The Ultimate Guide to AI for Healthcare Marketers + Do’s and Don’ts Cheatsheet What You Need to Know
The Ultimate Guide to AI for Healthcare Marketers + Do’s and Don’ts Cheatsheet What You Need to Know

In my recent blog post, The Growing Potential of Podcasts, I explored the burgeoning potential of podcasts for all marketers. The power of podcasting was clear:

  • People are increasingly listening to podcasts.
  • Podcasts are listened to everywhere – in the home and on-the-go.
  • The popularity of podcasts is wide-ranging, but tends to have most potential for an educated, affluent crowd.
  • Millennials were early adopters of podcasts and continue to be a prime audience.

Given our findings, I encouraged marketers to adopt this channel if it applies to any of their niche audiences. That led to some great feedback as well as some questions relating to the use of podcasts and videos in healthcare, specifically.

Use of Podcasts in Healthcare

 

A big question surfaced: Do the podcast demographics actually translate to potential for healthcare marketers? The answer is a solid, maybe!

Of course, that’s because (as with all content strategy) the application depends on the audience. Here are 3 examples of where I see the use of podcasts and videos in healthcare working well:

The physician audience

Physicians meet the demographic profile of podcast users perfectly. Marketers could use podcasts to deliver:

  • Continuing medical education information
  • Medical staff updates
  • Facility updates
  • Device training modules

Health and wellness topics

Podcasts could be a great tool for delivering general health content to some patients. Consider a bimonthly podcast featuring rotating specialists with content tied to monthly health topics (e.g., February is heart health, October is breast health). Design them to:

  • Promote broad listenership
  • Develop a relationship with users you aren’t reaching through other channels

Or, pick a niche audience. People with chronic conditions will be interested in podcasts that cover all aspects of their care. And their caregivers probably will be interested, too!

Millennials

A strategy that identifies millennial-specific healthcare needs and then targets them with a relevant podcast could be a great application. This is a growing patient population, so finding a way to reach them now could pay future dividends. The PNC Healthcare Survey suggests that Millennials:

  • Avoid preventive care, preferring to save time and money. Consider a podcast that provides basic health information and explore the importance of preventive medicine.
  • Would prefer to see their physician virtually. Use a podcast to promote Telehealth options in your area.
  • Tend to self-diagnose. Provide basic health information through a podcast to help them determine when a doctor visit is in order (e.g., the importance of flu shots or signs of influenza).

Podcasting for Healthcare is not Hype

As I said in The Growing Potential of Podcasts, I believe the podcast is here to stay. Many marketers have downplayed the hype for too long. They’ve ignored the real potential that the use of podcasts and videos in healthcare can have for some really key audiences.

Healthcare marketers, in particular, can see gains using podcasts to target audiences they aren’t reaching – or aren’t reaching as effectively – with other channels. Go forth and podcast, the writing is on the wall that this is one tactic that’s here to stay.

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