By John Lavey | Hammock President and COO

A recent HealthLeaders Media study on the buying behavior of hospital decision makers has a lot to say about the role of content.

Here are four key takeaways from the study: 

  1. Although the sales cycle hasn’t lengthened and the sales process hasn’t changed for most hospitals, more decision makers are now involved in purchasing.
  2. Content is a moderate or major influence on a buy, according to more than three-quarters of respondents.
  3. When it comes to the origin of the buying process, colleagues, industry news, vendor websites and Google are heads above all other sources.
  4. Decision makers count ease of use, experience and price among the most important factors when evaluating suppliers or vendors.

What does this mean for marketers? Here are four content ideas to ponder.

  1. With more people involved in the decision, address the key concerns of the growing number of stakeholders by role or, if resources demand, batched roles (such as C-suite or clinical). The best approach is to address the particular needs of each decision maker (such as the CMO or director of the revenue cycle) before creating content.
  2. Content for lead generation is a must, and the study points out that 91 percent of respondents view between two and seven pieces of content when making a buying decision (average number=3.7).
  3. Depending on where you want to reach buyers in their process, think about organic and possibly paid strategies for distribution. You may want to consider sponsored content (also known as native advertising) as another way to get your content in the hands of the likeliest sources.
  4. To ensure your content addresses your buyers’ key considerations, think about their needs—and the outcomes they seek—before deciding what you want to say about your solution.

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Image Credit | Thinkstock



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