In a sea of COVID-19 layoffs, furloughs and unemployment, advertisements are the most effective way to show the world that our healthcare industry hasn’t given up on them. With the challenge of social distancing at hand, healthcare professionals are taking a digital approach and increasingly turning to tools that can quickly communicate their message to the right people and extend its reach.
Here are three reasons why it’s especially important for the healthcare industry to continue to advertise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Healthcare ads are relied upon to circulate the most up-to-date information on COVID-19.
Once the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, the world began to look to the healthcare industry for updates and next steps. Since then, a great deal of new information has emerged and health systems have been thinking up creative new ways to equip the public with up-to-the-minute information on COVID-19.
What OptimizeRx is doing: With a goal to quickly circulate new information, digital health company, OptimizeRX, is embedding COVID-19 alerts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into a cloud-based platform deployed by leading EHR firms. This ensures that clinicians are granted immediate access to the latest coronavirus-related information.
2. Healthcare industry ads connect people with helpful resources that can reduce fear.
According to a Axios-Ipsos survey, 78% of men and 82% of women in the United States are either somewhat or extremely concerned about the COVID-19 outbreak. As the U.S. surpasses China for the highest reported infection rate in the world, healthcare advertisements are working to reduce fear, provide solutions and help connect people with the information they need, when they need it most.
Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health released the following statement addressing our nation’s growing fear of COVID19:
“While there are certainly legitimate concerns over COVID-19, there is no need to panic. Most health care organizations have been preparing for the rapidly escalating virus to hit the US for weeks. And there has been tremendous support and collaboration among health systems and local, state and federal health officials.”
What Northwell Health is doing: To promote accurate information about COVID-19 and combat panic, New York’s largest health network released a video advertisement called “It’s What New Yorkers Do.” The Company’s Northwell Labs is one of few U.S. public laboratories that are currently testing for the virus.
3. Healthcare industry ads are taking action against the spreading of misinformation.
When there is panic, there is a good profit to be made. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, hackers have been creating coronavirus email scams and committing ad fraud to capitalize off of the fear and anxiety it is causing. Some of the most well-known coronavirus scams promote fictitious coronavirus vaccines or the sale of face masks online that are paid for and never received. In an effort to combat price-gouging and misinformation, both Facebook and Google have agreed to temporarily ban all medical face mask ads, but according to a review by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), ads for face masks are still appearing on these platforms.
What the Faecbook and the World Health Organization are doing: On March 3, 2020, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed his partnership with The World Health Organization (WHO) in a social media post. Facebook will be providing WHO with unlimited free ad space on the platform to stop the spread of misinformation.
Advertise with purpose.
The ability to circulate timely updates to the public, connect others with helpful resources that reduce fear and take action against inaccuracies are several reasons why healthcare advertisements matter, now more than ever. Adfire Health knows how to maximize your marketing spend and place ads directly in front of all the people.
Want to learn more? Send us an email at sayhello@adfirehealth.com.
