Five ways marketers can engage nurses using professional podcasts and videos

Healthcare marketers must adopt new best practices for leveraging professional healthcare podcasts and videos to engage nursing professionals successfully.

The demand for professional podcasts and online videos that discuss topics of interest in their fields is growing among nurses. According to a recent study* by Wolters Kluwer, nearly one-quarter of nurses (24.6%) now use podcasts to keep themselves up to date on the latest research and information about their specialties.

Traditional professional resources—including peer-reviewed journals, case studies, and society websites—continue to be the most influential and trusted sources among nurses. However, these new digital media fill a “content gap” among nurses because they struggle to find time to consume content between their professional and personal activities.

Although ad placement opportunities differ from one video or podcast channel to the next, healthcare marketers who wish to engage nurses effectively must consider these new channels if they hope to remain competitive. In this article, we discuss the growing trend of nursing podcasts and videos. We also provide recommendations for marketers about how they can leverage these channels successfully.

Why nurses find podcasts and searchable videos appealing

The friction between nurses’ professional and personal lives is changing the way they consume professional content. Podcasts provide a consistent way for nurses to stay informed about developments in their fields without spending a substantial amount of their precious time. 

Podcasts and videos are accessible virtually anywhere and on any device. This makes them convenient solutions for nurses who often have only unscheduled “found time” to dedicate to non-immediate concerns (e.g., personal responsibilities, patient care). Podcasts and videos are also accessible during activities and in locations where traditional resources are not: during a workout or while riding public transportation, for example.

Meanwhile, there are specific qualities of podcasts that nurses may find appealing when they are not able to access trusted traditional sources:

Time-saving

Nurses are pressed for time: 71.1% of nurses claim they do not have enough time to read everything they want. Podcasts and videos enable nurses to learn about new topics quickly when journals and other materials are not available. But nurses still want podcasts and video content to be relevant and aligned with other, more established professional resources.

For example, among those nurses who claim they do not have enough time to read everything they want, 84% are interested in an article summary authored by a thought leader that highlights the article’s main points and discusses applicability. When asked which format they would prefer for the article summary, 33.8% of nurses identified podcasts, and 37.6% of nurses identified videos. By accessing podcasts and videos with this purpose, nurses ensure they access only trustworthy content, directly aligned with peer-reviewed and other vetted materials.

Curation

Podcasts and videos offer a level of curation and immediacy when nurses lack the time for traditional content. A video or podcast episode can deliver the main point of a written article quickly; the video or podcast can cite the written article as a source to support its claims.

The advantages of this approach are twofold. First, nurses can ensure they’re accessing exactly the topic that interests them, even when the podcasts or video references an article that includes several other topics. Second, nurses can capture professional insights with the confidence there are peer-reviewed or clinical resources that support them.

Discoverability

It can be difficult to search within traditional nursing publications for recent articles on specific topics of interest, especially on short notice. In general, online resources make it easier to home in on key articles. This especially applies to online podcasts and videos.

For example, nursing journals, nursing societies, and other professional resources may publish video or podcast content—searchable within their websites via dedicated search features, or even via external Google search when those features aren’t available. Meanwhile, trustworthy professional publishers may have channels on mainstream publishers’ sites, such as YouTube. Nurses with the wherewithal to search these resources can quickly find a wealth of nursing-specific content.

Quality and trustworthiness matter

As formats, podcasts and videos may lack the tested and accepted formalities of traditional print and online journals. Information flows more quickly via audio and video, whereas written texts are more readily subject to established methods of vetting and scrutiny before they reach their audiences.

But the credibility of podcast and video content sources still matters to nurses. Nurses are less likely to access podcasts from mainstream podcast sources used by the general public, including Spotify, iTunes, or Google Podcasts. Meanwhile, more than half of nurses who use podcasts access them via YouTube, where mainstream medical publishers have verified channels for their content, and over one-third (34.9%) who use podcasts access them directly from their source websites, i.e. the websites of professional publishers themselves.

Five ways marketers can leverage podcasts and videos to engage nurses

Marketers can leverage these channels successfully to reach this important audience. But they must be as critical of podcast and video content as the nurses seeking to access trustworthy resources via these channels. Here are five ways healthcare marketers can identify and then leverage these digital channels successfully.

1. Identify the video and podcast channels best suited for your message.

This can include traditional nursing publications with verified channels on YouTube or other mainstream publishers, as well as nursing society sites, nursing journals, and other professional resources that offer podcasts and videos alongside their written content.

2. Determine the appropriateness of advertising via those channels.

Some nursing channels may have guidelines around advertising or limit the type of content that can be promoted via their videos and podcasts. For example, nursing journals may restrict marketing to peer-reviewed or clinical content only. Make sure to review these guidelines before creating your ad content for nursing podcasts and videos.

3. Determine the best advertising format for those channels.

Videos on YouTube may warrant brief video ads at the beginning of each recording. It may better serve advertisers’ purposes to use a static ad on the page instead. And in the case of podcasts, it may be prudent for marketers to create a brief ad as part of the podcast content itself, which can then be highlighted in the audio introduction.

4. Align those advertising efforts with your efforts in other professional publications.

Nurses who seek professional nursing content on podcasts and videos may also read nursing-specific journals and other publications associated with those channels. Consider aligning your podcast and video advertising with your existing efforts within those publications to engage nurses more consistently.

5. Create a multichannel marketing plan with internal stakeholders.

Engaging nursing podcasts and videos may be a useful part of your overall marketing plan, but it should not be the only element. Consider partnering with nursing organizations and societies via co-branding activities or collaborating with nursing associations to develop educational content for nursing podcasts and videos.

Keeping pace with evolving digital content

Nursing videos and podcasts will only increase in number, with new and more effective ways to confirm their validity and trustworthiness. As new digital formats emerge and grow in appeal among nurses, marketers must be prepared to adapt their campaigns accordingly. But ultimately, nursing podcasts and videos should be one part of a broader marketing plan that includes other reputable channels and initiatives.

Connect with the audience engagement experts at Lippincott^® HCP Access. We help healthcare marketers develop holistic and effective ways to engage their target practitioner audiences. This includes modern nurses seeking a variety of professional content types. 

* Wolters Kluwer conducted an online survey of 1,135 nurses in September 2022. Researchers obtained the survey sample from Wolters Kluwer’s internal list of nurses based in the United States.