On any given day—every day, actually—you and I and everyone in the country are the primary landing zone for over 5,000 advertising and marketing messages.
On any given day—every day, actually—you and I and everyone in the country are the primary landing zone for over 5,000 advertising and marketing messages. (There are many days when it seems like the number should be much higher.) But that’s the average—so says the Content Marketing Institute—and in our estimation, the online, social media and digital sources likely outnumber traditional media.
For hospital and healthcare marketing professionals, that’s a lot of clutter to bust-through with your message. Fortunately, the digital world is full of useful numbers to help guide your Internet marketing strategy, content creation, engagement planning and decision-making.
Here are a just a few of the stats that you may or may not know. By the numbers:
81: percent of US adults use the Internet [Pew Research]
87: percent of US adults own a cell phone; 45 percent own smartphones [Pew Research]
4.7 billion: number of Google searches daily [comScore]
1 billion: number of Facebook users [mashable]
39.88 million: number of US visitors to Twitter, about 12 million more than year before [Statista]
166.2 million: projected number of US users of all forms of social media in 2013 [Statista]
80: percent of Internet users (59% of US adults) seek online health information [iHealthBeat]
36: percent of health information searches are for themselves [iHealthBeat]
48: percent of health information searches are for someone else [iHealthBeat]
55: percent of Internet users search for medical treatment or procedure information [Pew Research]
47: percent of Internet users search for information about doctors or other health professionals [Pew Research]
38: percent of Internet users search for information about hospitals and other medical facilities [Pew Research]
41: percent of Americans are comfortable using websites to check health symptoms [Phillips]
25: percent of people trust online symptom checkers, mobile apps and home-based monitors as much as they trust their doctor [Phillips]
30-49: age range of people most likely to search online for health information
50-64: age range of people second most likely to search for health information
31: percent of cell phone owners (and 52% of smartphone owners), use their phone to look up health or medical information [Pew Research]
60: percent of US adults say they track their weight, diet, or exercise routine [Pew Research]
33: percent of US adults track health indicators or symptoms, like blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, or sleep patterns [Pew Research]
12: percent of US adults track a health indicator on behalf of someone they care for [Pew Research]
94: percent of prospective patients said reputation is important in hospital selection [Google]
77: percent of patients used search prior to booking an appointment. [Google]
90: percent of adults age 18-24 trust medical information shared by others in their social media networks. [PwC Health Research Institute]
Keep in mind that stats like this are constantly changing, so stay current on your numbers.