By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress management for healthcare workers
    3 Tips For Healthcare Professionals: How To Stay Beautiful, Healthy, and Happy
    November 2, 2021
    importance of relaxing on the weekend for your health
    Importance of Relaxing During the Weekend for Optimal Health
    March 25, 2022
    LASIK Eye Surgery
    What Is LASIK Eye Surgery?
    May 16, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    You Probably Thought the Public Option Was Dead
    June 1, 2011
    Employers as Doctors
    July 9, 2011
    Pushback On My Medicare Proposals
    August 12, 2011
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How to Take Advantage of the Medical Industry’s Underinvestment in Local Search
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > How to Take Advantage of the Medical Industry’s Underinvestment in Local Search
Social Media

How to Take Advantage of the Medical Industry’s Underinvestment in Local Search

Jonathan Catley
Jonathan Catley
Share
5 Min Read
LocalSearch.jpg
SHARE

Local search is still a relatively untapped source of new patients — here’s how medical marketers take advantage of this fact. As the internet continues to play an increasingly important role in the new path to treatment, digital marketing has emerged as the most effective means for getting new patients through the door. And yet, the vast majority of medical enterprises have failed to capitalize on this trend, and many now-highly-trafficked digital channels are being overlooked — in particular, local search has been woefully underutilized. Despite the incredible potential that local search has to offer, medical companies are still allocating a relatively meager 16% of their ad spend to these channels, according to BIA/Kelsey. Considering 156 million prospective patients are currently online and in need of treatment now, 77% of whom begin their path to treatment with a search engine, says Google, the door is clearly wide open for medical marketers to reap the benefits.

Contents
Paths Have ChangedHow Can Medical Brands Take Advantage?

Paths Have Changed

According to Google, this underinvestment in digital advertising can be explained by the fact that the patient path to treatment only evolved quite recently. For decades, healthcare marketers have steadfastly relied on traditional media channels such as print, local TV, radio, and billboards. Back then, according to the Content Marketing Institute the path to treatment looked like the traditional Procter & Gamble, “Moment of Truth” model:

  1. Stimulus: you get sick
  2. First Moment of Truth: in seeking options for care, you perhaps remember a local ad or ask family/friends for advice
  3. Second Moment of Truth: you receive care and report on it

However, beginning in 2006, the rapid proliferation of the internet has fundamentally altered how consumers make decisions about their health — as such, the path to treatment now more closely resembles Google’s “Zero Moment of Truth” model:

  1. Stimulus: you get sick
  2. Zero Moment of Truth: you go online to start the search process, consulting a variety of sources to inform and educate yourself about options
  3. First Moment of Truth: consult family/friends for advice
  4. Second MoT: you receive care and report on it

How Can Medical Brands Take Advantage?

Despite the fact that, today, 1 in 20 Google searches are health-related, consumers are still having trouble finding what they’re looking for. An NCBI study found that “Almost all participants reported using the internet to gather health information… searching, filtering, and comparing results,” yet the search process was ill-adept at “accommodating diverse populations, vocabularies, and health information needs.” The translation: marketers have yet to adequately occupy a large portion of the local and niche search marketing space. As an example, Google observed that the search query “swollen ankle black and blue” — a common ailment and therefore, presumably, a common search term — results in a whopping zero paid advertisements — type it into Google and check for yourself (results may vary depending on your location). Likewise, they found that nearly 60% of search queries for the phrase “hospitals near me” turn up no ads in the results page. With such little competition for this ad space, medical marketers can easily run low-cost search engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, targeting a variety of specific maladies and patient populations, the moment they become “active,” or transactional. This not only means that paid local search is cost-effective — with the proper approach to keyword targeting, it all but guarantees that your ad will rank first on the search engine results page (SERP). If you haven’t recently checked out the popularity of a number keywords in Google’s Keyword Planning Tool, now may be the time. Odds are, there are numerous niche terms specific to your “services offered” that are currently underutilized and, therefore, ripe for the taking.  

More Read

social media use for medical site
How Social Media Can Boost Your Medical Site
Medivizor: Personalized Health Research
HealthCare Pricing Visibility Through Social Media
It’s Time to Be Social, Doc – for Good Health of Your Practice
Crowdfunding American Veterans – A Brilliant Idea
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Innovating Medicaid with the Medical Home Model

July 29, 2012

The Effectiveness of Online Health Intervention Programs

June 13, 2011

Social Media Optimization for Mobile Devices: What Healthcare Marketers Need to Know

August 21, 2014

Healthcare Reputation Management in a Web 3.0 World

March 16, 2015
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?