“We know that the consumer experience today starts online. Consumers check out symptoms, providers, and treatments, often before even seeing a provider, and in fact, a significant amount of consumers self-diagnose. Digital marketing allows healthcare organizations to meet the consumers where they are, targeting patients at their specific moment of need based upon their specific condition.” — John Weston
HealthLeaders Media’s Marianne Aiello recently took a look at how the Mayo Clinic’s Digital Marketing Strategy Drives Engagement. Her interview with John Weston, the chief marketing officer for Mayo Clinic, shows why their name is what comes up when you search for medical information: they work at it.
For instance, that rash of Twitter users doing the Popeye pose is part of the 2015 #StrongArmSelfie campaign — an effort to raise awareness for colorectal cancer screening. How much awareness has been raised? Here are the numbers:
- It launched March 1, 2015
- The video of the anthem, Stronger Than That, has been viewed over 14,500 times on YouTube and 43,000 tmes on Facebook, and it ran on the big screen in NYC’s Times Square in March.
- The #StrongArmSelfie hashtag has been used more than 11,000 times across social platforms (3,600+ on Twitter & 6,900 engagements on related posts on Facebook)
More Than Selfies — SEM Is A Service
John Weston considers search engine marketing an essential part of the marketer’s toolkit and something that must be done by every organization. To quote: “With changes in the healthcare environment, and increasingly savvy digital consumers, organizations have to do more to get their brands into the consideration set.”
But the reason Mayo Clinic wants to be integrated into the digital ecosystem is because this is how people look for information and get advice. Leveraging their site’s rich content shares the knowledge and expertise of a reputable medical organization with the consumer looking for accurate information about the health problem they are suddenly interested in.
The Takeaway For Digital Marketers
Mayo Clinic’s investment in digital & content marketing represents about two thirds of their current activity, according to the article. They recognize that people go online to find the information they offer.
What about your business? If people go online to find the information, service, or product you offer, maybe your marketing budget should reflect similar investment. Call it Search Engine Optimization, or call it Search Engine Marketing, the point is to get what you offer on the radar of the person looking for it by being high in the rankings of the search engine they use.
