Every health system needs brand trust. Patients put their lives and their care in your hands. Are you doing everything you can to build trust with your audience?
These days, you need more than consistent messaging and sophisticated digital marketing to build trust with patients. Nearly three out of four internet users are concerned about their online security, which means data privacy is top-of-mind.1 With so much information being exchanged online, understanding why is easy.
Security and Health System Brand Trust
You may be surprised to learn that the healthcare sector is the most frequent victim of ransomware attacks.2 Whether your patients are aware of this startling statistic or not, they want to navigate your digital assets with confidence, without fear of picking up a virus or exposing their personal information when using your website.
Building brand trust is all about sending the right signals. Immediately showing visitors your site’s security features is a key starting point. First and foremost, you need a “.com“ or “.org” domain. Except for a few non-profit and government URLs, these are the most trusted domain endings and tell visitors your health system is legitimate.
You also need an SSL certification (HTTPS) to show visitors your site is encrypted. If you don’t have one, a warning from Google will be the first thing visitors see. Nothing creates doubt quite like a message from Google claiming your site may not be secure!
Posting your health system’s privacy policy and terms and conditions is another effective way to signal your site’s trustworthiness. Usually, these pages are included in the footer. And while there’s admittedly little chance your leads are looking for these documents, the perception of access builds trust all the same.
There are also several trust badges you can apply for from third-party sites, including TrustedSite, Norton, and TRUSTe. These seals of approval show users your commitment to online safety and security with one glance.
Privacy and Brand Trust
Digital security is fundamental to brand trust, but what about privacy? How does your health system handle the personal data of prospective patients while they research your practitioners and procedures?
Think back to the last time you visited a website. Chances are, a cookie consent pop-up greeted you to offer greater control over how your data is used. This is an easy way to show users you care about their privacy.
A recent study in Asia revealed leads were 1.3 times more likely to take action when they believed they had control over their data.3 The more they thought they could control their data, the more willing they were to remain on the customer journey.
The relationship between perceived privacy and trust demonstrates how important digital safety has become—not only as your audience’s preference but as an essential trust indicator. Leads simply aren’t interested in supporting brands they don’t believe respect their privacy.
Another recent study perfectly captured this shift in user preferences, showing that nearly half of users select their second-choice brand over their first-choice brand if they have a positive privacy experience with the former.4 Privacy has a profound impact on how prospective patients make decisions about their health system.
How to Build Brand Trust With Privacy
The aforementioned brand study begs the question, what did the second brand do that was so much better than the first brand? Why did the leads have such a positive experience with the second? Here’s what makes a quality privacy experience.
1. Be Transparent
Transparency is a simple, but imperative, step. Today’s web users are savvy, and if you don’t tell them how, when, why, and by whom their data will be used, they’ll figure it out on their own. Be upfront and honest about what you’re doing with their data by clearly sharing your health system’s privacy policy.
2. Ask About Privacy Settings
Remember the cookie consent pop-up? Many include tools for visitors to pick and choose what types of data your site can collect. Letting users make their own choice is an excellent way to build brand trust because you’re giving patients more control.
3. Ask for Consent
A quality privacy experience requires you to ask for permission before using a lead’s data. Permission is usually requested on the cookie consent pop-up, but you can also use a follow-up email after users fill out a contact form. Regardless of how you get there, you definitely need the consent on record.
Healthcare providers carry an extra burden of trust with patient privacy and personal information. Your first priority is to demonstrate trust and security for visitors to your website. But your site and data also needs to comply with federal and local regulations. An experienced healthcare marketing agency understands these unique nuances and can assist in navigating the hospital digital marketing space. They can also help you maximize the utility of your data while maintaining compliance and security of your patients’ PII.
Need to build brand trust for your health system? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Call us at 888.307.7304 to schedule a discovery call and learn more about our full suite of health system digital marketing services.
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