What Healthcare Brands Can Learn From a Competitive Gap Analysis

Feel like your content sounds like every other health brand’s?

You’re probably right. Many healthcare brands sound so similar that it’s hard to tell them apart. Without the logo, many ads, websites, or social profiles could belong to anyone.

To be fair, differentiation can be challenging in healthcare marketing. There are only so many ways to say, “We care,” “We have the best physicians,” or “We do groundbreaking research.”

That’s why the right question isn’t, “How can we sound different?” It’s, “How are we different — and how can we use this to our advantage?” Answer this with a content-focused competitive gap analysis.

Reasons to run a competitive gap analysis (3 key outcomes)

This isn’t the kind of work that tops to-do lists. It tends to take a back seat to larger initiatives or the regular flow that keeps your content engine whirring.

But it’s worth prioritizing. A competitive content gap analysis is a magical task that makes other tasks easier or more effective. (That’s why we love including them in our content audits.)

Competitive insights help healthcare brands spot their weak points, fill market gaps, and differentiate their messaging.

1. Competitive gap analyses uncover your areas for improvement

Abundantly fabulous as your team is, no one’s marketing is perfect. We all have content or channels that could perform better (and you may have a hunch about which ones).

A competitive gap analysis can confirm your suspicion or quiet your fears — and maybe uncover something unexpected. For instance:

• SEO opportunities: Maybe your website is performing better in search than you thought, but competitors are outranking you on your priority keywords.
• Content gaps: Without pausing to look at the data, it’s easy to overrepresent certain service lines in your content and inadvertently deprioritize other important topics.
• Messaging needs: Health systems often notice they sound a bit clinical or overly complex compared to competitors.

Don’t be discouraged when you find room for improvement. This knowledge is an advantage; use it to close those gaps.

2. They surface competitor pain points you can capitalize on

Your competitors have relative weaknesses, too. Learn what they are and turn them into your own strengths.

You can use a competitive gap analysis to:

• Find quick wins, from untapped keywords to small user experience tweaks
• Serve unmet content needs by sharing info that patients can’t easily find elsewhere
• Gain a competitive advantage by optimizing the areas where other brands lack

If they use a lot of static posts on Instagram, try leaning into Reels. If their website is frustrating to navigate, ensure your information architecture is user-friendly. If their Facebook ads feel brand-centric, build a campaign that’s centered around patients.

Let your competitive findings write the playbook for standing out in your market.

3. Competitive research informs differentiation

Healthcare brands often sound alike because many marketing teams hear the same internal talking points: “We’re the most experienced,” “We do the most procedures,” “Our research is the most innovative.”

If the health system on the other side of the city says the same thing, it’s not a differentiator. Stakeholder input is a useful starting point for messaging, but you need outside context to know what’s truly unique about your brand.

Your competitors’ content will tell you a lot about their voice and tone, key messages, and the audiences they’re targeting. Use this knowledge to pinpoint true differentiators and build a messaging strategy that helps patients recognize you everywhere online.

Types of healthcare competitive gap analyses

There are many types of competitive gap analyses, each serving a different purpose. At Aha Media Group, we offer them all.

Here’s an overview:

• SEO content gap analysis (aka keyword gap analysis): This is what marketers often think of when they imagine competitive research. Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs offer this, or you can partner with a vendor to get the story behind the metrics. Learn more about our SEO and keyword gap analysis services.
• Content gap analysis: In a typical content gap analysis, we inventory of your content and compare it with competitors’ sites to find the topics you’ve covered extensively and any gaps you can tap into.
• Channel-focused competitive analysis: If you want to improve your website, social media, or email performance, consider running a targeted competitive analysis on just one of these channels.
• Omnichannel competitive gap analysis: This is the whole shebang. Use it to understand your positioning relative to other brands, dial in your messaging, and get actionable insights for every channel.
• Market gap analysis: Competitive research isn’t just for marketing. Health systems have used our competitive insights to name and structure new programs.

When to use a competitive gap analysis in healthcare marketing

There’s no bad time to evaluate your competitive positioning. But an SEO, content, or competitive gap analysis is even more beneficial before you:

• Redesign your website
• Plan a campaign
• Refresh your brand guidelines
• Launch something new (like a newsletter, blog, or social profile)

In other words, competitive insight is especially helpful when you’re about to do something significant (or expensive). Use it to maximize the impact of that special project — and sleep a little better at night knowing it’s informed by strategy.

If you’ve got something big coming up, we know just the people who can help.

Get insights you can act on