The art of content management that builds trust

Elena Trush , MBA, business consultant, publisher of the first business medical magazine " Private Doctor "

Types of content

Marketing communications use attractive, entertaining, PR, user, expert, educational, advertising, and viral content. For different marketing communication channels there should be a different ratio of different types of content. For example, the share of entertainment content on Facebook can reach 10-15%, on Instagram - up to 40-45%, while on TikTok - up to 90%. Advertising content should not exceed 15-25% (depending on the channel).

Content should be present across multiple channels, not just social media

When planning the placement of this or that type of content, you should distinguish the intended purpose of the site. For example, expert and educational content works effectively in the media, advertising on billboards and city lights (and similar advertising media), respectively, and entertainment, educational and sales promotion on social networks.

Engaging Content

This type of content is created to attract and retain the attention of the target audience. It creates favorable conditions for commenting, communicating and receiving feedback. It is light, relaxed, close to the common interests of that cluster of people who are fans of the brand. Attractive content involves users participating in sweepstakes to receive gifts, incentive prizes, etc. Such content should improve a person’s emotional state, cause “dopamine-serotonin rushes” in him, that is, provoke biochemical reactions in the brain that reinforce positive associations with your brand.

Types of engaging content:

• questionnaires and surveys with the formation of results and assessments;
• diverse content with an invitation to discussion. These could be questions about the interests, hobbies of your audience, questions about their attitude towards certain medical procedures, assessment of the results of treatment, etc.;
• news, reviews, analytical information related to the interests of the audience;
• request for user help. For example, what to name the clinic’s new product, how to act correctly in a given situation, etc.;
• please provide suggestions regarding product range or service;
• an explanation of how and in what situations to use the medical product and how the procedure is obtained;
• answering questions from potential and existing clients;
• quizzes, competitions, lotteries and other events with the opportunity to win a prize;
• discussion of problematic issues in your specialty with the possibility of client participation;
• webinars, live broadcasts, during which you can ask and answer questions from the audience;
• advice to each other: a format in which your clients themselves answer questions from other users;
• mini-games on your resources. Interesting tests to determine the audience's awareness of a particular issue related to the specifics of the medical field, riddles, quests.

Entertainment content

This type of content was created to diversify your brand’s feed. In any case, people get tired of one problem. Therefore, we generate so-called editorial materials. Of course, the selection of entertainment content must match the tone of voice of your brand, not reduce its status, and meet the emotional and intellectual needs of the target audience.

Types of entertainment content:

• quotes from famous people;
• funny stories and jokes, stories, cartoons, anecdotes (you need to be careful with the latter, especially regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.);
• collections of interesting facts;
• works of art and stories about them and/or their authors;
• digest of interesting events;
• selections of films, short videos.

PR content

PR content contributes to the formation of a holistic image of your brand, conveys information about values and principles, more fully reveals the purpose of the clinic and allows you to show those human qualities that are inherent in the team of the medical center. People want to see and feel that the medical business is about the health, beauty and quality of life of patients, and not just about money. They want genuine concern for their needs and professional help, pleasure from service and social approval. PR content should convince them of this, and contacting the clinic should confirm their expectations.

Types of PR content:

• reports from the clinic and interviews with leading specialists of the institution;
• interviews with clinic managers and “star” expert doctors;
• videos with clients who are brand ambassadors, in which they share their impressions of the results obtained;
• materials in which society approves of the activities and existence of your clinic;
• video demonstrating the work of the clinic: video tours, video broadcasts of certain manipulations (in compliance with patient data confidentiality standards);
• backstage aspects of installing new equipment, using innovations, techniques or proprietary approaches that allow patients to receive unique and qualitatively better services;
• a reputation report confirming the clinic’s achievements for the benefit of patients;
• opinions of independent experts about your clinic;
• working with public reviews; information on measures taken to improve the quality of care and service;
• coverage of the socially responsible position of the clinic and activities aimed at supporting society, the environment, etc.

Training and Educational Content (TCC)

Of course, educational activities are a long way to obtain results, but it is precisely this that allows the audience to form a conscious need for the services of your medical institution. Especially in cases where these services are not in general demand (when the potential patient has already formed an idea of the value of a particular service). The UCC should achieve the following goals: updating the problems (desires) of the target audience, providing priority status to these problems (desires) in the minds of the target audience, understanding how to use the service and how this will happen, getting rid of fears and doubts that impede decision-making.

Awareness increases demand.

The UOC is formed from the following types of information:

• actualization of the problem. Highlighting the medical, psychological and social benefits of problem solving;
• why you need to choose your clinic to solve the problem;
• benefit for the patient (rational, emotional);
• the history of medicine’s search for ways to solve this problem: from past times to the present;
• myths and stereotypes about the problem/disease. False beliefs and their debunking;
• complications that are possible with alternative methods of solving the problem or turning to illegitimate service providers. Algorithm of what to do in such cases and why you need to contact you;
• how to use the service, how to prepare for it, how it will happen;
• what alternative methods exist to solve the problem;
• what experts think about this or that problem solving technique;
• comparative analysis of problem solving methods, price analysis of proposals with a conclusion in favor of your clinic;
• criteria by which the user can make the right decision regarding the choice of treatment method (intervention) and clinic;
• a guide to using your clinic's services;
• a series of lectures and speeches by specialists for potential clients about your service(s), broadcast directly on the Internet in a recording;
• live broadcasts, webinars from clinic specialists explaining the problem and the essence of the method for solving this problem;
• blog articles on the clinic’s website, in posts on social networks, consistently talking about different aspects of a particular problem (disease).

Advertising Content

Promotional content should encourage people to buy your product, so meeting the wants and expectations of your audience is the first rule of creating this type of information. The better the online audience you have and the more powerful your offer, the greater the return on your advertising investment. The community around your brand may respond differently to your offerings, and your pre-established brand equity plays a significant role. When creating advertising content, we rely on the needs of the target audience, their ability to pay, the relevance of the offer and the obstacles that, in the imagination of a potential client, slow down the purchase decision.

Types of advertising content:

• advertising banner or advertising layout;
• advertising video or audio clip;
• call to action on the website on the “Services”, “Promotions”, “Seasonal Offers” tabs;
• text advertising link;
• advertising on social networks;
• advertising messages in email, instant messengers;
• media advertising;
• geo-contextual advertising;
• affiliate advertising.

Many customers are annoyed by advertising, especially if they are not ready to convert. Place advertising content after creating a positive image of your brand.

User Content

This is information from your brand advocates to potential clients. This type of content increases loyalty both among those who use your services and among those who have not yet decided (in the case of content created by satisfied customers).

User Content includes:

• reviews (both on the clinic’s website and on social networks, on Google);
• photo and video content created before/after receiving services or during the provision of services;
• opinions, suggestions, user assessments regarding the problem, the clinic, employees, attitudes, atmosphere in the clinic, their own impressions and expectations;
• advice to other people on social networks.

Viral content

This is a type of information that can spread across the Internet due to distribution by users. Unfortunately, medical content has a limited scope, and usually only scandalous media stories about doctors and medical institutions tend to have wide coverage. However, there are many examples of viral content generated by inspired doctors. These are emotional videos of saving a person’s life or health, impressive results of plastic surgery, bright and/or unusual measures to solve social problems, heroic deeds of doctors, videos about the clinic with the participation of famous and popular stars, adventures, etc.

As for clinic-managed viral content, its generation must comply with the rule that the user receives a certain advantage for distributing the content.

The classic way: distribute the content, tag your friend(s) and get the opportunity to become a winner in the drawing for a certificate for a clinic service. Bonuses for distributing content can also be discounts, incentive prizes, or loyalty card bonuses.

Types of viral content:

• viral videos - with children, with animals, with people caught in a confusing situation, etc.;
• text content - stories, stories, legends, news, facts, messages (especially if they are funny);
• viral photos and pictures;
• flash mobs, flash games (especially aimed at young audiences);
• videos with stars your audience loves;
• scandalous information or news;
• electronic press with payment for its receipt and distribution to several friends;
• rare materials: previously unknown facts, works of art, objects of art, archival videos.

Finally

When planning the creation of an entire array of content, you need to consider all possible points of contact between the audience and your brand. It needs to be present across multiple channels, not just social media. You should not forget that the clinic staff is also a channel for distributing information about your brand, and place in their minds the responsibility for how the people around them see the clinic brand. Therefore, it is worth communicating with your own staff, conveying to them, as front-line stakeholders, the values of your brand, while at the same time maintaining the same attentive attitude towards them as you want them to treat customers.

The main trend of modern content making is to attract clients to its creation. People want to participate and be involved in the brand, create favorable conditions for this. The more powerful and numerous your brand voice is, the more attention you will receive in a competitively saturated market.

Read more interesting and relevant articles in the magazine PRO Cosmetology by “Cosmetologist” No. 3, 2021.