3 Competitive Factors to Consider for Healthcare Marketing

1. Identify strength of current competitors

• How many competitors are in the exact same market as you? It’s a tough reality. The more competition in your actual market, the harder it will be for your to stand out. Certain areas like health insurance are difficult to stand out in.

• How many linking domains does each competitor have compared to you? By using the linking tool in HubSpot or Moz, you can see how many linking domains your competition has. The more relevant, quality linking-domains your competitor has, the harder you will have to work to outrank your competition.

• How much educational content lives on each of your competitors sites? Find the educational content center of your competitors websites. This could be a blog, online newsroom, or resource center. If your competition has a large amount of unique educational content serving your industry, you’ll have your work cut out for you. If you’re a niche medical products company, you may have an easier time being the “first to market” from a content perspective.

• How often is your current competition publishing content? Identify your competitors’ publishing frequency. In certain healthcare sectors, publishing frequency can be sparse. If you’re in this space, this is a great opportunity for you to get found easily.

2. Growth in your industry

• How many new players are in your space now compared to last year? What was the overall industry growth rate from this year to last year? If growth has been slow, then you’re more likely to be able to out-promote and outrank your competitors just by publishing content on an active basis (weekly at a minimum).

• Are there players adjacent to you in your industry that are publishing content that appeals to the same pain points as your target persona? Within the patient experience industry specifically, there are many types of new technology that is appealing to healthcare practitioners pain points for improve patient experience. As there are more competitors in this industry, companies need to carve their content niche that differentiates themselves from the other players on the scene. You can have the competitors that sell different solutions but are competing from an SEO and marketing perspective.

3. Threats or Opportunities of new marketing channels

• Are there new social media channels or online publications that your persona is spending more time in? Within the last year Instagram, Medium, Snapchat, and Periscope have seen tremendous growth. Further, LinkedIn recently opened their platform for users to publish long-form blog articles. How many of your healthcare peers or influencers are publishing content across these areas? Keep your ear close to the ground with upcoming social media channels. If you’re first to market on these channels, this could spell many visitors and leads for your business.
  

• Are there new types of content that players in your industry are using to educate and tell their brand’s story? 500 word articles aren’t the only format healthcare publishers are using these days. Video, images, and interactive storytelling content have opened doors for healthcare marketers to beat out their competition.