With the rise of digital media, healthcare marketers are looking for new ways to reach consumers and healthcare providers (HCPs). For the past two years, there has been an upward trend in incorporating native advertising into healthcare marketing strategies.
Native advertising can now be seen in nearly every healthcare industry, with pharma, hospitals, health systems, and regional service providers using this tactic to better reach their audiences. It has begun to reshape the healthcare marketing landscape, and its potential seems to only be increasing.
What is Native Advertising?
One of the most effective and efficient ways to reach potential patients and HCPs is through native advertising. Therefore, if you aren’t already using native ads in your healthcare marketing strategy, you are missing out on a massive opportunity.
Content marketing refers to promoting traffic to a specific editorial, advertorial, or information-oriented product landing page. However, regardless of what is being advertised, the majority of clicks to landing pages are now originating from native advertisements.
Native advertising is the perfect complement to content marketing. This is because native ads are designed to blend in with the surrounding content seamlessly. They are non-disruptive and provide a better user experience. As a result, native ads are viewed 52% more than traditional banner ads and are ideal for reaching high-intent audiences.
Native Advertising is Ideal for Healthcare Marketing
Consumers and HCPs have become bombarded with traditional forms of advertising, such as banner ads and pop-ups for so long that they have learned to tune them out. However, native advertising is a novel way to reach these audiences by appearing as a seamless part of the content. This allows marketers to avoid the ad blindness that plagues other forms of online advertising.
Blending your content marketing efforts with native advertising is a surefire way to reach your target consumers and HCPs. Additionally, native ads are ideal for promoting your brand without openly “selling” to your audience. It is also effective in getting more clicks to your landing pages.
Successfully Implementing a Native Advertising Strategy
Healthcare marketing is often regarded as one of the most regulated industries when it comes to marketing and advertising. So, before you incorporate native advertising into your strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind. By focusing on these four key areas of your native advertising strategy, you will be able to get the approval to run your native ad campaigns.
Build Trust and Educate with Your Content
When it comes to healthcare, trust is everything. For your consumers and HCPs to trust your brand, your content will need to be educational and trustworthy. By giving patients and HCPs the information they need to make informed decisions about their health, you will be able to build a positive rapport with your audience.
Reduce Banner Blindness
As mentioned earlier, many consumers and HCPs have become “banner blind” due to the overabundance of banner ads and other traditional forms of advertising. To avoid banner blindness with your native ads, it is crucial to ensure that your ad content is relevant and valuable to your target audience.
When done correctly, native advertising is perfect for converting those who have been bombarded with too many traditional forms of ads. It is well known that most potential patients and HPCs respond well to learning about a product or service through multiple content channels before making a decision. By experimenting with native advertising, You’ll reach a new set of users, many of whom may have never engaged with your brand before.
Focus on Easy & Affordable Creative
Native advertising is often relatively easy to produce and doesn’t require a large budget. You can work with your creative team to repurpose some of your existing content or create new content that will be native to the platform on which it will live.
Native advertisements are typically comprised of:
- A catchy headline
- An image
- Your product or practice name
- Your landing page URL
These four elements are usually all you need to create a successful native ad making it more cost-effective than other forms of advertising.
Be Mindful of Cost-efficiency
Native advertising is often more affordable than other forms of online advertising. Healthcare marketers interested in CPA-based advertising have taken to using native advertising because they are usually priced on a CPC (cost per click) basis. CPA-based advertising is a marketing model that allows marketers to only pay for advertising when the user has completed a desired action.
Actions that are often used in CPA advertising include:
- Signing up for a newsletter
- Filling out a form
- Getting a quote
- Booking an appointment
- Registering for an event
- Purchasing a product
Furthermore, native advertising doesn’t require a large budget like other digital marketing efforts such as PPC or CPM. PPC or pay-per-click involves advertisers paying a fee each time someone clicks their ad, while CPM or cost-per-thousand involves advertisers paying a set fee for one thousand impressions or views of an ad.
Through native advertising, you will be able to reach your target consumers and HCPs without breaking the bank. Native advertising involves tracking traffic growth and determining how downstream consumers act. By understanding how your target consumers interact with your content, you will be able to adjust your strategy as needed to better engage your audience.
Enhance Your Practice’s Marketing Efforts with Levo Health
Are you ready to take your healthcare practice to the next level? Levo Health can help. We are a full-service healthcare marketing agency specializing in helping practices like yours reach their target consumers and HCPs. Our expertise and experience in the healthcare industry will ensure your practice gets the most out of your marketing efforts. Contact us today to learn how we can help you grow your practice.
