Not long ago, if a person suffered medical symptoms, he or she would first turn to a family member or friend for help or advice. Not anymore. The internet has taken over as the first source that consumers turn to. Why? Because research has shown that trust in online sources has increased about 44%. That’s a lot of credibility. How can you tap in?
There are some surprising statistics in 5 Trends in Healthcare in 2010, a study commissioned by Google, which show that an online presence is critical for healthcare providers and institutions.
Check this out:
- 61% of adults use online health resources.
- 53% of those adults ask their doctors new questions based on what they find on the internet.
- 80 million Americans use social media for health-related issues.
- 65% of all adults say that the internet is their top resource for health concerns.
- 32% of adults say they typically watch health videos; this is more than any other category besides news videos.
What about mobile devices?
The numbers are in: Over 225 billion searches were done from mobile devices last year. It is projected that about half of all internet searches will be done using a mobile device in the next few years. About half of iPhone users had completed a health-related search using their mobile devices.
How do these digital trends relate to hospitals?
According to Hospitals Mini Pack, hospitals are at the forefront of this trend:
- 41% of adults use the internet to research hospitals, more than any other resource.
- 76% of adults go directly to the hospital website, 62% use a search engine, and 56% use a health website.
What do these consumers do with this information?
They take action!
As you can see, the majority of online hospital seekers take both online and offline action.
So, if you are a decision-maker for a hospital or physician’s group, what steps can you take to ensure that you reap the benefits of this trend? Whether through internet, online video, social media, or mobile devices, your consumers are there. Make sure that your marketing agency diversifies your campaign through all of these different resources to meet your audience wherever they are. Place ads where hospital seekers will find them and optimize your keywords to capture these perspective customers.
