2019 is almost upon us. In the new year, healthcare marketers will continue to catch up to marketing’s rapid changes. How might that look? 

In the past few years, consumer behavior has changed dramatically, as consumers have become more empowered by more information, more options and more expedient options to meet their needs. It’s an age of instant gratification with 24/7 availability of many products and services. Craving a fast-food burger late at night? Somewhere on Uber Eats there’s a place that will prepare it for you and hand it over to the Uber driver to bring it to you. Just as other industries have adapted to these customer expectations, healthcare must also be willing and able to meet expectations.

Keeping all this in mind, here are five themes to guide healthcare marketers in 2019.

• Data personalization. While 90% of retailers see personalization as a high priority, only 15% give themselves credit for doing it well. Healthcare marketers must deliver individualized insights that can be acted upon and these insights must be backed by unique data assets and high-level predictive analytics.
• Digital transformation. Even though 77% of marketers believe it’s essential to use real-time personalization, 60% of them struggle with doing so. Marketers should now be thinking in terms of “strategy for the digital consumer,” not “digital strategy.” Customers have favorite or preferred digital experiences and it’s up to marketers to deliver experiences through those preferred channels.
• Customer experience. Healthcare organizations are beginning to commit to sufficient cross-functional efforts across customer lifecycle touchpoints, which will exceed journey mapping.
• Health inertia. Considering that over half of people with at least one chronic health condition think they are healthy enough not to make lifestyle changes, healthcare organizations need to find ways to engage and educate their patients to improve clinical outcomes. These patients need motivation to face health challenges and assistance in finding their way through the complexities of the healthcare financial and clinical establishment.
• Modern marketing. Bringing together data, creative and technology is a struggle for 68% of global senior business decision makers. It will take thought and effort to bring brand, direct and content together in a strategic way to deliver relevant, custom messages to customers.