“Sometimes, if you want to change a man’s mind,
you have to change the mind of the man next to him first.”
– Megan Turner
Introduction to Influencer Marketing
The power of influence is the backbone of marketing and business. In simple terms, marketing is being able to attract an audience, so you can showcase your products and, ultimately, influence them to choose it over others. Hence, Influencer marketing is hiring a famous personality who has a particular influence over the people and using them to promote your business, brand, or idea.
This is one effective marketing strategy run by marketing experts. Digital marketing service providers in the healthcare industry like Prevention Digital apply this strategy using proven and effective methods.
For example, think about how millions of fans of LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo purchase Nike footwear and athleisure, not just because of its quality, but also because of these stars endorsing them. Another great example is how Audi uses Marvel movies to promote their brand.
Based on the report by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), more than 74% of the advertisers prefer influencer marketing as the tool to promote the brand. Nearly 50% of them plan to enhance the marketing budget over the next year due to the benefits of influencer marketing.
Need for Influencer Marketing in Healthcare
Now let’s understand why influencer marketing is needed in the healthcare sector. Our lives revolve around social media these days, and most people have gotten used to watching advertisements almost every time. We see promotional videos while watching Youtube videos or scrolling through Facebook. So much exposure to ads has led to developing a phenomenon called banner blindness. It means subconsciously ignoring the content which does not interest one.
Hence, you need to be sure of what to feed your target customers. And most importantly, whom to feed, especially since the span of attention is so thin.
The reason why influencer marketing is needed in the healthcare sector is because of the following data collected by the PwC Health Research –
• Around 34% of American adults have tried to figure out some specific medical conditions online.
• More than 15% of internet users in the USA tired to search for people with similar health concerns through social media.
• Approximately 90% of the millennials (aged between 18-24) engage in health activities or trust health information, which they find on social media.
Now, the most essential skill in marketing is to figure out and capture your potential customers. And above all, you can see plenty of people in the States who are interested in knowing more about the healthcare sector. People love user-generated content over the company generated content because the former gives them credibility and allows them to build trust over the company.
In recent years, people have inclined towards a lifestyle that promotes fitness. Moreover, when most of the human population is told to stay indoors when the world is facing a pandemic, the importance of healthcare and fitness exponentially rises. Therefore, if you’re planning to use influencer marketing for your healthcare brand, now will be the best time.
Who is a healthcare Influencer?
• Anyone involved in the field of healthcare, be it a doctor, or another professional, who is active on social media.
• Celebrities like Dwayne Johnson or Ellie Goulding, who openly share their fitness routine, regularly feature in fitness video ads or promote healthcare through their social media.
How to utilize Influencer Marketing to expand your business?
Now that you know about the why and who, let us understand how you can use the Influencers for marketing your healthcare business. Influencer Marketing is one of the most successful marketing strategies. The part it can play in uplifting a company is evident by its success ratio.
Healthcare as a sector has more potential now than ever, especially when the world is in chaos due to the Covid-19. Healthcare is not a luxury anymore; it has now become the need to survive. Utilizing the power of influence to promote your brand can take you a long way, but there are some ideas which you should keep in mind.
1. Plan your marketing targets
There are various processes involved in healthcare. Starting from the awareness to diagnosis, treatment, and maintenance, you can use Influencer Marketing in all of these methods.
These are the proven ways by which influencers help a brand to grow –
• Using their social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to share your content.
• Engage with their followers through Q&A or comments to talk about the brand to make it look more authentic.
• Speaking about your product to their audience, which often consists of people from different parts of the world. This gives your brand a global reach.
• Awareness about healthcare is the first step and making their audience aware of the problems, its causes, and its cure (which can be your product) is a very effective marketing strategy.
• For your brand to grow, you must keep on striving for better. For that, you need feedback and a survey. An influencer can make this task easier for you.
• Representing your brand at events and panels to get you more coverage.
• The most traditional way of marketing – Becoming the face of your brand in various campaigns.
2. Finding your Influencer
As mentioned earlier, about the importance of finding the right target audience, it is equally crucial to find the right Influencer for your company. Once you have fixed what your marketing targets are, search for an influencer whose interest and goals align with yours.
We already spoke about who can be an influencer. But, let’s dig deeper and find out ways to ensure you find your right match. Contrary to popular beliefs, influencers can be classified in various categories. Here are some –
• Experienced Group – When someone has already faced a similar health issue and survived it, it makes their experience way more important than any other category. One reason being the patients and other target buyers can relate to these survivors. According to them, it’s not just money but also a matter of trust and hope, which can enable them to vouch for your brand.
• Experts – This includes professional medical workers, researchers, scientists, healthcare institutions, and NGOs. What’s necessary to comprehend here is that people believe that influencers are mostly individuals, but that’s not necessary. A group of qualified people like NGOs or doctors is just as influential.
• Public Personalities – This includes athletes, artists, politicians, actors, and other public faces.
You can send invites online to your influencers to conduct a Q&A or an interview, which you can live stream. Checkout VideoCreek for making stunning invites for your guest. This will allow the viewers to take a look into the ideas and beliefs of your brand.
3. Analyze and evaluate
The most strategic step is to understand which Influencer is more effective and in which situation. Are you getting more engagement through Youtube or Instagram? These are some fundamental analysis you need to do.
This will ensure that you are aware of your investments and returns. Using digital tools like analytics will help you understand this factor and revise it accordingly.
Conclusion
Even though the world of social media has made the term “Influencer” sound very modern, the idea behind it is as old as marketing. Using the power of relationship and trust to provide what your audience needs and hence boost your business.
You must keep this in mind that finding your right Influencer will take a considerable amount of time and patience. Understanding your personal goals, what your Influencer believes in, and what your audience wants and aligning all of them together is what will result in a successful result.
