A picture is worth thousand words, they say. But a graphic representation of information, delivered directly to the target audience, may just be worth a million for hospital marketers.
Graphic representation of data — more commonly known as infographics — could be a game-changer in hospital marketing, as it allows hospitals to deliver information to current and prospective patients in a cost-effective and engaging way.
Centric Infographics focuses on giving organizations the chance to capitalize on the power of accessible and easy-to-understand infographics. The utilization of infographics could help convey important information to healthcare consumers more cost-effectively than television commercials, radio advertisements or billboards. The company works with patient advocacy groups, pharmaceutical companies, medical device and biotech firms. It recently entered the hospital and health system market when it created an infographic for Wilmington, Del.-based Christiana Care Health System.
The missing link in hospital marketing
"We saw hospitals spending a lot of time, energy and money trying to market themselves and get information out through mass media," says John Griffith, founder and president of Centric Infographics. "Infographics are a great, inexpensive way for hospitals to market to a specific audience."
Pushing quality data is a key aspect of hospital marketing, and according to Mr. Griffith, hospitals spend a lot of money trying to get that data in front of old and new patients. However, more often than not, hospitals struggle to ensure complex, clinical information and other healthcare metrics are delivered in a clear and concise manner to their audience.
"There is a lot of published data that tells us that patients are looking at hospital quality scores in order to help them make informed healthcare decisions," says Maureen Winigrad, principal at Centric Infographics. "Just doing a Google search doesn't necessarily give patients the information they want or need."
Another vital aspect of marketing is being in touch with consumers and knowing what they want. According to Ms. Winigrad, it has been an eye-opening experience to see what information clients think customers want versus what they actually want. To understand what people want to know, hospitals have to enter their world and engage with people where they are, namely the Internet.
Infographics as a tool
Infographics allow hospitals to connect with people and illustrate the data that patients want, says David Winigrad, principal at Centric Infographics. They can help translate complex data into simpler forms so potential patients can make informed healthcare decisions. The graphics can also help relate patient satisfaction scores and any awards that the hospital has won.
"Infographics are a tool that hospitals can use to help their communities understand their services," says Ms. Winigrad. "Hospitals can benchmark their quality data and compare it to other hospitals, making it easier for people to make comparisons. Infographics also allow hospitals to reach current and potential patients and deliver this information."
Infographics can be posted to Facebook, pinned onto Pinterest, emailed to specific consumers or even converted into YouTube videos. "Hospitals need to reach people where they are," says Mr. Griffith. "They need to create engaging, visual content and push it onto popular user platforms."
Also, infographics are a cost-effective means of delivering information, says Mr. Griffith, as there is no incremental cost. For example, running a television commercial over a long period of time increases costs, however, this is not true of an infographic. Once the graphic has been posted, it continues to be visible and reach people without costing the hospital more than the initial cost of having it made.
Creating infographics and beyond
Developing the infographics, however, goes beyond technical programming skills. "In the world of online marketing, things change very quickly and unless you stay on top of it, your content could get lost," says Ms. Winigard. "You can create a beautiful infographic, but if it can't be found online, it is useless."
Centric Infographics combines SEO marketing strategies with the creation of the infographic, says Mr. Griffith. User analysis is conducted and key SEO words are identified to help predict consumer behavior, which influences content.
For example, the company created an infographic for The Epilepsy Foundation, and the client initially wanted the graphic to focus on sudden death in epilepsy. However, user analysis revealed that people were searching for information on how to live with epilepsy on a day-to-day basis. "So we moved the content in that direction and now it a highly viewed infographic," he says. "People want hospitals to talk about things in a way that is relevant to them."
The infographic became the No. 1 searched epilepsy infographic out of 98,000 competitive pages and has since retained a top 10 position.
The company also focuses on post-development optimization, which includes sharing the graphic on specific channels and making sure it can be easily discovered online, says Ms. Winigard.
"Infographics could become the fundamental means of delivering content across different platforms," says Mr. Griffith. "We have developed a process that enables our clients to build value over time. We go where the audience is and get the information to them."
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