Often touted as one of the fastest-growing content marketing strategies by industry experts, infographics are yet to gain momentum in the healthcare industry. Usually considered laggards in adapting to contemporary technology and trends, healthcare providers can greatly benefit from this powerful medium of marketing and communication if they capitalize on it in time.
Understanding the science behind the success of online infographics
Infographics is the short form of “information graphics.” These are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge that help present complex information, including any kind of technical data and statistics, in a creative and visually attractive way. Owing to consumer demand for simple yet meaningful information that can be read in a short span of time, online marketing experts have widely taken to this medium to build online brands.
Infographics can be infused with a lot of creativity to make them informative and attractive. After all, variety is the spice of life and users seek other alternatives to get rid of the black and white text monotony. Psychology says about 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and the human brain processes visual information many times faster than text. Per an article in Forbes, “When you consider that 65% of people are visual learners, 90% of information that comes to the brain is visual, and presentations with visual aides are 43% more persuasive, it makes sense to use content types which people have an innate psychological resonance with.” These facts make all the more sense when online marketing experts suggest that infographics are more likely to be read than text articles.
What it means for healthcare
The business of healthcare is no longer isolated from the impact of Internet marketing. The traditional “word-of-mouth” doesn’t seem to work now, as patients are digitally empowered and have become more conscious about their health and decisions related to it. This is the reason healthcare providers and hospitals now take an advanced interest in marketing their services online. Content strategy is an integral part of online marketing in which text plays an important role, but to set your practice apart from your competitors, visual content plays a pivotal role.
Infographics can help hospitals and healthcare providers to present complex medical information in a lucid way by converting them into pleasant illustrations. These can educate patients about chronic and life-threating diseases, preventive measures, lifestyle changes, diet modification and so on. Infographics can be easily shared through all social media channels and more shares mean a wide online visibility that can help your hospital/practice grow as a brand.
Increasing numbers of providers and hospitals have started paying heed to the rise of the “visual web.” Content marketing has started becoming more image-centric, a trend that is likely to gain more momentum in coming years. Infographics can be leveraged as one of the most effective ways to communicate with patients, establish authority and online visibility and increasing shares across social platforms.