Although there’s no shortage of blog posts, articles, and how-to tutorials for Healthcare Marketing Professionals best practices available online, books can offer readers more detailed insight and in-depth plans-of-action than any other resource. Healthcare marketing books — or marketing books, in general — can help you with everything from establishing your healthcare practice brand and growing your social media following to delivering a positive patient experience and building your online reputation. For Healthcare Marketing Professionals, it’s time to hit the books. From Healthcare Marketing Professionals strategize to current healthcare trends, these five books are the building blocks of a successful healthcare marketing strategy.

1. “Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help Not Hype”

Published in 2013, this New York Times bestseller has been favorably compared to the seminal marketing works “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.” While this is a book that covers general marketing strategies, the principles are easily applicable to healthcare marketing. Baer’s message is simple: Marketers should provide useful information to customers. This book shows marketers how to create content that offers value and “Youtility” to potential customers. For healthcare marketers, the strategies outlined in this book are particularly relevant, and many of the world’s leading companies have already successfully adopted Baer’s marketing strategies.

2. “The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands”

This powerful book is less of a marketing guide book and more of a glimpse into the future of medicine. The author discusses the future of healthcare and technology, likening the current technological climate as the “Gutenberg” moment for medicine. Just as the printing press revolutionized information, the Internet is revolutionizing the practice of medicine. While, this isn’t, per se, a marketing guide, understanding the future of healthcare is essential for identifying marketing opportunities. This compelling read will open your mind to the complicated and fascinating world of digitized medicine.

3. “Strategic Digital Marketing: Top Digital Experts Share the Formula for Tangible Returns on Your Marketing Investment”

One of the greatest advantages of digital marketing is that you can effectively measure what works—if you know how. This books is a primer on not only how to get started with digital and social media marketing, but also shows the readers tangible ways to measure your success and improve your results. It may be a cliché, but it all comes down to ROI—return on investment. This book will provide the basic knowledge you need to quantify your results and build on your success.

4. In Search of Good Medicine: Hospital Marketing Strategies to Engage Healthcare Consumers

While many books discuss broad Healthcare Marketing Professionals tactics, this book delves deep into the many issues specifically facing hospital marketers. Mark discusses the changing nature of healthcare, the new ways patients are making healthcare decisions, and the ways hospitals can appeal to this new breed of patient. Praised by hospital marketers and executives alike, this book provides an in-depth examination of the unique challenges facing today’s healthcare marketers and provides practical solutions.

5. “No B.S. Guide to Marketing to Leading Edge Boomers & Seniors: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Take No Prisoners Roadmap to the Money”

This book provides excellent insight into the buying preferences and spending patterns of a population critical to the healthcare industry—the Boomers. Understanding this rapidly growing demographic—about 10,000 people will become Medicare-eligible every day for the next 20 years—could be the key to healthcare marketing success.

6. “Healthcare Marketing in the Digital Times”
“Healthcare Marketing in the Digital Times” by Olivia Flaggert is a great choice for the doctor or provider who is new to online healthcare marketing and is particularly strapped for time. Within its 42 pages, you will find healthcare marketing ideas meant to help you attract more patients in 2020.

According to PatientPop, about three-in-four people have looked online to find out about a doctor, a dentist, or medical care. If your healthcare marketing strategy hasn’t yet shifted online, this book will serve as a primer to search engine optimization, social media marketing, and search advertising, among other healthcare marketing ideas. There are also 30 Facebook post ideas to kickstart your social media strategy.

7. “Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen”
A good healthcare marketing strategy requires being able to communicate your brand. Your brand helps convey who you are and the value you provide to patients. Your brand also helps differentiate you from your competitors. You likely already know what sets you apart in your local market, but communicating your differentiator in a memorable and consistent way can be a challenge for even seasoned marketers.

Although this book is not specific to healthcare marketing, add “Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen” by Donald Miller to your 2020 reading list. Miller, the CEO of StoryBrand — a company that helps businesses with branding — gives readers a guide to developing and refining brand messaging. This book can help bring the expertise of a marketing professional to your practice at a much more affordable cost.

8. “One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days”
In 2020, your healthcare marketing strategy must include social media marketing. With 72 percent of U.S. adults using at least one social media site, according to the Pew Research Center, there’s ample opportunity for you to build an audience of engaged patients online. However, creating a social media calendar and engaging on these channels can be time-consuming. For some providers, it can be difficult to know where to start and, once they get started, it can be even more difficult to find an engaged audience.

Check out “One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days” by Brendan Kane to learn how to grow your audience and your overall online brand. This marketing bestseller will show you how to use various social media channels to promote your practice. Even if you do not grow your audience to one million in 30 days, you’ll be able to learn the basics of a proven social media marketing strategy.

9. “Healthcare Marketing: Strategies for Creating Value in the Patient Experience”
If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to healthcare marketing, look no further than the textbook “Healthcare Marketing: Strategies for Creating Value in the Patient Experience” by Barbara Ross Wooldridge and Kerri M. Camp. Written by marketing professors with ample healthcare experience, this book is for students entering a professional healthcare environment. Even if you’ve been in practicing medicine for a long time, this book can give you the tools you need to successfully promote your practice in today’s rapidly changing healthcare industry.

Although general marketing principles carry across industries, the health industry has its own unique set of characteristics as well as its own set of rules and regulations that come with practicing medicine. This book focuses on healthcare marketing ideas that specifically translate to patient satisfaction.

10. “SEO 2020: Learn SEO with smart internet marketing strategies”
If you know about search engine optimization (SEO), then you understand how important it is to your healthcare marketing success. SEO is a strategy you employ on your healthcare website so people find you when they are searching online for care. According to Google, one in every 20 searches on the search engine — which, according to GlobalStats statcounter, has about 93 percent of the worldwide search engine market share — is health-related.

Where you rank on Google is important because, the higher you rank, the more clicks your website will receive. According to Advanced Web Ranking, the top desktop result on Google has a click-through rate of about 31 percent. This goes down to 16 percent for the second desktop position and almost 10 percent for the third. The Google algorithm, which is largely kept secret, is also constantly evolving, which makes staying on top of SEO a challenge.