Round 430 BCE, a Greek man named Hippocrates turned a health care provider. Along with treating sufferers and making discoveries, Hippocrates additionally spent a part of his profession engaged on a number of the most essential medical paperwork ever printed. Look no additional than the Hippocratic oath, the code of ethics for physicians that bears his title.

Over 2,400 years later, know-how, science, and drugs have advanced exponentially, however many phrases within the oath are nonetheless remarkably related: “I’ll keep in mind that there’s artwork to drugs in addition to science, and that heat, sympathy, and understanding could outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.”

Good drugs, like good content material, comes right down to belief and outcomes. That was true earlier than the widespread period started. However the rise of digital well being content material has sophisticated the best way folks take into consideration healthcare.

Day-after-day, Google handles greater than 1 billion well being questions. Nonetheless, over a 3rd of U.S. adults have low well being literacy. And based on a latest Weber Shandwick survey of 1,700 adults, 52 p.c are involved immediately’s health-related data is both false or deceptive.

So it’s by no means been simpler to look and discover well being content material on-line. But that very same content material could be incorrect, promotional, contradictory, or overly complicated. Within the midst of a worldwide pandemic, that pattern is barely going to extend as folks look to study concerning the newest signs, diagnoses, and coverings.

The place are sufferers supposed to show? Extra importantly, what ought to docs, hospitals, insurers, and healthcare firms do to enhance the state of healthcare content material on-line?

That’s what we’ve got down to reply on this report. We’ve extracted a very powerful healthcare content material advertising developments utilizing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative knowledge. We spoke to {industry} consultants, analyzed macro content material developments utilizing our in-house content material technique know-how, and highlighted firms creating nice content material. We additionally recognized widespread challenges whereas explaining methods healthcare entrepreneurs may overcome them.

Like Hippocrates mentioned, drugs is an artwork and a science. The identical holds true for healthcare content material. Let this be your prescription for achievement.

[If you prefer to view a PDF version of the report that’s easier to print, we’ve got you covered here.]

Methodology

Analysis for this report was compiled in Could 2020. We analyzed 1,551 items of healthcare content material utilizing StoryBook, Contently’s content material technique software, which measures top-performing subjects, codecs, social shares. The dataset consists of 15 healthcare firms that publish content material—none of that are Contently purchasers.

We additionally pulled some industry-level benchmarks, measured by Contently’s content material advertising platform. This knowledge appears in any respect content material produced by our purchasers within the spring of 2020.

(To dive deeper on these findings, join our reside webinar on the state of healthcare content material advertising. You’ll additionally get the webinar on-demand.)

5 Traits Shaping the Healthcare Business 

1. Well timed COVID Tales Carry out Finest, however They Need to Be Performed Proper
2. Healthcare Is Enjoying Catch-Up, however There’s a Playbook They Can Comply with
3. Telemedicine + Healthtech Corporations Are Main the Subject
4. CSR Is a In style Use Case That Usually Lacks Creativity
5. Stories + Information Are the Largest Differentiators

1. Well timed COVID Tales Carry out Finest, however They Need to Be Performed Proper

A worldwide pandemic impacts everybody and the whole lot. As instances began to spike, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than it appeared like each article, video, and social publish tied again to the coronavirus.

For a lot of firms, particularly in healthcare, masking the subject was very important. They’d an obligation to share their data with the general public. For others, although, it was simply one other trending subject to leap on. Even when it comes from a very good place, we don’t want an electronic mail from a automotive dealership that claims they’re “right here for us throughout these troubling occasions.”

To gauge the fast affect on content material creation, we pulled the tales created by our purchasers throughout all industries after which tagged any that talked about related phrases like “pandemic,” “Covid,” and “quarantine.” In March, content material associated to the coronavirus accounted for 21 p.c of all tales throughout all industries, a big enhance up from roughly 6 p.c in February. The speed held regular by way of April till dipping barely in Could.

The surge in new content material proved to be an attention-grabbing case research for healthcare publishers. There’s an overabundance of well being content material on-line, nevertheless it principally consists of evergreen data on established domains like WebMD and Livestrong. These websites reside off of constant search visitors, however they sometimes don’t hook up with the information cycle. As soon as the coronavirus hit, that each one modified.

Since nice storytelling thrives on specifics, different manufacturers had a brand new alternative to create well timed content material. A few of the top-performing tales in our dataset got here from firms placing a novel spin on the general public dialog.

For instance, in late March, Cleveland Clinic printed “Right here’s the Injury Coronavirus Can Do to Your Lungs” with skilled quotes and a hyperlink to a brand new video that includes an skilled lung pathologist. It was shared over 26,000 occasions on Fb. Cigna ran an early how-to story on correct handwashing approach that generated hundreds of shares. In April, 23andMe wrote about a analysis research it was engaged on to take a look at the connection between genetics and COVID-19.

If healthcare firms hope to compete with the WebMDs of the world, they need to drive consciousness first with these sorts of authentic tales. Then, as soon as they construct belief and enhance area authority, they will fill of their output with extra scientific, encyclopedic content material.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply healthcare manufacturers ought to begin pursuing journalistic content material. These tales result in conflicts of curiosity. Plus, manufacturers often don’t have the assets or infrastructure in place to go after onerous information. Nonetheless, they will break new floor and construct an viewers just by reporting on the analysis and improvements being developed inside their very own firm.

“Within the well being class, there’s no such factor as a generalist … take into consideration what your viewers is looking for,” mentioned Amy O’Connor, editor-in-chief of Healthination. “Until you’re like AP or Reuters, it’s actually onerous to cowl the information, and no one desires you to, as a result of it’s already on the market.”

Your money and time could be higher spent utilizing trending subjects as a springboard to offer insights and evaluation the general public can’t get anyplace else.

2. Healthcare Is Enjoying Catch-Up, however There’s a Playbook They Can Comply with

The yr 2000 looks like a distinct lifetime. Y2K was imagined to shut down society, the Human Genome Venture was accomplished, and Contently’s co-founders have been in highschool.

A lot has modified within the 20 years since. For starters, know-how survived the brand new millennium, and our co-founders graduated (we expect?). However if you happen to work in healthcare advertising, life won’t look all that completely different.

“The rule of thumb is that it’s often twenty years behind,” O’Connor mentioned. “There are actually exceptions, however one of many causes it’s twenty years behind is as a result of there are such a lot of guidelines and rules about how—can communicate to customers.”

That mindset nonetheless holds again lots of the {industry}’s high manufacturers throughout the globe. Seventy-two healthcare firms certified for the Fortune 1000 listing in 2020. All of them earned at the least $2 billion in income final yr. Nonetheless, 15 of them had no content material presence in anyway like a weblog or useful resource middle on their web sites, whereas 30 extra had extraordinarily restricted content material outputs similar to company newsrooms or naked blogs hidden within the footer of their websites.

This missed alternative to construct belief and attain new sufferers and clients is holding again these firms from shifting up the listing.

Proper now, TV commercials are probably the most seen (and costly) type of healthcare advertising. Complete advert spend on pharma commercials topped $3.7 billion final yr, based on advert tracker iSpot.television, which is why it looks like the identical drug clips play on a loop no matter when or what you’re watching. In some instances, pharma firms spent a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} in a single yr to market their therapies. AbbVie topped the listing by doling out $465 million to advertise Humira.

That system, nevertheless, is ripe for change. For starters, conventional TV viewership continues to drop as our media habits evolve. The commercials themselves lack creativity and don’t have sufficient air time to offer significant insights or specifics. And over the past decade, the American Medical Affiliation has repeatedly referred to as for a ban on all shopper advertisements from firms promoting medication or gadgets.

Corporations can reroute a part of these huge budgets to digital content material that helps educate customers whereas staying inside {industry} guidelines and rules. We all know they’re able to this as a result of because the coronavirus unfold, virtually all the healthcare manufacturers on the Fortune 1000 listing up to date their websites and social channels with helpful updates—even when they’d no different content material on their websites in anyway. The bulletins, letters, movies, and articles confirmed that healthcare firms may adapt rapidly if the scenario requires it.

And as entrepreneurs revisit their plans for the long run, how they allocate budgets for various packages is altering. LinkedIn not too long ago reported that 78 p.c of entrepreneurs count on budgets for on-line content material to extend because of the pandemic.

“Have somebody who’s a content material skilled craft the participating, efficient, high-impact story. However work with a medical skilled who can fact-check and reality-check what you’re writing,” O’Connor mentioned. “That partnership can actually enrich your content material. It’s additionally actually essential for search engine marketing. Google has greater requirements for content material that impacts your well being.”

Different industries like finance and know-how are recognized for stylish content material packages that construct belief and increase the underside line; there’s no motive healthcare can’t be part of their ranks. Actually, some firms are already main the best way.

3. Telemedicine and Healthtech Corporations Are Main the Subject

Oscar, based in 2012, has a quite simple tagline: “Medical insurance made simple.” These 4 phrases inform us precisely what to anticipate whether or not we’re visiting Oscar’s brightly coloured web site for the primary time or trying by way of its strong useful resource middle.

That mission stands out as a result of only a few issues concerning the healthcare system should be described as “simple.” Science is complicated, certain, however many healthcare firms have struggled to speak sophisticated subjects to a normal viewers. Low well being literacy plagues tens of millions of individuals internationally. In “The Nice American Seek for Healthcare Data,” Weber Shandwick found that 31 p.c of adults discovered well being data onerous to know.

From our analysis, it was clear {that a} new breed of healthcare firm is rising by way of the {industry}. Digital-first manufacturers in sectors like telemedicine and healthtech see content material as a aggressive benefit.

In some methods, organizations like Oscar, Epic, and athenahealth are appearing extra like tech firms than legacy healthcare manufacturers. These newer gamers developed instruments like Open Enrollment checklists and interactive Flu Dashboards to tell the general public and heighten goodwill.

Web site design is a big issue right here because it impacts how audiences discover your content material. As Contently VP of selling Joe Lazauskas argued a couple of years in the past, many Fortune 1000 manufacturers have content material hubs that appear like they haven’t been up to date since 1998—if they’ve any content material in any respect.

“If the design of a content material web site is horrible, folks received’t give the phrases an opportunity,” he wrote. “They’ll understand all of it as low high quality.”

In keeping with Stanford’s Persuasive Expertise Lab, 46 p.c of individuals imagine that “design look” is the primary indicator of a model’s credibility. It impacts the whole lot from time spent in your web site to bounce price to conversions.

Creating visible content material additionally tends to offer newer healthtech corporations a leg up on legacy firms. Animated movies and infographics, as an illustration, could make a web site come throughout as extra progressive and reliable. Seventy-five p.c of entrepreneurs drive higher ROI once they use visuals with their content material, based on a joint research we did with Libris in 2019. And content material with a video component was eight occasions as participating as purely written content material.

“Advanced subjects, easy execution,” O’Connor mentioned. “The extra sophisticated and inaccessible you’re making your content material, the much less you’re serving your viewers. Break it down so anybody within the sixth grade can learn and comprehend and take motion.”

RealSelf, which helps folks discover docs and beauty surgeons on-line, has taken this recommendation to coronary heart. Its content material hub makes use of a easy format and pastel aesthetic that resembles an Instagram feed (which is probably going a part of the explanation its content material generated a whole bunch of backlicks in our report, second solely to Cleveland Clinic.)

It’s precise Instagram feed, in the meantime, is stuffed with brief movies that demystify procedures like tattoo removals and botox. Captions complement the visuals with key particulars like common value, person rankings, and a short breakdown of the science concerned. These posts repeatedly rack up over 50,000 views.

We count on visible content material and considerate design will solely enhance as time goes on. And also you don’t need to be a healthtech startup to reap the advantages. Throughout the pandemic, there’s been a surge of coronavirus graphics from publishers and healthcare firms alike that break down complicated ideas for visible learners.

On this entrance, the Heart for Well being Care Methods (CHCS) affords assets for bettering well being literacy by way of content material. The CHCS advocates for components like white house, clear language, bullets, and extra. To simplify data, they even reference instruments just like the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Degree take a look at, which measures readability, and Sustainability Evaluation of Supplies (or SAM), which appears at areas like graphics, format, and cultural appropriateness.

4. CSR Is a In style Use Case That Usually Lacks Creativity

The healthcare {industry} has a little bit of a picture drawback. The U.S. spends extra on healthcare than another nation, prices have elevated greater than 30x for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, but we nonetheless have one of many lowest life expectations in comparison with different developed international locations.

In keeping with a 2019 Gallup ballot, 70 p.c of individuals have a unfavourable view of the U.S. healthcare system. To counter this narrative, a variety of healthcare firms have targeted their content material advertising efforts on company social accountability.

This tactic is smart on the floor, however firms may do a greater job creating their CSR efforts into participating tales that audiences can discover. Throughout our analysis, we found that this type of content material was typically buried in company newsrooms. (Some newsroom pages may solely be accessed by scrolling to the footer of the location.) By way of artistic worth, CSR tales are inclined to have the dry tone of a press launch.

Publishing this type of content material doesn’t need to be rocket science. CSR subjects even have a extra pure slot in healthcare than different industries. Given all the essential analysis and improvement that healthcare firms are engaged on, it doesn’t really feel as pressured to speak concerning the affect on the group. These firms are saving lives. That makes for a compelling story–so long as you inform it the suitable method.

Simply take a look at what GE Stories has carried out.

Over the past decade, GE Stories has turn out to be arguably one of the best model weblog there’s. Led by former Forbes editor Tomas Kellner, the content material hub highlights inspirational work carried out by GE workers around the globe. It’s CSR content material on steroids with the polish of a journalistic outlet.

For instance, when there was a ventilator scarcity, the GE healthcare group sprang into motion, utilizing 3D printing know-how to extend manufacturing in Wisconsin. Naturally, Kellner and his group sprang into motion as effectively, telling an inspirational story that makes GE look good with out overt self-promotion.

“The time your viewers spends together with your content material can be a transaction,” Kellner instructed us final yr. “You must give them again one thing of worth. If the content material turns into too promotional, too self-serving, you’ll lose your viewers in a short time.”

Additionally price noting: There has by no means been a greater time to be a healthcare writer. Audiences are hungry for uplifting healthcare tales, particularly when there’s a scarcity of fine information to go round.

Epic, a B2B healthcare software program firm, has additionally been lively on this entrance. Along with webinars and whitepapers about managing COVID-19 care, the corporate has additionally profiled a rural Pennsylvania healthcare system serving to sufferers put together for his or her first telehealth appointments.

Affected person tales are one other CSR initiative gaining momentum within the {industry}. Consider them like case research from the affected person’s perspective that reveal the journey somebody took to beat well being points.

Affected person tales ought to enchantment to healthcare entrepreneurs as a result of they’re pushed by a transparent story. They’re additionally inherently accessible, providing a private contact that stands out among the many complicated, scientific data we’re used to.

The important thing, although, is determining the right way to inform the story respectfully. Some sufferers will really feel snug crafting their very own experiences whereas others might want an skilled creator to translate their ideas.

“To seek out affected person advocates, social media is a good software,” mentioned Nancie George, head of content material at Oshi Well being, which focuses on digestive healthcare. “It’s actually about working with individuals who have recognized themselves as an advocate and need to be contacted to share their story.”

5. Stories + Information Are the Largest Differentiators

Because the saying goes, write what you already know.

If you happen to’re ranging from scratch, attempting to compete with established content material hubs can appear overwhelming. However most firms have a hidden content material benefit sitting proper in entrance of them: their very own knowledge.

In data-driven industries like healthcare and finance, inner data is a strong differentiator. Most content material provides to an present dialogue, however proprietary analysis is newsworthy content material. It creates a dialog, drives shares, and lends itself properly to visible content material. For that motive, it’s the simplest technique to increase social engagement, press protection, and backlinks.

In our analysis of healthcare content material, authentic reviews and guides emerged as a number of the top-performing items that firms printed.

Physician on Demand has The State of Main Care in America. ZocDoc launched a sequence referred to as ZocTrends that reveals attention-grabbing knowledge on affected person habits. Roman, the “digital well being clinic for males” even named its content material hub Well being Information. It’s steadily pumped useful recommendation, evaluation, and assets to sufferers. Its most up-to-date mission is the Novel Coronavirus Useful resource Hub, which compiles 18 items of content material in a single place, together with a free telehealth evaluation.

This technique works so effectively for firms newer to content material advertising as a result of analysis could be dissected and repurposed for weblog posts, e-books, animated explainer movies, and social graphics. So that you don’t want a giant advertising group or big funds to make a right away affect. Additionally, the outcomes from these large rock initiatives can assist persuade inner stakeholders to extend their content material funding.

“Just a few years in the past, our firm realized we have been sitting on a treasure trove of knowledge about healthcare within the U.S.,” John Fox, former government director of content material for athenahealth, wrote on our weblog. “We determined to put money into constructing a sturdy analysis group to seize and serve up insights to our B2B purchasers in medical teams and hospitals.”

After finding out digital well being data (EHR) on the state and nationwide stage, athenahealth launched the Flu Dashboard. Yearly, it tracks the unfold of flu over time in all 50 states with an interactive map. Customers can even examine week-by-week flu visits and see vaccination developments.

In keeping with Fox, athenahealth was in a position to discover flu developments quicker for the Heart for Illness Management and Prevention.

When the mission took off a couple of years in the past, the corporate doubled down on its content material success. Since then, athenahealth has additionally developed dashboards for Lyme Illness and, extra not too long ago, COVID-19.

“We rent field-tested reporters who’ve a nostril for excellent tales and aren’t shy about tackling complicated subjects or parsing knowledge,” Fox defined. “With this method, we’ve reported with authentic knowledge on trending subjects just like the opioid disaster, Medicaid growth underneath the Inexpensive Care Act, and the frenzy of IUD visits following the final presidential election. Our in-house designers are visible storytellers who can absorb an information dump on power well being situations within the U.S. and end up an interactive software that calls for exploration.”

Even company reviews meant for shareholders may yield highly effective tales that demand consideration. Yearly, Cleveland Clinic publishes its inner State of the Clinic report that rounds up knowledge on sufferers and caregivers throughout its operations. Not all the data is related to the general public, however stats a few lower in affected person falls (down 15 p.c) or a rise in digital visits (up 29 p.c) may simply be repurposed for a wider viewers involved in healthcare.

Once you’re turning knowledge into content material, be sure you use it responsibly. Bettering well being literacy takes extra than simply digestible data. Setting requirements—and publicizing them in your work with analysis methodologies and sound sourcing—will go a good distance towards constructing belief.

“Over the past decade, there are extra factors of view obtainable in healthcare, which is each good and dangerous,” George mentioned. “We’ve discovered inner reporting pointers to be actually useful. It consists of finest practices like not overstating your findings, including timestamps, utilizing major sources when doable. We’ve got a giant accountability to the general public.”