Understanding Viral Content Marketing

Sometimes it's impossible to tell which of your marketing efforts have the potential of going viral; it can be even harder to understand why. So how can healthcare marketing professionals work to create content that has the potential of attracting widespread attention?

The Basics of Viral Content Marketing:

• Understanding Metcalf's Law and the network effect which can help you calcuate the value of your target market or their "network"
• Know that not all content has the potential of going viral, but in order to have the potential it should beneficial to those sharing it in either message or entertainment. 
• Be familiar with the various kinds of content that can go viral; most commonly these are videos or articles but infographics and image content such as popular memes or GIFs can all grow to be wildly popular.
• Utilize the right design combination of functionality, meningfulness, integrity, appearance and form. 
• Be in the minds of your audience to understand why they share certain things.
• Make it easy to share and encourage your audience to help expand your campaign.

(Read More: 6 Lessons Beyonce Can Teach Healthcare Marketers)

Why we share content:

1. It makes us laugh
2. It makes us cry
3. It makes our jaws drop
4. It makes us ponder
5. It makes us feel connected to others
6. It makes us gasp
7. It makes us shake our heads
8. It makes us question why it's not common knowldege

Infographic Designed by: Voltier Digital and guest posted on ProBlogger

5 Marketing Mistakes You Can Fix Today

With new healthcare marketing trends rising this year, your team is going to have to make some changes to your strategy. Evolving your marketing practices will help you reach more patients as their behaviors change, leaving your non-evolving competition in the dust.  Last year, we saw a huge spike in patients turning to the internet for health information and that is a trend that is certainly not going away, so let’s take a look at some of the mistakes you might have made in regards to your internet marketing efforts so you can improve this year.

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1.     Massive Marketing Collateral

Gone are the days of successful E-books. They take far too much time to create on your end and now patients are being drawn to more bite-sized content pieces. Smith & Jones calls them “info snacks,” giving patients with decreased attention spans the opportunity to easily consume the most important information you can provide. 

TIP: Buzzfeed has become wildly popular because of their funny and topical content, but also because of the way they display their content with easily consumed lists and quizzes. 

2.     Data Overload

Last year the most consumed forms of content were videos and infographics. Due to the short attention spans of online readers, healthcare marketers have to be able to deliver important data in a concise and easily consumed way. Showcasing medical data in infographic format is proven to make it more memorable and more impactful. 

TIP: Canva has some great infographic templates which you can easily import into a simple video format.

3.    Website's That Aren't Mobile Optimization

People are using their smartphones and tablets more and more to search online for services, so if your website isn't mobile responsive you could be losing valuable leads. Your marketing team needs to focus on how your website content appears on phones and whether or not your content is driving potential patients to connect with you. You should also keep mobile optimization in mind when it comes to your email campaigns. 

TIP: Squarespace websites include free mobile optimization and you can preview and test your web pages and mobile sites with the click of a button.

4.     Unemotional Messaging

With healthcare marketing it can be scary to show too much emotion and be disruptively different, but if your marketing is too general and surface level, you'll go unnoticed. It is a huge mistake to avoid using personality in your marketing or to be too clinical. Some of the best doctors are the ones that get personal with their patients, share stories and can be seen as a shoulder to lean on; as opposed to those that are detached and unemotional. Let your content marketing reflect the kind of care you want to deliver to your patients.

TIP: Connect with patients by sharing information about your staff or physicians on your pages. Go beyond where they got their training; focus on the parts of their personalities that patients can connect with, like favorite movies or inspiration quotes.

(Read More: How to Grow Your Practice's Twitter Audience)

5.     Blah Branding

There are few industries where brand loyalty is more imperative than health care but it is often over-looked. Let your brand speak to the kind of care your organization delivers and be sure to focus on branding in your social media content, blog posts and advertising efforts. This is your chance to stand out from the competition and in medical marketing, people are often afraid to deviate from the norm. Be the one who isn't afraid to switch things up!

TIP: Run a social media campaign or contest to get your patients and community involved with your brand by asking them to come up with a new tagline for you.