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SOURCES: BRIGHT LOCAL, CONTENT MARKETING INSTITUTE,

ECONSULTANCY, MODERN HEALTHCARE, NATIONAL RESEARCH,

NEWSCRED, PEW RESEARCH CENTER, THE SPARK REPORT,

SKYWORD, TRUE NORTH.

CONSUMERS GO TODIGITAL PLATFORMS FIRSTThe days when people turned to in-person experts or loved ones first for information about health topics and products/services is coming to an end. We now firmly live in a digital age.

THE WEB IS WHEREHEALTH ENGAGEMENT STARTS...

…AND SOCIAL MEDIA IS WHERE IT CONTINUES.Share of users who say they engage with health topics on

For healthcare brands, digital content is becoming the gateway to all engagement. If an organization doesn’t appear in search or social, it often isn’t found at all by consumers.

MOBILE IS ACCELERATINGTHE MOVE TO DIGITALThe ubiquity of smartphones—at least 68% of Americans have one—means that consumers can now research information and products/providers at any time.

SMARTPHONES HAVE BECOMEINFORMATION-GATHERING GATEWAYS:

of smartphone owners have used their phone to look up health information

MOBILE IS TRANSFORMINGHOW PEOPLE FIND HEALTH SERVICES:

THE CONTENT COMPETITIONIS HEATING UPMost healthcare marketers say they’re either currently engaging in content marketing (75%) or plan on engaging in it this year (19%). In other words, it’s become mainstream and necessary.

HEALTHCARE MARKETERS ARE CREATING A LOT OF CONTENT... Share of healthcare brands creating:

…AND THAT CONTENT PRODUCTIONIS SET TO INCREASE

HEALTHCARE CONTENTIS TRULY USEFUL AND EFFECTIVEPeople aren’t just researching online, they’re also making decisions about their healthcare and the products/services they purchase based on the information they find.

...AND BRANDS ARE REALIZINGTHAT CONTENT INFLUENCES BEHAVIOR

WHY HEALTHCAREBRANDSMUST CREATEEXCEPTIONAL CONTENT

72%

77%

52%

57%

79%

96%28%

22%

of Internet users have looked for medical information online in the past year

of online health information seekers say they begin with a search engine

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

1

2

3

4

1.

2.

3.

Restaurants

Doctors

Dentists

Medical professionals

General retail shops

Now that powerful, constantly connected devices are always with consumers, the barriers to going online while on the go are minimal. Content is truly accessible anytime, anywhere.

Text content

Social media content

Email content

Video content

86%

81%

78%

75%

of healthcare marketers plan to createmore content in 2016

Since most healthcare brands are ramping up content production, it’s important to develop pieces that stand out. More competition means higher expectations from consumers.

plan to increase their content budgets in 2016

60%

56%

53%

CONSUMERS ARE ACTIVELY USINGHEALTHCARE CONTENT...

of Americans who’ve searched for health information online say they’ve made a decision about how to treat an illness/issue based on what they’ve found on the Web

say online content has changed their overall health approach

say digital information has led them to ask a health provider new questions

Here are some of the key reasons why exceptionalcontent now matters more than ever:

Healthcare brands rate content optimization as the most exciting marketing opportunity of 2016

of healthcare marketers say content is a high priority this year

65%

Content has moved from a peripheral tactic for organizations to a core channel for engaging consumers. In a digital-first age with increased competition, creating exceptional content has become the best way for healthcare brands to stand out and increase revenue.

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Consistently developing engaging, high-quality digital articles, blog posts, websites, videos, and graphics has become absolutely essential for healthcare organizations.

Don’t just take our word for it. In this infographic, we’ve highlighted findings from independent research reports to help show how the behavior of both consumers and brands is rapidly shifting, making content marketing increasingly necessary in the healthcare space.