Healthcare Marketers Diversify Channel Mix Safely

As digital platforms decay under the weight of their own algorithms, younger audiences like Gen Z are tuning out traditional ads in favor of authentic, people-driven spaces. In our latest, Tom Hespos discusses how this shift is forcing healthcare advertisers to rethink how and where they connect. Read the full piece at https://hubs.li/Q03PSq4t0 #HealthcareMarketing #GenZ #DigitalShift #HealthcareAdvertising #UnlockHealth

Healthcare consumers aren’t harder to reach, they’re just harder to convince. During the Lower Cost, Higher Impact webinar by Forum for Healthcare Strategists, we covered why traditional, one-size-fits-all healthcare marketing messaging no longer works in a world where patients expect personalization at every stage of their journey. What today’s patients want: · Authentic messaging that reflects their intent · Clear proof of value · A frictionless path from search to scheduling Relevance converts. Authenticity retains. Precision lowers cost. If you’re building your 2026 marketing strategy, this is the moment to evolve your playbook. Catch the full webinar here: https://hubs.li/Q03YxwQS0 #UnlockHealth #HealthcareMarketing #PatientAcquisition #ConsumerExperience #DigitalEngagement #PerformanceMarketing #AuthenticMarketing

Healthcare marketing teams aren’t standing still — and that’s a good thing. As expectations shift and the work becomes more connected to enterprise growth, the most successful teams are evolving with intention. Not because they’re struggling, but because the opportunity in front of them is bigger than ever. In our latest piece, Shannon Curran explores what we’re seeing across high-performing healthcare marketing teams, and why this moment is full of possibility. Read the article at https://hubs.li/Q03-1CGj0 #HealthcareMarketing #Healthcare #MarketingStrategy #UnlockHealth

Healthcare marketers are used to watching clicks. Fair. Clicks show engagement, and they still matter. But when AI handles more early research, a lower click volume may not tell the full story. The more useful question is what happened next: Did the campaign move someone closer to care? Our latest article from Steven Plimmer looks at why healthcare marketing needs new math for an AI-assisted patient journey. https://hubs.li/Q04y7HKH0

A patient who clicks “directions” may be closer to care than a patient who visits your homepage. A patient who calls from a search ad may be doing more than browsing. A patient who opens a location detail may already be deciding where to go. That’s especially true in action-oriented service lines like urgent care, where demand is local, immediate, and often measured before the website visit ever happens. The challenge for healthcare marketers is making sure their reporting reflects how patients actually move toward care. Our latest article from Steven Plimmer looks at what calls, maps, directions, device behavior, and HRAs can reveal about patient demand. https://hubs.li/Q04xy1YM0

Healthcare marketers can see the click. But what if the most important part of the patient’s decision happened before the click? AI-assisted health research is moving more of the journey upstream, into moments that may never show up cleanly in a dashboard. That raises a better question. Where is the patient actually making the decision? Our latest article from Steven Plimmer explores what that shift means for health systems trying to earn trust earlier. Read the article: https://hubs.li/Q04xt_Y90

There has always been real off-site and offline influence on a potential patient's path to care, but providers' ability to influence it is greater than it used to be in an online-first, post-AI world. In addition, the flow of clicks to your site is trending down, but the intent of those visits is stronger than it used to be. In other words, you have to fight harder and smarter across the web (and in GEO) to get someone to visit your site, but when they do, they are not only more informed, but also more driven to take action than pre-AI. Read more here: #healthcaremarketing #AI #performancemarketing #SearchEngineMarketing

Healthcare marketing leaders are being asked to deliver more. But the real challenge isn't the work. It's the conversations behind it. Growth. Resources. Measurement. In our latest piece, Shannon Curran breaks down the three conversations every healthcare marketing leader should be having with their C-suite — and why getting aligned on these changes everything. Read the full article at https://hubs.li/Q03_TFZT0 #HealthcareMarketing #MarketingLeadership #HealthSystemMarketing #UnlockHealth

Next week, I'm thrilled to attend SHSMD Connections 2026 in Baltimore, MD with my Unlock Health colleagues and moderate a timely session on AI in healthcare marketing.   Join me, Jason Lesandrini, PhD, FACHE, LPEC, HEC-C, and Bryan Kawasaki on Monday afternoon for The Authenticity Line: Deciding Where AI Belongs in Healthcare Marketing. As AI becomes embedded across healthcare marketing teams, questions of trust, credibility, and accountability are intensifying. This panel brings together perspectives from strategy, content, creative, and digital to examine how AI can support marketing work when guided by clear human judgment.   And to learn more about SHSMD and the annual conference check out: https://lnkd.in/eYvaNrfJ   #SHSMD26

My closing article in the series on the changing economics of #HealthcarePerformanceMarketing. Trust is an important factor in the success of all marketing, but no industry is set a higher bar for it than Healthcare. So ensuring trust is created and maintained from beginning to end is a top priority for us at Unlock and, of course, our clients. But the good news is that compliant marketing does not need to mean muted marketing, or stunted scope, or hitting and hoping for a return. In this article, learn how to feast on the opportunities out there without stepping on a trust rake or flying blind.