Who’s reading your healthcare content? Patients, certainly. But also the people caring for them: parents, spouses, children, and loved ones.
Part of being a caregiver includes making care decisions with or for your loved one. This makes caregivers an important segment of your audience.
Successful caregiver marketing is informative and empathetic. It reassures them that their loved one is in good hands at your hospital, while easing the burden and anxieties of caregiving. If your marketing doesn’t target this audience, it’s time to welcome them in.
Almost 53 million Americans are providing unpaid care for an elderly relative, spouse, or child with special needs, according to a 2020 survey by The National Alliance for Caregiving.
When accounting for all parents of children aged 17 or younger, 100 million US adults serve as caregivers. That’s more than 1 in 3 American adults.
These caregivers are searching online for information and advice. Include them in your target audience and define your caregiver marketing strategies to reach them.
Marketing to caregivers is different from marketing to patients. Caregiving can often be accompanied by burnout and intense emotions, like fear, guilt, and grief.
To engage caregivers and other family members, healthcare content must be accessible and empathetic.
Caregivers are likely to search for health information online, including information about medical conditions, symptoms, and treatments.
Provide caregiver and patient educational materials that are easy to find and understand. Write about medical information in plain language (here’s how) and engage caregivers on the channels they use for health info:
Caregiving brings a lot of emotional baggage: stress, overwhelm, and sadness about the decline of an aging parent or a struggling loved one.
Healthcare marketers always write with empathy to a patient audience. Extend that same supportive tone to caregivers who may be experiencing burnout, grief, and financial strain.
And always imagine the human on the other side of the screen, with all the emotions they may be feeling. Ease fears, answer questions, and instill hope.
Traditionally, women have taken on caregiving roles, but this is changing. According to the NAC survey, 39% of caregivers in 2020 were men.
In addition, LGBTQ+ people become caregivers at a higher rate than non-LGBTQ+ people.
Suspend your assumptions about caregiver demographics — and follow best practices for creating inclusive healthcare content.
Many caregivers have full-time jobs and limited PTO. They don’t have much time during normal office hours to go back and forth with their loved one’s care team for things like:
Set up measures, such as secure patient portals, that allow caregivers to communicate directly with the care team, check personal health records, and submit requests — all without spending significant time on hold or waiting hours for someone to call them back.
Marketing to caregivers isn’t just for patient acquisition purposes. It can also increase patient and family satisfaction (and brand loyalty).
Beyond assisting with healthcare, caregivers also help with activities of daily living, such as grocery shopping, transportation, and personal grooming.
Your hospital’s social workers can make these tasks a little easier by connecting caregivers with community services, including:
Market these resources to caregivers on your hospital website.
When caregivers feel stretched thin, they may experience caregiver burnout — physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion. Create content about burnout on your website or a caregiver blog.
And consider offering additional resources, such as:
Many caregivers feel financial strain, as they’re often supporting their loved one who has no other source of income.
Clear up financial information on your website to help caregivers feel empowered about managing healthcare costs.
By including caregivers in your marketing strategy, you can position your hospital as a trusted resource and ally to this crucial audience.
Partner with our content strategists to better serve this audience segment.
AUTHOR
Ahava is a leading expert in healthcare content strategy and is recognized for her ability to make complex medical information accessible. She has spent nearly two decades transforming how healthcare organizations communicate with their audiences. Ahava is trusted across the industry for her clarity, evidence-based approach, and thought leadership.
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