The Future of Healthcare Marketing: A Roadmap for New Grads

Jenny: Hi friends! Welcome to today’s episode of We Are Marketing Happy, A Healthcare Marketing Podcast. I’m your host, Jenny Bristow, and I’m also the CEO and founder at Hedy & Hopp, a full service, fully healthcare marketing agency. We are really excited today to chat about the future of healthcare marketing, a roadmap for new grads and those new to the industry.

It has been a really fun start to the summer, and one of those things that always comes with the wrapping up of a school year is chatting with new graduates about their hopes and dreams for their profession. So as I was chatting with my team, we thought it would be fun to put together an episode giving some guidance to those that are either hoping to enter healthcare marketing fresh and as the first step of their career after college, or for those that are interested in pivoting into healthcare marketing, and they’re looking for a little bit of guidance about what the industry trends are.

So today we’re going to talk about three major pillars that are shaping the healthcare marketing industry today. And then we’re also going to talk about four skills that if you’re interested in being successful in healthcare marketing, they are things that I believe are very important for folks entering the space. And then for bonus, we have collected input from a variety of Hedy & Hopp team members, and they’re going to share their thoughts and opinions on some advice for new grads and those entering our space. 

So let’s kick it off and talk a little bit about “the why.” Healthcare marketing can be extremely rewarding. If you talk to anybody who is in this industry, you will hear time and time again that folks love it for really two reasons. The first, and most important is it is a deeply purpose driven profession.

So it’s a great fit for those of us that perhaps don’t feel like we’re the right person to pick up a scalpel. I, for one, get pretty, lightheaded when I see blood. But I want to make a difference in the lives of folks and want to feel good about where I’m putting my talents. So, that’s why I had Hedy & Hopp specialize in healthcare marketing, as I wanted to know that all of my marketing and digital and tech talents were really making a difference in the world, and wanted to know that all of my work was helping folks find and access care.

Maybe making a bad day a little bit better because of a streamlined online experience. And we knew that we could do that. So most people in healthcare will share that exact same sentiment. If you’re in healthcare marketing, you very much feel good at the end of the day about the work that you put in. 

The other thing, though, is it also is pretty, recession resistant. So that’s definitely a positive. If you’ve ever worked in industry, that experience experiences a lot of economic turmoil. That is typically not something that you will see in healthcare. So our industry, though, is facing a huge variety of different shifts coming from different directions. But I really believe that new grads really have a distinct advantage if they possess a handful of modern skills.

So let’s get into it. First, what are the big macro trends that are happening in healthcare marketing today? What is shifting? The first big trend that you need to be aware of is the death of the standard Google search journey. So it used to be that whenever patients either had something weird going on with their health and they wanted to research a symptom, or they needed to find a provider, the first place they would always go would be the Google search field.

They would begin typing in, describing their symptoms, or they would begin doing a “near me” search to be able to find, say, an orthopedic surgeon near me, to be able to try to find people. That isn’t happening as much anymore. It still happens, of course, but the percentage of folks that go through that patient journey is getting smaller each year.

Instead, what they are doing is they’re using things like generative AI like ChatGPT or Gemini for pre-diagnostic searches. So they are trying to help diagnose what is happening to them and understand the what or the why behind it. And then they turn to social media often like TikTok and Instagram Reels as search engines for provider reviews and health tips.

So, lots of folks once, perhaps they know maybe directionally what is happening, they will go and try to find a provider that has a strong, thought leadership online, maybe try to research some potential solutions online or next steps for their care. So it’s no longer about traditional SEO and keywords. It’s about topic authority. And that really shows up through either AI or social media.

So the different channels and the technology behind showing up and being relevant is really shifting. The second trend that we are really seeing is that authenticity beats high production all day long. So, the era of heavily polished corporate hospital commercials is really losing ground for a variety of reasons. You have deepfakes, you have AI generated content.

All of those things are forcing consumers to really question the content that they are consuming online. And, really just trying to question if it’s real or not. So in 2026, patients are really demanding transparent, unpolished, native video content. They want to see real doctors giving quick health tips or real patient advocate stories. They want to see something shot on an iPhone.

They want to see something that isn’t highly edited in post-production. And then finally, the last trend that you really need to be aware of if you’re entering the space is privacy and the measurement reckoning. So there have been massive crackdowns on tracking pixels, and that has resulted in folks having to get really creative with the way that they are tracking measurement of their campaigns.

Some folks in the industry have really given up the goal of tracking anything at all, but I strongly discourage that use. There are still a lot of things that you can do. But we’re really up against a fractured patchwork of state-level privacy laws. So we have, I believe 20 at this point. Different states have privacy laws.

FTC and HIPAA, all of these different areas are putting regulations on health care marketers. And the way that we’re tracking performance. So we have to prove our ROI without violating patient trust. So let’s talk about how you can combat these three trends. What is the skill stack or what are the things that new grads or people entering this industry need to be really aware of?

The first that I think is really important is the human-in-the-loop AI prompting and workflow automation. So don’t just learn how to use AI to write a blog post or write your emails. That’s worthless. People can, at this point, identify AI-written copy if you’re soulless, do not do that, but use AI to take a massive compliance approved medical document and slice it into a multichannel campaign.

So, let’s say, for example, you have post-surgery tips or guidelines for an orthopedic program. You can use AI to be able to provide recommendations about how to cut that up in a variety of channels and formats. And then humans step back in to be able to actually create that content. Agencies and in-house teams really want grads to use AI as a productivity multiplier, not as a thinking replacement.

So I should not be creating content, but it can help you think about things through a different lens, or about things that have really structured guidelines around them. The second skill is microlearning and short form video storytelling. So doctors are busier than ever and patients have very short attention spans. You have to master the art of micro learning, so taking complex clinical topics and turning them into 60 second or shorter mobile first video concepts that educate and build trust instantly.

So become a pro at storytelling through social. The third skill is privacy first data and analytics literacy. So if you can look at a marketing analytics dashboard and understand the difference between something that would be considered a vanity metric, like a video of you or an impression on a paid media campaign and downstream business outcomes like actually scheduled and attended appointments while keeping patient information intact.

You will be the smartest person in that entry level entry interview room. So understanding what all of those variables are and what the different compliance components are that are forcing us to think differently, is going to be a really big opportunity to stand out. And then my favorite skill, the fourth, is having extreme empathy and healthcare literacy.

You aren’t selling shoes. You are dealing with people who are often scared, sick, or confused. They may be having the worst day of their life, so you need to be able to understand health literacy and write copy that a stressed out caregiver or a patient can easily understand. It’s a superpower, and that is not something that AI is going to take over anytime soon.

So we’re going to take a quick hiatus at this point. I would love to hear from some Hedy & Hopp team members. What’s your thoughts? What’s your perspective? What should new grads be thinking about as they are entering the workforce? Take it away.

Kevin: My advice for anyone getting into healthcare marketing is to stay curious and never stop learning. Platforms, policies, and strategies change constantly. So being adaptable is one of the biggest strengths you can have.

Philip: Use all of these awesome AI tools and understand with this abundance of information and ideas. The best thing to do is become a great storyteller and personalize your information that you’re putting out there.

Suzie: Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and learn how all the different platforms work. It’ll help you understand the difference in terminology across them, and also help you build things out in them more effectively later on.

Heidi: If you’re just new to healthcare marketing, it can feel not very fun to not be able to do any remarketing or custom audiences, but there’s actually a lot of opportunity to get creative still and still be completely compliant. Think about the “walled garden.” That’s what we call it a lot here.

If there’s any audiences that are generated in-platform, you can still use those because you’re not transferring that information elsewhere. And there’s no PHI involved.

So there’s still like video remarketing. There’s still a lot of things that you can do. You just got to get a little bit creative, and it can still be fun.

Megan: My piece of advice would be to be up to date on the WCAG standards. Things are changing all the time, and it just helps people have more accessibility and more of a user experience on websites, which gives them the ability to have more access to care.

Kate: My piece of advice would be to make sure that you’re listening not just to the physicians, not just to the hospital staff, but also to your patients. Patients are the reason that any of us are in business, in healthcare, and we need to make sure that they’re the top priority at all times.

Shelby: Always consider yourself a student. Healthcare marketing is constantly changing. Every single day, there’s something new. Whether that’s technology, whether that’s privacy. So subscribe to the newsletters, join the webinars, listen to the podcast, absorb as much as you can from your colleagues, from others in the industry. And just always, always consider yourself a student

Jenny: Thanks for those fun insights team. All these fun to have multiple voices sharing insights into the podcast and it was a great episode to get everybody’s perspectives. If you know a new grad, if you know somebody new to this industry, share this episode with them. It hopefully will provide some insights from that 10,000ft perspective of what is healthcare marketing facing today, and what are the skills I need to focus on over the next couple of months as I’m entering the workforce?

If this episode provided value to you, please give us a review. Give us a five star, like us, follow us on all the different channels. We drop episodes usually every Friday and we will see you on a future episode of We Are, Marketing Happy. Cheers friends!