Health industry is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the world economy. Consuming more than 10% of GDP in most developed countries, the health industry forms a significant part of the economies of developed countries (Schansberg, 2014). An analysis of the specifics of the health industry revealed six major forces affecting the growth prospects, namely the rapid aging of the population in all developed and many developing countries; a growing labor shortage of middle and junior managers; the introduction of new medical procedures; development and implementation of new treatment technologies; the health industry market globalization; and the increasing role of government policy (Lovett-Scott and Prather, 2012).
Currently, under the conditions of implementation of the elements of a market economy in health, the emergence of competition, rising costs, a growing number of health care organizations begin to show interest in marketing. The introduction of the concept of marketing in the health care system is predetermined by the fact that currently there are state, municipal and private sectors, and a health insurance system, which contributes to the emergence of elements of market relations, formed (Berkowitz, 2010).
Digital marketing is new stage in the evolution of product promotion. In the healthcare industry, application of digital technologies covers many directions, namely clinic researches, communication through social media, promotion of mobile medical applications, etc. Digital marketing, a pillar in other businesses for years, becomes more widespread and refined in healthcare, however, still gaps far after the digital marketing approaches and methods of other businesses. Healthcare institutions use quite limited amount of social media and mobile, and just 33% perceive a mobile strategy as vital. Websites, social media and online advertising are the most popular online tools for promotion of medical services among hospitals. Facebook and Google AdWords are widely used online advertising tools in healthcare business. The greatest three problems/obstacles for healthcare digital marketing intentions include money, feed storage and managing modification. Healthcare marketers are expectant concerning further budgets, with more than 80% supposing their marketing funds in 2017 to either grow or remain stable (Greystone.Net, 2015).
Advertising in network has got very big popularity, thus, according to forecasts by 2017, the expenses for such announcements will exceed even costs for the advertising on TV (Greystone.Net, 2015). The tendency to allocate on social advertising the greatest part of the budget will be the crucial for marketers. Facebook Messenger can be used as alternative or additional tool to e-mail marketing, which is used for instant communication. A number of marketers consider personalization as one of the most important functions in future marketing. Pay Per Click advertising will be personalized that gives marketers the necessity to use new opportunities, for example Customer Match from Google AdWords (Schansberg, 2014; Greystone.Net, 2015).
Thus, the use of marketing in health care contributes to optimization of medical facilities, which helps health care facilities most efficiently plan their activities. Marketing makes it possible to predict turnover, study health care needs of the market, and the use of market research makes it possible to determine which services will be in demand at the consumer, how much the consumer is willing to pay for it, and whether he/she is willing to pay at all or not. Social marketing demonstrates its ability to enhance the effectiveness of the changes in society (Greenberg and Kates, 2013). In general, it can be said that the user is becoming more sophisticated, and therefore to promote a brand or product it is important to constantly invent something new. As an example, the share of mobile internet increased, and the importance of videos, the number of users of social networks, and of the entertainment also increased; they have turned into a full-fledged advertising tool.
References
Berkowitz, E. N. (2010). Essentials of Health Care Marketing. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Greenberg, E. and Kates, A. (2013). Strategic Digital Marketing: Top Digital Experts Share the Formula for Tangible Returns on Your Marketing Investment. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Greystone.Net (2015). The State of Digital Marketing in Healthcare in 2015. Retrieved from http://ehealthcarestrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/the-state-of-digital-marketing-in-healthcare-in-2015.pdf [Accessed: 19 June 2016]
Lovett-Scott, M. and Prather, F. (2012). Global Health Systems. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Schansberg, D. E. (2014). The Economics of Health Care and Health Insurance, The Independent Review, 18(3), p. 401-420.
