How to use Instagram for your digital communication strategy

In 2023, Instagram will still be a very important social network for digital marketing. However, there have been some changes in how it is used and how its algorithm works that need to be taken into account. In order to develop an efficient digital communication strategy and achieve a good ROI, it is important to know which formats work best and how to make the most of the algorithm.

In this article, we'll tell you which are the most recommended formats and give you some tips on how to make your digital communication strategy as efficient as possible.

Instagram has a wide variety of formats, allowing users to choose the one that best suits the message they want to communicate. Currently, we have the following types:

  • POST. Image published in the feed. Although these have traditionally been the basis of the social network, they currently have less reach than a reel or carousel. However, they are still a very useful format to communicate messages to our followers, since there are a variety of options when designing them.
  • CAROUSEL. Post up to 10 images in the feed, allowing the user to scroll horizontally to see the content. This format has great reach because it grabs the user's attention and invites them to browse through the images in the carousel.
  • STORY. This format lasts 24 hours and has a wide range of options: links to websites, tagging/mentioning accounts, adding geolocation, conducting polls, asking open questions to our followers, etc. In addition, if there are stories that we want to last longer than specified, there is the option to leave them highlighted under the BIO to make it easier for users to access this content each time they want to access it.
  • VIDEOS/REEL. This format has a much higher reach than posts in the feed, as Instagram's algorithm allows it to reach new profiles that are not followers. The videos we used to publish as posts in the feed will now appear in Reel format. To make the duration longer than 90 seconds (what is allowed as a Reel), there is an option to upload a video as before and it will automatically be uploaded as a Reel. The vertical format is the most popular among the users of this social network.
  • LIVE. Instagram allows you to broadcast in real time with your followers, with the option of reading comments to generate interaction. This option is ideal for inviting followers to live online a specific event or day. This way, they can participate and generate interaction.

The key to effective communication on Instagram is consistency. When a brand wants to communicate a message to its followers, it is not enough to do it from time to time, but to focus on the importance of creating a community by disseminating relevant content frequently.

To do this, it is important to know and understand the target audience, what they are looking for or expect from brands or companies, and to reach them with valuable content at the right time.

It is also important to create content plans before creating publications in order to organize content and engage followers with timely and interesting content. It is important to take this approach before publishing in order to maintain the essence of the brand, take care of the hashtags and the messages to be conveyed.

Every digital strategy is different, and every client is unique. Therefore, it is essential to understand the objective of the communication and, from there, to accompany you with the necessary know-how to implement your strategy effectively.

Global can be your partner in the development of a digital communications strategy for your brand.


Health and Big Data

We live in a time in which an incredible amount of data is being generated. For this data to be useful, it must be converted into information. And that's where Big Data, Data Mining and Data Science come in. All this data, properly handled and managed, can make research advance faster and more effectively and medicine can also be much more efficient. However, this enormous amount of raw data also presents several challenges, such as privacy management, storage, and accessibility from remote centers.

In all aspects of healthcare, there are many sources of data that give rise to a tremendous amount of information. Everything from structured data (patients' names, their analytical values) to unstructured data (such as medical notes, X-rays, medical reports) is generated in the healthcare sector. On top of this, we must add the large amount of information about our health generated nowadays by wearable devices. The biomedical information that will be available is expected to double every year and a half over the next few years, making it a great challenge to manage and obtain useful information from this data. This enormous amount of data can provide us with a great deal of relevant information, which can be used for what is known as personalized medicine (disease prevention, personalization of treatments, better monitoring of chronic patients).

A very recent example of this is the development of the Smart Lollipop. A medical team in Catalonia has developed a lollipop-shaped device that detects diseases through saliva. This facilitates the performance of diagnostic tests in children. It consists of a smart candy able to diagnose pathologies by means of a saliva sample and digitizes the response on an online platform. The patient must consume the candy for approximately three minutes while the device collects the saliva and sends it to a biosensor. The candy is then connected to an optical reader to digitalize the diagnosis. The device can detect hypercholesterolemia and celiac disease, although they are working to add more diagnostic lines.

Source: Innovation4Kids

 

This is a very important breakthrough, as each year cardiovascular diseases take the lives of more than 120,000 people in Spain and 42% of these deaths are related to hypercholesterolemia, according to a study conducted by the Association of Cardiovascular Risk and Rehabilitation. In addition, more than half of the people who suffer from celiac disease are unaware of it.


Why you should include influencer marketing in your digital strategy

Today, influencer marketing is a very important tool within social media outreach campaigns. This type of marketing consists of establishing a collaboration (paid or free) with influencers in a specific sector or field. The goal is to collaborate in the dissemination of specific content to promote a product or brand, increase the audience of a campaign and achieve greater reach. In short, influencer marketing allows us to promote focal points of the relationship between consumers and brands.

But what does it mean to be an influencer? In the different social networks we can find several examples of influencers, from celebrity profiles, tourism accounts, chefs, nurses, veterinarians, etc. There are celebrities who have become influencers, but this is not always the case. Being an influencer means being able to influence, reach followers with credibility on the topic they specialize in, providing opinions or comments on different brands and/or products or on a specific topic. Each influencer works daily to maintain and nurture their community of followers, providing content of value and interest to their audience.

When a brand launches a broadcast campaign on social networks, it should consider influencer marketing as part of its strategy, as it can lead to greater online visibility, brand awareness and better KPIs.

However, it is important to keep in mind that there are different types of influencers that can be grouped into two broad categories:

  • MICRO-INFLUENCERS: These are profiles with between 1,000 and 50,000 followers. Because they have a smaller audience, they are perceived as more credible figures. These profiles tend to have an active community of followers, so they generate high engagement.
  • MACRO INFLUENCERS: Their accounts have more than 100,000 followers. These are profiles that have a greater reach due to their large number of followers and are usually very professional influencers, so they generate credibility.

Depending on the campaign, it is advisable to use one type of influencer or the other, or a mix of both. It is very important to keep in mind that their audiences are different, in terms of number of users and topics, so before choosing an influencer it is important to make a study of the current KPIs, as well as other key information for the campaign to be carried out.

On the other hand, it is always advisable to work with profiles that share the values of the brand, so that the presentation is as natural as possible and always in line with the pillars of the brand.

It is also very important to take into account the positioning of the product to be shown, as it is necessary to avoid that users lose confidence in the brand and that it loses authenticity. Product placement must be carefully analyzed to ensure successful results.

At Global, we are happy to help you plan a broadcast strategy for your brand and work with you on your future campaigns.


Digital Marketing and Communications Trends for 2023

As the end of the year approaches, many of us are starting to wonder what the digital trends of 2023 will be, what our consumers will expect and how we can plan our business strategies accordingly.

Here are the trends that will mark the new year, so you know how to plan your communications and digital marketing strategies in 2023.

 

TIKTOK ADS

It's no secret that TikTok is a social network with a high level of engagement, a wide reach and a large number of users that are growing exponentially. This is why it is considered a good channel to generate awareness and brand consideration.

This social network allows for ad campaigns similar to Facebook but allows for greater segmentation to reach the desired target with advertising. In addition, there are many different ad formats that provide options for message delivery and customization for each business.

Considering that it is a widely used platform today, it is advisable for your company to join the digital transformation and start communicating and creating content on this social network if it is not already doing so.

 

PRESENCE IN THE METAVERSE

 To understand this trend, it is important to first understand what the Metaverse is. This new digital world consists of a virtual space that extends the physical world into the digital world. It is similar in style to video games, but its purpose is different. The metaverse aims to replicate our everyday realities in the digital world through the use of virtual reality (with virtual reality devices), creating an immersive space that allows the user to enter this new world through their personalized avatar.

Through interconnectivity, it will be possible to carry out social activities in different universes, with the possibility of moving freely from one space to another. It will also be possible to carry out industrial development work for companies interested in the sector.

Among the first companies to start betting on this new digital world is Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) announced in 2021 the transformation of his social networking company into a metaverse company, presenting Horizon Workrooms, a virtual reality platform for teleworking and changing the name of his company to Meta.

But it is not the only company looking to enter the metaverse. Although it is not yet 100% created, it is advisable to bet on communication and the creation of campaigns in this new digital world. Until its launch, we can research the subject and expand our knowledge for this not-so-distant future.

 

NATIVE ADS

Another trend for 2023 is native advertising. According to Cyberclick, native advertising consists of "ads that adapt to the online medium in which they are published. Their main characteristic is the way they are displayed, always adapted to the environment in which they are found, avoiding being invasive for the user" (Cyberclick. "Native Advertising").

We can find different formats for this type of advertising: advertising on websites, on blogs, suggesting content similar to the one the user has accessed in order to attract his attention in a more natural way. The main advantage of this typology is that it is not perceived as an advertisement since it is integrated into the digital environment and respects the format and style of the web page in which it is located.

If your brand is not yet using this type of advertising, we recommend working with this medium to reach potential customers with content in a less invasive way. By using native ads, you can improve brand perception, reach audiences that do not normally respond to traditional advertising due to its saturation, receive a higher volume of traffic compared to other ad formats, and enjoy other benefits.

 

PODCASTS

Over the past few years, podcasts have become increasingly popular, and their audience has grown steadily. This format offers flexibility to the user, as it is a program available on online platforms that can be listened to at any time and as often as desired.

By frequently uploading content in this format, you can build user loyalty by providing them with relevant and valuable information. It is also a great alternative for attracting prospects, convincing them of the program, and generating quality leads. It is recommended to complement podcasts with other social networks in order to reach all the brand's followers and distribute them properly.

In short, it is important that brands consider this format as it can help them build customer loyalty, create a sense of trust with users, provide a different content that allows them to deliver the message with voice and personality, and increase brand awareness.

 

For this new year, it is recommended to rethink digital communication strategies. Faced with such a changing landscape, it is important to know how to use the tools in the best possible way to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.

At Global, we would like to accompany you on this digital journey. We can help you integrate these tools into your brand so that you are not left behind and are prepared for this new scenario.


What is mHealth and why is it important to the healthcare industry?

Mobile Health, also known as mHealth, refers to the use of mobile devices (tablets, mobile phones, monitoring devices, etc.) to manage health, covering the different phases that affect patients: prevention, management, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

The mHealth is part of the digital health ecosystem, eHealth, so it is an element of great importance to take into account by those brands in the health sector.

Today, we live with the rapid growth of information and communication technology, and we can observe its permanence and improvement since the Covid-19 pandemic. The eHealth sector is also in a growth phase that parallels the rise of technology. mHealth makes it possible to reach users more directly and allows them to participate more actively in their own health by providing them with tools that help them understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Currently, many mHealth users connect to available applications through smart devices, such as a smart watch, sensor-enabled sneakers, monitoring bands, and others. Through these devices, real-time data can be collected from the user, allowing for the creation of a record of information and contributing to Big Data.

The use of big data can help to cover the different stages that patients go through, due to the large amount of information that it handles. In this way, patient care services can be perfected and improved, providing greater accuracy and quality.

Among the benefits of mHealth, we can highlight the following:

  • Accessibility. Users can easily access various mobile applications without having to go to a hospital, clinic, or medical center. This allows them to view their medical history, get test results, schedule appointments, and more from the comfort of their own home.
  • Ease of use. Because mobile applications are similar to what users already know and use, they are easy to use with an intuitive user interface (UI).
  • Personalization. Having a digital record of each patient's medical history allows for a more in-depth understanding of the patient, optimizing consultations and improving diagnoses.
  • Speed. Information is updated faster, enabling early detection and prevention, as well as real-time patient follow-up.

Given that users are frequently connected to mobile devices, it is convenient for healthcare companies to take advantage of this opportunity. In this way, they will be able to be present in the daily lives of patients, accompanying them in each of the important phases (prevention, management, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up) and improving their healthcare.

If you are interested in discovering the world of mHealth, we will be happy to help you plan a strategy and discover together the future of healthcare.

 


Understanding the importance of properly measuring paid campaigns

Why is it important to measure the results of paid campaigns?

When running paid advertising campaigns, it is very important to use tools that allow you to analyze the information collected in order to ensure the optimization of each campaign.

Users surfing the web leave a digital footprint that provides valuable information for decision making. Thanks to this data, it is possible to understand each consumer in depth, which helps the company to identify the strategies that are relevant to the target audience and to adjust its campaigns accordingly.

When running a paid campaign, it is essential to have web analytics metrics and clear parameters to be able to compare the results with the pre-established objectives. The data obtained allows us to know what is working and what needs to be changed to achieve the desired success. The metrics depend on the objectives to be achieved, but in general they are the basis for understanding the results of the implemented strategy.

Google Analytics is one of the most widely used tools for analyzing and monitoring website activity. It allows you to visualize collected information such as: unique users, pages visited, bounce rate, session duration, conversions, user demographics, devices, etc.

If social networks are also available, it is advisable to install the social media tracking pixel to obtain better data measurement. This pixel, also known as conversion pixel, is inserted in the source code of the web page and allows to obtain information on the activity of the same, as well as other quantitative and qualitative data of the users. Its purpose is to know the performance of the campaign and to measure the return on investment. This information is important to optimize the paid advertising campaign.

It is crucial to have analytical tools to obtain a quality database that will help the company maintain a long-term relationship with its customers, improve communication and increase profitability. By analyzing the results obtained, we can obtain the following information.

What users do. The results obtained throughout the campaign will help to better understand the customer, as information is obtained about the customer's journey on the website, knowing in detail both the points of interest and the points of abandonment. This will help to focus the strategy on the user to provide a positive experience and improve the UX and UI.

Who visits this site. It allows to know demographic and geographic data of users, as well as more personal data such as their interests. This is of utmost importance to know who you are targeting and to achieve better performance when capturing the segment.

How they arrive at the site. The origin of the visit is very important to know where to put the communication effort to achieve greater traffic to the site. This information will also help to redesign the strategy to focus more frequently on the source of the traffic and thus achieve greater effectiveness of the campaign.

Frequency of interaction. By analyzing the results, it is possible to get information about how many users visit, how many sessions they have, and how long they stay on different pages of the site. In this way, it is possible to know what content is most relevant to them and discover opportunities for improvement for future campaigns.

In this way, the use of analytics tools makes it possible to closely monitor the performance and results of campaigns in order to optimize performance. In this way, it is possible to adjust the strategy in time to better reach the selected segment, modify parameters to achieve better results, and discover opportunities for improvement. In addition, measuring results is fundamental to running remarketing campaigns, creating new audiences, and serving a new interested segment, while building a long-term relationship with existing consumers.

At Global, we have more than 20 years of experience in healthcare marketing, including managing paid advertising campaigns as part of our services. We have the expertise to help you plan, manage, and optimize your paid campaigns.

 We look forward to helping you achieve better results at a lower CPC.


SEO Strategy for the Healthcare Industry

What is SEO and how does it affect the healthcare industry?

SEO (acronym for Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing a website to drive traffic organically, i.e., through unsponsored results from Google and the other search engines. Although Google does not share exact data, it is estimated that about 6 billion searches are performed every day, and about 7% of those searches are related to health, according to David Feinberg, vice president of Google Health.

This means that worldwide (and in all languages), there are more than 400 million searches on Google every day that are directly or indirectly related to health and healthcare in general. This is undoubtedly a huge traffic potential, even if it is limited to the Spanish language and the geographical area of Spain, since this figure translates into approximately 2.6 million daily searches in Spain. It is clear, then, that for companies in the medical sector, pharmaceuticals, veterinarians and, in general, all health professionals, SEO is a fundamental channel within the digital acquisition strategy. This virtually inexhaustible traffic potential and brand visibility is the key to generating sales, leads or reaching a wide and diverse audience that would be very difficult (or at least more expensive) to reach with other channels.

For many healthcare companies, attracting new users (e.g., unfamiliar with the brand) is more difficult than ever, as there are now many players competing for the same keywords, including scientific publications, generalist blogs, forums, and of course other competitors in the same industry. For this reason, it is essential for healthcare professionals and companies to provide a compelling digital experience for their users. The first step in achieving this is to invest in SEO in order to reach those users (or potential patients) who use search to clarify their doubts, get information, or look for products and services. A solid SEO strategy that generates organic traffic in the long term requires an investment of time and money (which can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the keywords, the search environment and the behavior of competitors) to get a website on the first page of Google. SEO requires a constant effort, both in the optimization of the site at the technical and semantic level, as well as in the generation of new content and the acquisition of links from other domains, in addition to a quick reaction to the algorithm changes that may occur (Google alone has stated that between 500 and 600 minor changes are made to its algorithm every year).

Let's see below what the best SEO strategies for the healthcare industry are.

Publish quality content

One of the most popular SEO aphorisms is "content is king". This statement has been circulating in the digital marketing industry for years and is as true today as it was years ago. The algorithm of Google and other search engines is based on natural language and semantic understanding of queries, so it is normal that the content of a website is one of the most important elements in the totality of positioning factors (which, remember, are more than 200).

It could be said that high quality content is the most important factor in an SEO strategy. For a website to appear in search results, it must have content, it's as simple as that. It is therefore important to ensure that the content is comprehensive, high quality and accurate (very important in the healthcare sector to avoid penalties). Depending on the complexity of the keywords we are targeting, our site could be competing with other domains with higher authority, seniority, or relevance (other factors that determine positioning), so it will be important to include the so-called "long tail keywords" in our content strategy. Long-tail keywords are usually variations or synonyms of the main keyword, which usually have a lower monthly search volume, but also less competition. In addition, this type of keyword is much more likely to define the user's search intent, so it usually has a better CTR (click-through rate) and generates more interactions. Tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush can help find the best keywords to optimize existing content on a website or generate new content.

Crawling, Indexing and Technical SEO

Having unique (original) and high-quality content is of little use if Google is not able to find it and therefore add it to its index to return it as a result of one or more queries. Having the correct indexing and crawling instructions in the source code of our website, with a robots.txt file and an XML Sitemap, are the basic requirements to facilitate indexing by search engines. A good SEO practice is also to submit our Sitemap to the Google Console

(Search Console) so that we can also monitor the indexing rate and possible crawling problems on our site.

A hierarchical URL structure that facilitates crawling will also have a positive effect on indexing and therefore positioning.

Core Vitals

A website's loading speed, security (https protocol) and compatibility with mobile devices (mobile first indexing) are also important positioning factors. For Google and the other search engines, the user experience is an increasingly important element, so over the years they have put a lot of emphasis on this aspect and have provided webmasters with several tools to meet the requirements, summarized in what are now called "Core Web Vitals". Google's PageSpeed Insights tool is an excellent resource to check the loading speed of a website and provides a lot of information and suggestions to improve the overall score. Another important SEO factor is the security of a website. The SSL certificate (which allows you to switch to the https protocol in a browser) allows you to encrypt a domain, ensuring that your visitors' information is always protected.

Last but not least is the compatibility of a website with mobile devices. Most searches are done on mobile devices, and if a site is not optimized for them, users are likely to leave quickly (increasing the bounce rate) and go to a competitor's site instead.

Off-Page SEO

Another of the most important elements to consider in an SEO strategy for healthcare websites are the so-called "off-page" signals, which are usually not under the direct control of the webmaster. The two most important elements of off-page SEO are inbound links (links from other domains to ours) and social signals (likes and shares of our content from social networks).

External links pointing to our domain help increase its authority. Search engines view links as a vote of confidence in a site, but not all links are created equal. It is important to get high quality links from semantically relevant and authoritative domains, possibly finding a natural balance between the attributes of the attributes, the anchor text (the text used to generate the link) and the other elements that define the link profile, in order to avoid penalties. Above all, it will be necessary to avoid spam links, link farms, low-relevance sites or links obtained in a massive and automated way. Social networks, although not a direct positioning factor, can have a significant impact on user behavior and indirectly on positioning, since they can improve visit quality metrics, brand awareness, and other factors that together have a weight within the positioning factors.

As we anticipated above, there are more than 200 positioning factors (at least the ones we know, possibly even more), but these are of course the main ones that should be taken into account when defining and implementing an SEO strategy for websites in the healthcare sector (and any other niche). Defining and implementing a successful strategy takes knowledge, time, and dedication.

At Global, we can help you do just that, and we want to be your partner in this adventure. We are a healthcare-focused digital marketing agency with a long history of success in SEO, having helped dozens of brands achieve their traffic and acquisition goals through our organic acquisition strategy.


Healthcare Marketing on Google Ads: Challenges and Tips

Advertising on Google: Challenges for the Healthcare Industry

According to Google's 2021 data, 27% of website traffic comes from paid search and advertisers are expected to spend nearly one hundred billion dollars annually on paid advertising by 2024.

With over 7,000,000 advertisers worldwide using it to raise awareness of their business, drive sales through their e-commerce or get business leads, Google Ads has undoubtedly become an indispensable source of traffic for many (especially in sensitive or highly competitive industries).

Google Ads is undoubtedly the fastest way for a brand to increase its search engine visibility. However, advertising on Google can be quite challenging for healthcare companies.

Not only from the point of view of the investment required for Google Ads campaigns, since the healthcare sector is one of the sectors with the highest average acquisition costs (*), but also and above all because of a whole series of restrictions that Google imposes on companies that want to promote certain products or use certain health-related terms in their ads.

(*) The average cost per conversion in the health sector is estimated at $68.94 on the Google Search Network and $101.50 on the Display Network.

Let's look at some of the key challenges for pharmaceutical, veterinary, or medical and health information sites that want to advertise on Google Ads, and the best practices to follow to ensure a successful paid advertising campaign.

Some services and products cannot be advertised

The first challenge for those in the healthcare niche is that some products and services cannot be advertised at all, while in other cases the audience that can be reached is limited.

Depending on the products and services being advertised, Google Ads campaigns (display or search) may only be available in certain countries.

Learn more about Google's healthcare and medical advertising policies.

 Ad and landing page content

In order for ads to be accepted and run, anyone advertising with Google Ads in the Healthcare sector must include certain phrases in the ad copy or on the landing page to which traffic is sent.

For example, if testimonials or before and after pictures are shown, it is important to use phrases such as "results vary and are not guaranteed".

It will also be important that the ad text matches the content of the landing page, otherwise the Google Ads algorithm will detect this inconsistency and block the ads (with the risk of even banning the account).

No retargeting

This is undoubtedly a major challenge for healthcare advertisers, as retargeting is probably the most effective way to keep leads in the sales funnel.

One of the limitations of Google Ads for healthcare advertisers is that retargeting lists to re-engage with potential patients is not allowed (this does not apply to all types of healthcare ads, but it is something to keep in mind).

This is one of the reasons why it is important to have a landing page designed for conversion, so that people who visit the landing page after clicking on the ad can be easily converted into leads (e.g. after simply filling out a form or using a call CTA).

Know your audience

 Because of the limitations mentioned above, it is critical for healthcare advertisers to know their buyer persona or target audience.

It will also be critical to keep in mind that there will most likely be different audiences that will need to be targeted in different ways.

For example, if our ads are targeting medical professionals, the keywords chosen for the campaign, as well as the copy for the ads and landing pages, should use a tone of voice and lexicon that is used by professionals looking for the service or product being promoted.

 Find a digital partner who can help! 

At Global, we have more than 20 years of experience in healthcare marketing, including website design focused on healthcare communications and management of paid advertising campaigns in Google Ads.

We can help you plan and manage your paid Google Ads campaigns so that they are as optimized as possible and allow you to stay ahead of your competition, getting more leads and traffic at the best CPC.


World Hypertension Day

Arterial hypertension (HT) is one of the leading causes of premature death in the world, affecting an estimated 1.13 billion people worldwide. It has a high prevalence in Spain, affecting 35% of adults and reaching 70% in those over 60 years of age, which means that there are 10 million adults with HT in our country.

There is a high level of knowledge about this disease and its treatment, but less than 40% of patients have their HT under control. This is alarming because HTN is a serious condition that has been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease, encephalopathy, nephropathy, and other diseases.

To raise awareness of this reality, World Hypertension Day is observed on May 17th to educate the public about optimal blood pressure levels and recommendations for preventing and controlling hypertension.

Blood pressure (BP) is the force exerted by circulating blood against the walls of the arteries. This force is generated by the heartbeat, which pushes blood out of the heart and through the arteries. The optimal blood pressure numbers are 120 mmHg (maximum or systolic) and 80 mmHg (minimum or diastolic). When blood pressure is too high, it is called arterial hypertension. Hypertension is considered to exist when the systolic blood pressure is greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or when the diastolic blood pressure is greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.

Risk Factors for Hypertension

Modifiable risk factors.

  • Inadequate diet: high salt intake, diet rich in saturated fats, diet poor in fruits and vegetables.
  • Sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity
  • Smoking
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • Overweight and obesity
  • High stress levels

Non-modifiable risk factors.

  • Genetic history of hypertension
  • Age: >55 years in men and >65 years in women.
  • Gender: cardiovascular risk is higher in men.
  • Hormonal changes: the onset of menstruation can increase blood pressure.
  • The presence of other pathologies (diabetes, nephropathies).

Since this disease is not usually accompanied by warning signs or symptoms, hypertensive patients are often unaware that they have hypertension. Only when the blood pressure is very high can symptoms such as headache, body heat, nosebleeds, irregular heartbeat and, in more extreme cases, fatigue, confusion and anxiety be noticed. Prolonged high blood pressure causes different symptoms depending on the organ affected and the degree of involvement. For all these reasons, it is important to know what our blood pressure is. Here are some tips to help you measure your blood pressure.

Tips for measuring blood pressure

  • Do not smoke or consume stimulating drinks (coffee or alcohol) 30 minutes before the test.
  • Be calm and do not rush.
  • Sit with your back against the back of the chair, with your legs touching the floor and not crossed.
  • The hand of the arm we are going to measure should be relaxed, without squeezing and in a resting position, more or less at the level of the heart.
  • Take the measurement after a resting period of about 10 minutes.
  • It is recommended to measure three times and to take the average. A single blood pressure reading is not sufficient to diagnose hypertension. 

Treatment of HT is based on lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, and medication. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment have been shown to be essential in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Here are some tips to help lower your blood pressure.

Tips to reduce hypertension:

  • Lose weight.
  • Reduce salt intake.
  • Reduce consumption of saturated fats.
  • Get moderate physical activity. Walk at least 30 minutes a day.
  • Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.
  • Stop smoking.
  • Reduce alcohol consumption.
  • Get the necessary hours of sleep.
  • Practice activities that promote relaxation.

Multichannel Healthcare Marketing | GLOBAL EHEALTH

How to define a digital multichannel strategy

In a digital environment that is changing and innovating at an ever-increasing pace, it is essential to have the right tools and mindset to deal with the inevitable changes in the landscape. There are many factors that today's digital-first companies must consider in order to stay competitive, regardless of the channel(s) on which they focus their marketing efforts and budgets. Each acquisition channel can be an area of influence to capture your potential audience, either to build brand awareness and value, or to generate sales or business leads. All of this applies to every industry and sector, including, of course, pharmaceutical and healthcare.

This is why Global has created the new eHealth division, whose mission is to provide our clients with a view of the digital environment in order to offer and develop an effective communication strategy. A strategy that not only has the set of tools and services to achieve the goal set, but that is also a sentinel in the market and its evolution, to be able to react immediately and promptly to the changes in the scenario that will inevitably occur.

There are many variables that can change the digital "playground" in which a company moves: from a new strategy of its competitors (which could be more aggressive and therefore take its place to other players), through intrinsic changes in the Google algorithm (the main traffic driver for companies operating in the digital environment in Spain and the rest of the world), both at the level of organic and paid visibility, or even political or socio-economic changes in the offline world (as we are living, for example, with the current pandemic of Covid-19 or the geopolitical situation in Ukraine). For these reasons, it is necessary to be able to count on an arsenal of services and resources that can adapt in an agile way to the changes in paradigms and scenarios that inevitably occur in the market.

It should be noted that it is of little use to be able to count on the latest digital marketing tools and even a large investment budget if all this is not linked to a solid strategy and clear objectives. For this reason, Global's eHealth division always advises that the first step is to carry out a thorough analysis of the digital ecosystem in which we will be competing as a player and to define a multichannel acquisition strategy that takes into account the objectives to be achieved, the resources available and the competitive environment we face. Once this strategy has been defined, which, as we have said, must be flexible and able to adapt in an agile manner to changes that may occur, the next step is to define which services or specialties must be activated to help us achieve the objectives we have defined. Knowing where our target audience is also key to developing a successful strategy, as different platforms require different approaches and often very different levels of investment or engagement.

Social marketing, for example, is an excellent channel to connect directly with a brand's audience in a specific language and tone of voice. It is also an excellent tool for promoting and disseminating campaigns and promotions and helps to dramatically increase brand awareness. LinkedIn, Twitter, or even in many cases Facebook and Instagram, are usually the ideal candidates for deploying social marketing campaigns.

Search engine traffic is another excellent way to reach the target audience, through organic positioning (SEO) or paid search engine optimization (SEM). Both allow to reduce the distance between the search intent and the results provided by search engines (we refer mainly to Google), since their logic is based on keywords. Therefore, we can get the URLs of our site to appear for certain queries, making sure that users are served content that satisfies their search.  This increases the chances of converting that visit into a lead, sale, or whatever our goal is.

Speaking of SEO and SEM, we have mentioned content, and in this sense, marketing automation (or automated content programming) is another (if not the most important) tool of vital importance in any marketing strategy, as it allows us to establish lasting and consolidated relationships with the target audience, improving engagement and loyalty.

All of these efforts would be frustrated without an optimized website at the base of the digital acquisition channels. At Global, we take a strategic approach to web development, developing sites for the healthcare sector that have optimized and relevant content, meet technical and web performance requirements, are mobile friendly, and take into account best practices in usability (UX) and user experience (UI). Beyond web or social communication, at Global we are aware that a digital strategy cannot do without being able to include in its arsenal all possible channels to contact the audience. For this reason, we are also specialized in the development of mobile applications in the health sector (mHealth), as they represent a powerful tool that can fulfill several functions, such as connecting health professionals with their patients or helping users to monitor and control their pathology.

In addition to mobile applications, which are becoming increasingly capillary, social gaming or gamification is another channel through which brands can effectively connect with their audience, in this case using a fun and entertaining dynamic that encourages participation and loyalty.

Whatever the objective of your marketing campaign, Global's eHealth division has the know-how to effectively implement your strategy and activate the channels necessary to achieve your goals.