Digital Health Trends and Its Effects on Healthcare Marketing

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how digital tools and technologies were incorporated into all aspects of the healthcare ecosystem. Many of us are using these new ways of interacting to get our own healthcare needs met.

The groundbreaking advances in digital health and the focus on moving through the health crisis have had effects on staffing and marketing and communications professional’s responsibilities. 

Top Trends in Digital Health:

• Mobile apps, like these options recommended by the CDC, help prevent, manage, and treat diseases.
• The IoT changes how we connect with healthcare providers (HCPs) and make care accessible to all.
• Telemedicine and virtual healthcare facilitate how patients see and engage with HCPs and how we’re diagnosed and treated.
• Cybersecurity monitors and protects patients’ data and privacy.
• 3D printing is revolutionizing healthcare by creating respirators, PPE, prosthetics, and patient-specific replicas of bones, organs, and blood vessels.

Healthcare Marketing Careers:

Because of the many advances in the digital health space, we see an uptick in hiring as organizations navigate the new norm. For marketers and communicators, it is a prime area to focus on as you consider how you want your career to evolve. Whether you have experience in communications, PR, product management, UX/UI design, digital marketing, or media, all of these skills can translate to the digital healthcare industry, including analytics, which has a projected growth rate of 23%.

A Shift in Marketing Initiatives:

Due to the advances in digital health and the impacts of COVID-19, marketing initiatives have also shifted for many. The leading provider of consumer feedback management solutions Binary Fountain recently surveyed healthcare marketers to determine the effects of the pandemic on their marketing priorities. Results showed that crisis communications became a top priority for companies, followed by email and content marketing.  Paid advertising and branding decreased in importance, but marketing experts expect those to rebound once the pandemic ends.

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