incredibly competitive marketplace, like healthcare marketing.

In healthcare marketing, connecting with our audience(s) is arguably more challenging than the norm, due to regulations, compliance, and the subject matter itself. Can you believe some people don’t find healthcare content compelling? We’re in this business to help change that. In addition to boosting organic search rankings (SEO) and increasing opportunities to engage with your audience, storytelling is important to your healthcare organization for a few key reasons.

Storytelling works.

We’ve grown to understand that storytelling should be a foundational aspect of your healthcare marketing strategy. Neuroscience tells us that storytelling makes things “click” for consumers. This research shows that using stories actually creates stronger ties to influencing how people act. All of this points to positive results in increasing engagement with the healthcare industry. But how do you do it? What “stories” do you showcase? How do you reach your varied audiences?

You can educate and add value.

Every day, healthcare practitioners are flooded with thousands of questions. The industry is confusing. The rules are always changing. Most would agree there is an education gap. As a healthcare organization, you can use relevant stories to meet your patients’ needs for better understanding how it all works. Do you have too many people visiting the ED for non-emergency services? Create content focusing on the other available facilities, information on primary care providers in your system, or even on the varying costs between walk-ins and emergency departments. There are seemingly limitless opportunities to add value to patients via this type of content. Plus, companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not generate content.

There’s demand for this information.

At the end of the day, consumers are looking for this content to make informed decisions about their health. Stories not only help build trust, but can help support patient communications challenges too. With the numerous healthcare exchanges, requirements, and changes to insurance, patients are actively seeking answers to their questions. When done right, providing value through story-based helps aid retention and even increase patient satisfaction.

It’s not easy to build trust, and this approach is certainly a long term commitment, but with a sound strategy, understanding of your patient personas and specific goals in mind, storytelling can help you tackle a number of healthcare marketing challenges.