From folklore like “eating carrots improves your eyesight” to myths with more serious consequences like debunked claims about vaccines, misinformation about health and wellness has always been passed around.
But things have become worse because social media enables these myths to spread quickly, according to “Perceptions of Health Misinformation on Social Media,” published in the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine. The authors report on a study that found that “more than a third of participants felt their social feeds contained ‘a lot’ of misinformation, and two thirds had difficulty telling the difference between fact and fiction.”
In addition, social media algorithms determine what content users see and “are often based on past engagement behavior, which can reinforce echo chambers, whereby users who engage with misinformation increasingly encounter further misinformation.”
This swirl of misinformation and pseudoscience about health and wellness has real-world consequences for people—and for your healthcare organization. Social media influencers can persuade their followers to try a home remedy instead of seeking needed medical care, delaying treatment. Patients show up in practitioners’ offices armed with information that conflicts with sound medical advice. And all of this breeds mistrust in conventional medicine.
With so many health myths circulating online, healthcare organizations and providers need to show that they’re reliable and trustworthy. When people trust a healthcare brand, they’re more likely to listen to providers’ advice, follow their treatment plans, and visit their offices or hospitals for care.
Building trust is the heart of every healthcare marketing campaign. It’s a constant, ongoing effort. So we advise our healthcare clients to build a content marketing strategy that educates patients, reinforces the expert care your organization provides, and keeps your brand top of mind. Addressing health and wellness myths should be a regular focus of that strategy. Here are a few tactics to make that happen.
Myths and fads pop up frequently on social channels, so it’s smart to assign someone on your marketing team as a lookout for content that’s actively circulating and to build a communications plan to address it. Social listening tools like Hootsuite can help you identify trending hashtags and monitor what key influencers are posting.
Myth-busting and fact-checking content is popular online; social media users love to debate. And it can be the right framework for healthcare practices to confront misinformation. Blog articles and social media posts can question a medical fad and counter it with proven guidance from one of your doctors.
Be aware, though, that myth-busting content has the potential to reinforce the myth you’re trying to debunk. Communication experts suggest a “truth-myth-truth” format, where you share a positive, factual message, then reference the false claim you’re trying to rebut, and then reinforce the facts. And that brings us to the following two tactics.
Medical science is the antidote to healthcare myths, and your organization is your best source for that information. Many healthcare brands now feature real doctors, nurses, and patients in their marketing, so audiences see and hear from people like them. This also helps people connect with the brand on a personal level.
A series of Q&As and video interviews featuring providers answering questions about a specific treatment or procedure can help combat misinformation. You might also create a board of advisors who are available to help fact-check the content you’re posting.
At every touchpoint, your brand should engage your audience with messaging that’s genuine, straightforward, and designed to translate complex medical concepts into everyday language.
That’s especially important when you’re trying to address misinformation. Another NLM article, “Containing Health Myths in the Age of Viral Misinformation,” notes that people tend to hold on to the health misconceptions they’ve bought into, and influencers are quick to dismiss counter arguments. “Throwing more facts at the problem, unfortunately, is not the answer. …
Nor is it constructive for medical experts to talk down to people whose beliefs fall outside the consensus within the scientific community. … Humility, compassion, and friendly persuasion would perhaps make for a more productive approach to changing minds than combative superiority.”
And, as mentioned in the same article, explore innovative methods to engage audiences, such as collaborating with relevant social media influencers to share valuable medical information with their followers, a strategy often more effective with skeptics than traditional expert communication channels.
Patients have more access to medical information—accurate or not—and healthcare organizations have more digital ways to connect with people than ever. Marketers can fight against misinformation by focusing on facts and communicating in a transparent way. Your goal is to position your brand as a more reliable source of medical expertise than whatever’s trending on Instagram or TikTok.
We can help your team create a communication strategy that builds trust and helps your audience feel confident coming to you for care when they need medical help the most. Let’s talk about creating a plan.
Tenth Crow Creative is a brand marketing agency that creates, aligns, and promotes messaging for health and wellness organizations. Through insightful branding, engaging design and compelling marketing campaigns, we help these essential organizations find their identities and effectively communicate with their stakeholders so they can fulfill their missions.
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Healthcare Marketing