How to build an effective healthcare content strategy that engages patients?
Marketers have long recognised the importance of a solid healthcare content strategy. While there are many approaches to creating and implementing one, the consensus is clear: it’s a must-have.
This article aims to share how to build an effective healthcare content strategy that boosts online patient engagement and attracts more healthcare professionals to content. It also provides key insights from a recent episode of Pharma Talks, where Viseven’s CEO, Nataliya Andreychuk, spoke with Prasant Vijayakumar, Chief Strategy Officer, on this important topic and uncovered key aspects of a successful healthcare content strategy.
What is a healthcare content strategy?
A content marketing strategy for healthcare is a comprehensive, long-term plan that covers all steps necessary to engage patients and healthcare professionals through content. This plan can include delivering healthcare newsletters, creating video content for healthcare, preparing patient education materials, and other activities to strengthen trust in a brand.
As shared in the Pharma Talks podcast, content strategy has long been essential to the digital patient journey. Industry content creators have consistently aimed to be strategic and stay on top of trends. Even when pharma and life sciences struggled to adapt to new marketing approaches, a carefully crafted content strategy remained a cornerstone of content processes.
Why a healthcare content strategy is needed
In pharma, content production is some of the slowest of any industry. While sectors like retail content pipelines focus on producing as much engaging content as possible, in pharma and life sciences it’s almost impossible to keep up with social media trends or a tight schedule, due to regulatory requirements. Content has to undergo serious checks and be approved by multiple experts before it sees the light of day.
A digital health strategy makes creating and publishing content more standardised. As Vijayakumar and Andreychuk discussed in the podcast, with the help of a healthcare content marketing strategy, everyone involved in content creation can have a standardised set of best practices to rely on, enabling both creativity and compliance. In pharma, there is a constant pressure to produce more content, and this content must be of high-quality and compliant.
5 Tips on creating a content strategy for pharma, life sciences, and healthcare
1. Be clear on the purpose from the very beginning
Know the key objectives and understand why they matter. One of the greatest benefits of a healthcare content strategy is its ability to guide toward goals. But it can’t go anywhere if it isn’t understood why it’s needed. Start small, and once the impact is clear, scale thoughtfully.
2. Go from commercial to medical
Often, content is examined purely from the commercial side: how it performs, how many clicks it gathers, who viewed it, and who decided to make a purchase afterward. However, there is also a medical side to content in the pharma industry. Instead of creating content only for commercial purposes, focus should instead be on adapting early medical materials for commercial use, thereby reusing content and bringing out its educational potential.
3. Reuse content meaningfully
While modularisation is a great step toward improved efficiency and cost savings, it’s not crucial to reuse every bit of content. Outdated materials don’t have to be recycled just to preserve old content and always be efficient. True efficiency comes when there is a focus on creating meaningful content that can be modularised, not when old messages get constantly reused.
4. Ensure strategies alignment
Even though content modularisation plays a crucial role in creating a proper healthcare content strategy, it is also essential to ensure strategic alignment across the whole organisation. What are the key benefits of modular content? Why does it have to be implemented right now? Teams should be communicated with, possible issues and questions discussed, and it ensured that everyone is aligned to create consistent messaging.
5. Build strategy incrementally
A content process might still be nascent. Or, quite the opposite, there may already exist a content strategy relied on, but one needing an update. Start by auditing existing materials, analysing what has worked and what hasn’t, and develop standardised templates. Soon, a content strategy for healthcare that truly supports all marketing goals can be built.
Can AI improve a healthcare content strategy?
Nowadays, it is impossible to discuss medical social media marketing without mentioning artificial intelligence. And when it comes to healthcare content strategy, it’s only natural to consider AI’s influence and how it can be applied.
In their conversation, Andreychuk and Vijayakumar highlighted the role of AI, emphasising that it is unlikely to replace healthcare content strategy. Instead, AI should be seen as an enabler, supporting marketers and content creators, rather than taking their place. With the right approach, AI can help streamline processes, accelerate content development, and reduce the time needed to craft an effective strategy.
Take it step by step
Gardens don’t bloom overnight. A well-planned healthcare content strategy takes time and effort to develop. Instead of rushing and trying to build everything at once, focus on smaller goals first. Conduct research, start breaking content into modules, and work toward creating consistent content.
Explore the full podcast episode on Viseven's YouTube channel, where Andreychuk provides more details on creating a healthcare content strategy.
Visit the Viseven site for more insights and exclusive services.
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About Viseven
Viseven is a global MarTech company specializing in digital content solutions for the Life Sciences and Pharma industries. With over 15 years of expertise, Viseven empowers pharmaceutical companies and their production agencies with AI-driven content management and automation solutions.
Our flagship eWizard Platform streamlines content planning, creation, distribution, and management—enhancing efficiency, reducing operational costs, and accelerating brand time-to-market. Designed for omnichannel and multichannel engagement, eWizard optimizes campaign management, data collection, and performance analysis, ensuring continuous message improvement for Brand Managers and Content Operations teams.
Visit us at viseven.com or follow us on social media: LinkedIn
