10 Inspiring Healthcare Marketing Case Studies to Learn From

Healthcare companies are always on the hunt for new, and better ways to market themselves. Besides the ever-growing competence, they have to face many challenges unique to their field, like widespread misinformation, strict data regulations, and untrusting patients. However, healthcare marketing case studies show that there are effective ways of sorting through those issues.

But case studies are more than a valuable source of inspiration: they work as a framework you can use to evaluate your own marketing techniques, and target upcoming challenges in real life. To help you achieve that, I’ll analyze the best marketing case study examples, showing you new ways to connect with your patients and market your brand online.

Let’s go!

1. MEDvector – Whiteboard Explainer Video

Any growing company gets to the point where it needs external funding to expand. However, healthcare businesses have the added extra trouble of being in a highly complex field where explaining novel ideas is not easy. Showing why your product or service is worth investing in can be particularly hard when you also need to explain intricate biological processes to a non-expert audience.

Nevertheless, MEDvector was able to sort out these difficulties by coming up with a million-dollar whiteboard video. This type of animated explainer video uses animation and video storytelling to keep the viewers’ attention, while attractive yet simple illustrations visually break down the value of a product in a certain context. 

By taking advantage of that, MEDvector constructed a compelling narrative that made their product more appealing to possible investors. This helped them gain 3.5 million dollars in funding from more than 500 investors, making it one of the best marketing case study examples to keep in sight if you’re looking for some external funding.

2. Carilion Clinic – Social Media Marketing

To promote breast cancer awareness, Carilion Clinic of Virginia’s Roanoke Valley started sharing advice on X using the hashtag #YESMAMM Campaign. While doing so, they encouraged their followers to post their questions regarding this illness online, which the hospital later answered.

When it comes to breast cancer, early detection is crucial, and Carilion Clinic’s campaign focused on bringing awareness to that fact. They urged women to make an appointment at the clinic’s screening locations, increasing organic website traffic and conversions.

What’s more, their hashtag is still being used today as a synonym for breast cancer awareness online, which gained Carilion Clinic an incredible amount of positive exposure and brand awareness. All of this makes their #YESMAMM Campaign one of the best healthcare marketing case studies of social media campaigns.

3. ARSA – Increase Traffic with a SEM Strategy

When building traffic towards your website, organic strategies aren’t the only option. For example, ARSA was able to tackle that goal by developing a cohesive SEM campaign for all their businesses. 

This service management organization holds an umbrella of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery institutions, and due to its variety of solutions, it needed to find a way to promote each institution on its own. So, they created new accounts for each brand, coming up with a unique value proposition for each. Following that, they designed segmented campaigns for each market niche. However, the success of this healthcare case study actually lies in its keyword optimization.

Cosmetic surgery is a life-changing procedure, so patients conduct thorough research before making a decision. ARSA understood that, and worked on a paid digital marketing strategy that targeted keywords at every step of the patient journey. 

This highly specialized approach meant a lot of work, but it was worth it as it increased traffic volume, especially attracting first-time patients.

4. 2 Docs Talk – Make Yourself Look Trustworthy

2 Docs Talk is a podcast created by Kendall Britt and Amy Rogers, two doctors from Texas. Their 15-minute episodes cover relevant topics for both professionals and common people interested in taking care of themselves, like hospital policies and personal care tips. Their expressed goal was to help listeners make better, informed decisions about their health.

However, their efforts had an additional secondary effect—turning them, and their consulting rooms, extremely popular. Their way of targeting relevant concerns in a casual, conversational manner made these issues easier to approach. This, in turn, made the doctors look highly trustworthy in the eyes of their audience and gained them an influx of new patients.

In a country like the USA, healthcare is a big concern for the working population. So, knowing the best practices to take care of yourself is crucial, but it can be hard when hectic schedules keep you always on the go. In this environment, these two doctors’ use of podcasts as an alternative for promoting healthy discussions became one of the most interesting healthcare marketing case studies to learn from!

5. The Mayo Clinic – Improve SEO

The Mayo Clinic is a well-known institution worldwide, with an audience made of patients from all around the globe. To unite the diverse communities that make it up, and increase the company’s online presence, they decided to start a blog showcasing stories from patients, family members, and Mayo Clinic staff, creating one of the best SEO healthcare marketing case studies.

Their blog became a source of inspiration and relief for patients facing complex conditions. Moreover, it became a case of successful search engine marketing, because since its beginning Mayo Clinic placed the focus on sharing quality articles. Their writers are healthcare specialists, with Ph.D. graduates like Joel Streed writing their columns. 

Having experts like these in their ranks also helped their link-building efforts, as recognized newspapers, such as the Seattle Times and ScienceX started inviting their writers to share their insights on public healthcare concerns. Needless to say, this helped the Mayo Clinic become an even more relevant and recognized figure in the field.

6. Thermo Fisher – Educate Visitors With Video Marketing

Thermo Fisher is a B2B company that sells scientific instrumentation, and software services to healthcare facilities. To break down their products for potential customers they often make use of video format, like in this explainer video with more than 2K views. With attractive animations and an insightful voiceover, it makes complex healthcare equipment look simple.

That’s the biggest benefit of using explainer videos for healthcare: you can visually represent processes and biological functions in ways that are impossible in real life. Combine that with an effective narration focused on the customer’s needs, and you have a piece that leaves viewers with no doubts about all they can achieve with Thermo Fisher’s products.

Moreover, note that Thermo Fisher doesn’t shy away from using complex, medical lingo in their video because they know their customers are knowledgeable healthcare facilities. Healthcare marketing case studies teach us to never underestimate our audience: instead, use terms you both understand, as it will make you seem more professional and relatable.

7. WebMD – Use Infographics

Among online audiences, visual content has become one of the most popular formats. Be it due to decreasing human attention spans, or to social media’s own algorithm promoting images over text, the fact is that WebMD started taking advantage of this phenomenon to increase its following online.

For example, they create infographics on topics like wellness, nutrition, and mental health to educate and entertain their followers. Sharing infographics can be a great healthcare digital marketing strategy becausehese images are great for simplifying an intricate or controversial topic, as they help display the different factors relevant to a situation in a simple way.

Additionally, these graphic representations are attractive and attention-grabbing, making them a highly shareable format across all social media channels. So by posting them, WebMD has managed to increase its online reach and attract new patients. 

8. Arkansas Children’s Hospital – Develop an Awareness Campaign

Did you know that in the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the risk of death for children and teens is higher than ever? After figuring out this tragic fact, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital started building awareness around it with the hashtag #100DeadliestDays.

The shock factor behind this information made it highly-shareable, and ideal for healthcare social media marketing, as readers would feel compelled to spread awareness. Additionally, Arkansas Children’s Hospital invited others, like local police or road accident organizations, to use their hashtag to promote tips on how to avoid road accidents.

By sharing safety tips on various social channels, the hospital gained a lot of exposure. To this day, the hashtag has thousands of posts, and it’s still being used to spread awareness, making it one of the most successful healthcare marketing case studies!

9. Halton Healthcare – Show Your Behind-the-Scenes

For some patients, the medical environment can feel cold and distant. If you lack knowledge of common healthcare practices, reaching out for help is intimidating, and this is one of the main reasons why some institutions face low consultations. That was the case for Halton Healthcare.

To avoid that, they started a campaign showing the behind-the-scenes of their daily work. They shared videos of their doctors and showcased their internal staff as they made the often unpopular hospital food, and organized crucial logistics.

It has become one of the best healthcare marketing case studies because this allowed them to establish a warmer environment in their hospitals, and gain approval from their patients. Some of them even started answering their content and commenting about the facilities, like this comment praising their chicken soup!

10. UCN Center – Take Advantage of Video Marketing

UCN Center wanted to educate its patients while increasing its reach and to do so, they decided to take advantage of social media video marketing. Unlike text or infographics, videos combine moving images, audio, and other elements to express a topic in-depth, making them a great tool for teaching others.

Specifically, short video content can be very effective. Nowadays users are very particular about how they want to access information and they get distracted easily. Short content grabs the viewer’s attention and keeps them engaged, which is crucial to increase retention.

However, the best healthcare marketing case studies aren’t the ones that take advantage of a popular format, but those that show how to make the most out of it. What makes this educational video effective is its use of humor to showcase its staff to the audience. By showing their employee’s funny side they make them more relatable to the audience and help build a connection.

Wrapping Up

Healthcare marketing case studies are analyses of an institution’s objectives and how they managed to achieve them. These detailed examinations can be a valuable source of knowledge for businesses trying to emulate their growth, or at least to find inspiration on how to increase their brand’s market.

The real lesson to learn is that all stem from the same process: asking yourself what needs to improve. Be it “How to get more patients”, to “How does my audience perceive me?”, the first step to improvement is, always, identifying the problem. From then on, there are many paths you can take, and these case studies are all examples of that.