The 2020 Digital Marketing Toolkit for B2C Health and Wellness Companies

Currently, health and wellness is a 3.7 trillion dollar industry (Global Wellness Institute) and that number is only going to grow in this decade. FDA and HIPPA regulations have made marketing health and wellness products and services a more complicated prescription to follow. If you are looking for expert advice, let's start a conversation. We’d love to diagnose and prescribe solutions. With 80% of Americans going to social media and the internet to research information about their health (Pew Research), it is vital that your company is online to provide education, hope, and solutions.

Instagram famous weight-loss doctors and Google ads promoting CBD for your anxiety haven’t always flooded your digital attention and is an example of how heath and wellness companies are continuously utilizing different marketing strategies. It’s an exciting time for B2C/direct-to-patient marketing and decentralizing health education. However, these times also come with ever-changing rules and regulations that must be followed. In fact, before 1977, it was illegal for doctors and health professionals to market services and products, and only in the 1980s was this type of marketing deemed ethical. Each new decade has its innovations and the health and wellness space will continue to lead the way in breaking down barriers for access to cutting-edge mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. To make sure your company is in good health, take a few moments to understand the latest trends, regulations, and digital marketing best practices. Let’s get started!

Before we dive into each channel, it is important to know the messaging, trends, and themes that health and wellness companies are using as their north star.

• Inclusion:
  Health and wellness is for every single person. Make sure to include all types of people in your marketing.‍
• Spotlight multiple uses for products:
  Example – besides being a great source of protein, collagen reduces wrinkles, keeps your joints flexible, and supports strong bones. People are looking for products that provide multiple benefits, make sure your marketing educates them on all that your product can do.‍
• Natural products:
  Consumers are demanding more natural products and it will be beneficial for your company to promote the organic and natural ingredients in your products – truthfully. It is also the time to spend resources on Research and Development if you need to replace certain ingredients that could have negative side effects or considered toxic.‍
• Personalized and targeted content:
  Know your customers from the inside out. If you need a refresh on deeply understanding your audience, take a walk in your customer’s shoes.‍
• Visual Marketing:
  “Picture-perfect” is out and “real” is in when it comes to your marketing campaigns. In the age of social media, where everyone is promoting their lives online, people want to see real people that they can relate to. This also means that stock-photography isn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s time to invest in photo and video shoots.

Now, here’s a brief breakdown on how to manage each digital marketing channel.

• SEO:
  71% of search traffic comes from the first page of Google (Moz). For health and wellness companies, Google marketing is not only allowed but critical for reaching new audiences.‍
• Paid ads:
  This image-lead tool can help you hyper-target specific audiences that could be interested in your products and services.‍
• Influencer marketing:
  Finding a person, with a large and engaged audience, to talk about how they use your product on their personal social media can be revolutionary and is almost necessary in 2020. However, since you are a health and wellness company, this needs to be carefully managed as they need to follow FTC and FDA laws.‍
• Video:
  Since your audience is all about results, video is a vital tool in the health and wellness space. People want to see how exactly your product works and watch stories of how it has helped other people live a healthier life. Additionally, in this industry, video provides a 60% return rate, which is 3x the average (Marketing Sherpa).‍
• E-commerce and website:
  This is the foundation of your company, especially if most of your sales are coming from online shoppers. Your website should be a cohesive hub for all of your digital marketing efforts. It must be trustworthy, memorable, and provide a simple shopping experience. If you are trying to sell products to help people feel healthier, your website can’t look old and sick!‍
• Email:
  94% of adults rely on email as their first choice for communications. When done correctly, email is a low-cost and highly effective way to stay top of mind with your community. Make sure your emails are mobile-first, highly personalized and helpful to the person reading it.

For more than a quick overview, schedule a consultation on the health of your outreach efforts.

‍