For hospital and healthcare marketing professionals, that’s a lot of clutter to bust-through with your message. Fortunately, the digital world is full of useful numbers to help guide your Internet marketing strategy, content creation, engagement planning and decision-making.
Here are a just a few of the stats that you may or may not know. By the numbers:
81: percent of US adults use the Internet [Pew Research]
87: percent of US adults own a cell phone; 45 percent own smartphones [Pew Research]
4.7 billion: number of Google searches daily [comScore]
1 billion: number of Facebook users [mashable]
39.88 million: number of US visitors to Twitter, about 12 million more than year before [Statista]
166.2 million: projected number of US users of all forms of social media in 2013 [Statista]
80: percent of Internet users (59% of US adults) seek online health information [iHealthBeat]
36: percent of health information searches are for themselves [iHealthBeat]
48: percent of health information searches are for someone else [iHealthBeat]
55: percent of Internet users search for medical treatment or procedure information [Pew Research]
47: percent of Internet users search for information about doctors or other health professionals [Pew Research]
38: percent of Internet users search for information about hospitals and other medical facilities [Pew Research]
41: percent of Americans are comfortable using websites to check health symptoms [Phillips]
25: percent of people trust online symptom checkers, mobile apps and home-based monitors as much as they trust their doctor [Phillips]
30-49: age range of people most likely to search online for health information
50-64: age range of people second most likely to search for health information
31: percent of cell phone owners (and 52% of smartphone owners), use their phone to look up health or medical information [Pew Research]
60: percent of US adults say they track their weight, diet, or exercise routine [Pew Research]
33: percent of US adults track health indicators or symptoms, like blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, or sleep patterns [Pew Research]
12: percent of US adults track a health indicator on behalf of someone they care for [Pew Research]
94: percent of prospective patients said reputation is important in hospital selection [Google]
77: percent of patients used search prior to booking an appointment. [Google]
90: percent of adults age 18-24 trust medical information shared by others in their social media networks. [PwC Health Research Institute]
Keep in mind that stats like this are constantly changing, so stay current on your numbers.