Healthcare copywriting guide

Healthcare copywriting describes the process of creating content for healthcare organisations, including web copywriting, advertising copy, product descriptions, and social media posts. Healthcare copywriters are non-medical experts who can communicate complex information clearly, concisely, and empathetically. Healthcare copywriters bridge the gap between healthcare providers, patients, and the general public.

42group is one of the UK’s leading healthcare copywriting agencies, with experience working with the NHS, medical device companies, service providers, and pharmaceutical companies. We’ve established a reputation for high-quality healthcare copywriting and content that builds human connections. 

In this article, we will explain what healthcare copywriting is, what a healthcare copywriter does, and why you should hire a specialist healthcare copywriting agency. 

What is healthcare copywriting?

We’ve provided a comprehensive description of what a healthcare copywriter does above, but we can explore this further.

Healthcare copywriting involves creating informative and persuasive content for the healthcare industry. This can include healthcare providers like NHS, private sector, or third sector. Pharmaceutical businesses, medical device companies, medtech businesses and others involved in healthcare may require copywriting. 

Healthcare copywriting is a catch-all term that can include a vast range of activities. From patient brochures and website content to promotional materials for healthcare services and products, healthcare copywriters have a broad range of skills. 

The main challenge of healthcare copywriting lies in making complex healthcare information accessible and engaging to diverse audiences, including patients, healthcare professionals, and the general public.

Healthcare copywriters aren’t trained clinicians or medical experts. 

What does a healthcare copywriter do?

At 42group, every day starts the same – with a big cup of coffee. As healthcare copywriters, we can find ourselves called on to create a huge range of content for our clients. 

Healthcare copywriters will regularly find themselves involved in the following activities:

• Creating educational materials: We spend a lot of time writing brochures, leaflets, and booklets that explain medical conditions, treatments, and healthcare services. These can be for patients, clinicians, stakeholders, or the public. 
• Website copywriting and content: Much of our work is in copywriting and content creation for healthcare websites, including service descriptions, staff biographies, and patient guides.
• Advertising copy: This is the traditional work of the healthcare copywriter, including writing copy for print, online, and broadcast ads promoting healthcare services, medications, or health-related products.
• Social media content: We’re often asked to craft engaging posts for social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. This can involve engaging patients, promoting products, or establishing professional connections. 
• Email campaigns: Modern healthcare companies invest in engagement, so we can write newsletters or email series to educate subscribers about health topics or market healthcare services and products.
• Landing pages: Creating landing pages is an integral part of the sales funnel process.
• Press releases: While not strictly copywriting, creating press releases for new medical research findings, healthcare events, or product launches is all part of the job.
• Blog posts: We call it healthcare content production, but healthcare copywriters can (and do) find themselves writing informative articles on various health topics to engage readers and improve website rankings.
• Patient testimonials and case studies: Real patient experiences can showcase the effectiveness of healthcare services or treatments and are a core part of the copywriter skillset.
• Product descriptions: Yes, we even find ourselves writing compelling descriptions for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health supplements.
• Presentations: We’re experts at working with clients to capture the content they need for sharp, targeted presentations. Less words, more impact is our motto.
• Editing: It’s not all content production and creative copywriting; we also offer healthcare editorial services to our clients, too. This can involve all aspects of copywriting, including editing web copy, product information, blogs and more.

Healthcare copywriting examples

If you’re involved in marketing, copywriting, or digital marketing, the information above should all make sense. If not, we can illustrate the importance of healthcare copywriting and specialist healthcare copywriters with the following examples:

• NHS public health campaigns: Campaigns like “Stoptober” (encouraging people to stop smoking in October) or flu vaccination promotions are great examples of how copywriting can capture something. Think back to “catch it, bin it, kill it” for an excellent example of copywriting (and the rule of 3). The NHS and its in-house copywriters and handpicked agencies are leading the way in engaging content and copywriting.
• Pharmaceutical advertising: Turn on the TV, and you’ll see advertisements for over-the-counter medications, such as pain relievers or cold and flu products. But pharma companies are doing much more, like award-winning Ferring Pharmaceuticals’s #FertililityAwks campaign on Instagram.
• Charity campaigns: Campaigns by healthcare charities like Cancer Research UK or the British Heart Foundation use emotional storytelling to drive donations and increase awareness. There are almost too many to mention, but we loved the “Together we are beating cancer” campaign.
• COVID-19 Public Information: Cast your mind back (if you dare) to 2020, and we were all part of the UK’s largest public health campaign in generations. The government and health organisations created some incredible copy and content providing accessible information about symptoms, prevention, and vaccination.
• Mental Health Awareness campaigns: Initiatives by organisations like Mind or the Mental Health Foundation, providing information and reducing stigma around mental health issues. One of our favourites is the Campaign Against Living Miserably, which has some great copywriting and content aimed firmly at middle-aged men (like us).

These are just some examples to illustrate the breadth of healthcare copywriting and content. What it does represent is that healthcare copywriters have a broad range of experience that can be applied to a large variety of situations and contexts.

10 reasons why healthcare copywriting is critical to brand building

Healthcare companies are involved in the brand-building business – and copywriting and content are crucial. While it can be tempting to pick up a pen and create content yourself, a professional copywriter can transform your brand. 

Here are 10 reasons why professional healthcare copywriting is critical to brand building, product promotion, and digital marketing:

1. Establishes credibility: Well-crafted content can establish your healthcare brand as a credible and authoritative source in the industry. This can help you win new customers, engage and inspire patients, and more/
2. Enhances visibility: Google is now the go-to source for healthcare information. SEO-optimised healthcare content improves online visibility, attracting more traffic to your brand’s website and social media platforms. This is critical for healthcare providers, commercial companies, and third-sector organisations. 
3. Builds patient trust: Clear, accurate, and empathetic communication builds trust with patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders. When they visit your site or engage with your brand, they will appreciate and benefit from your clarity and candour (if your copy is good enough).
4. Differentiates your healthcare brand: Everyone is fighting for a position in a challenging market. We believe that unique and engaging content can help determine your healthcare brand from competitors. Content marketing can play a key role in engaging and educating patients, clients, users, and potential customers.
5. Educates the audience: Informative content educates the audience about health issues, treatments, and services. As well as demonstrating your expertise, your brand can position itself as a trusted source of information – a powerful position for pharma companies and other providers. 
6. Supports marketing strategies: Copywriting plays a vital role in supporting broader marketing goals, such as lead generation and conversion. Crisp, clear copy is always effective at attracting clicks and customers. 
7. Encourages patient engagement: Companies often find that engaging health care content encourages patients to interact with the brand. This can build trust and establish a sense of community.
8. Reflects brand values: Copywriting and copywriters can help shape the brand in your audiences’ eyes. The best copywriting conveys the brand’s values and mission and aligns this with patient expectations and preferences.
9. Influences decision-making: While much of the brand-building process is based on education, persuasive copywriting can influence patient decisions, guiding them towards services and products.
10. Adapts to market changes: Your brand must adapt to changing circumstances – copywriting is key. A skilled copywriting agency can quickly adapt to market changes, keeping your brand relevant and responsive.

Best practices in healthcare copywriting

We’ve explained what healthcare copywriting is and the sort of activities that a copywriter does. We can now look at some of the critical skills and best practices of the best healthcare copywriters. 

While most copywriting agencies will claim they can create copy for any audience, healthcare is a specific niche area with its own requirements. This list is what a specialist healthcare copywriting agency like 42group can do for you:

Audience insights

The UK healthcare sector is incredibly diverse. The NHS is at the heart of healthcare, but alongside it are a growing number of private providers who work with the NHS, third-sector organisations (including charities) and a massive range of suppliers who provide life-changing treatments, devices, and products.

Healthcare copywriters must understand the audience they’re writing for – which can be challenging. Audiences can range from patients with various medical conditions and varying levels of health literacy to healthcare professionals seeking detailed, technical information. Each segment requires a different approach, emphasising the need for tailored, audience-specific healthcare copywriting that creates connections. 

Before writing, every copywriter will seek to understand the person they are writing for. The purpose of each piece of copy or content should be captured in a clear and concise brief (that has ideally been agreed by all parties before a word is written).

Clear, accurate, and engaging 

At the heart of healthcare copywriting is the need for clarity and accuracy – but this can’t be at the expense of copy that’s engaging.

Accuracy is critical. Misinformation can have serious consequences in healthcare – impacting patients’ lives. It’s crucial that copywriters present information that is easy to understand and medically accurate. 

Healthcare copywriters operate in a world that’s full of acronyms, archaic terminology, and phrases that are meaningless to those outside. The best healthcare copywriters can avoid industry jargon and use clear and relatable language that’s engaging. There are some classic tactics that healthcare copywriters can use, but the overall principle is to ensure content is accessible and engaging for the audience (whoever the audience is).

Empathy and sensitivity

Healthcare copywriters often deal with sensitive subjects and must approach every task with empathy. By understanding the emotional context and experiences of their audience, they can deliver content and copy that’s clear, accurate, and engaging.

This sensitivity in copywriting builds trust and ensures that the content cuts through the noise and creates human connections.

Written for humans

Too many copywriters use cliched phrases and terms or pack copy with stale metaphors or similies that can obscure meaning. At 42group, we’re pioneers of people-first content. We’re copywriters willing to battle against boring content to create words and work that creates human connections. 

As expert copywriters, we’re happy to push back with clients and produce work that informs, inspires, and answers the questions your audience wants answered. Copy is structured in a logical and accessible way that provides the rational, technical, and emotional trigger points.

Optimised for algorithms

Copywriters can’t overlook the importance of SEO and the Google algorithm. Content must be written in a way that’s clear and accessibile for your core audience and algorithms. It’s a complex area, but one we’ve written about extensively in our guide to healthcare SEO and why you should work with a specialist agency.

Compliance with Regulations

The UK has strict regulations governing healthcare communication, including guidelines set by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Navigating these regulations is crucial for healthcare copywriters to ensure that their content is not only effective but also compliant.

There are literally thousands of copywriting agencies out there, and all will be vying for your business. But do they deserve it?

10 reasons why you should work with a specialist healthcare copywriter

Specialist healthcare copywriting agencies like 42group have spent years developing the skills, experience, and insights to help your health brand. Even if it’s not going to be 42group, here are 10 reasons why you should work with a specialist healthcare copywriter:

1. Specialised knowledge: Healthcare copywriters have developed specialised knowledge of medical terminology and concepts. This means you can engage with a healthcare copywriter with the confidence they’ll understand what you’re talking about. You can have faith that they’ll translate this into accurate and credible content.
2. Effective communication: Expdcert healthcare copywriters can quickly translate complex medical information into clear, understandable content targeting your audience.
3. Regulatory compliance: Professional healthcare copywriters understand and comply with all legal and ethical standards covering healthcare and healthcare marketing. 
4. Digital marketing expertise: Healthcare copywriters understand the principles of digital marketing and can optimise content for search engines in a sensitive way without impacting or affecting its meaning. This can improve online visibility and increase patient reach.
5. Brand consistency: Your brand is critical to your business, and a professional healthcare copywriter can help provide your brand voice. They become custodians of your brand, ensuring messaging consistency across all platforms, which is essential for building trust and recognition.
6. Target audience focus: Copywriters in health should have a deeper understanding of patients’ needs and concerns. The best healthcare copywriters craft content that resonates with and engages the target audience.
7. Time and resource efficiency: Outsourcing to a specialised copywriter saves time and resources from your in-house team that can be invested elsewhere. Working with a specialist means less time taken explaining the fundamentals of your product, service, or the intricacies of the healthcare sector.
8. Content quality and variety: The best healthcare copywriters can produce a wide range of content types – from blog posts and articles to brochures and patient education materials, all with a fresh perspective targeted at paitents.
9. Adaptability: The healthcare sector is constantly changing. Healthcare copywriters have the knowledge of the sector and the skills to adapt to change.
10. Staying abreast of trends and developments: Healthcare copywriters invest time in staying abreast of the latest healthcare trends and news. This ensures that content is relevant and up-to-date and reflects the latest developments.

What is a healthcare copywriter?

Healthcare copywriters specialise in creating content that persuades readers to take action. This can range from helping a person learn more about a healthcare provider to purchasing health-related products or services​​. Healthcare copywriters work across a wide variety of channels, including web copywriting, brand messaging, product copy, blogs, case studies, and more. 

Can a medical copywriter help my practice’s website rank higher on Google?

A skilled and experienced healthcare copywriter with SEO knowledge can create content that improves a website’s ranking on Google. Content is just one part of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that optimises all aspects of your online presence.

What are the typical services offered by healthcare copywriters?

Healthcare copywriters offer various services including content strategy development, targeted message writing, medical editing, and editorial management for healthcare clients. 

What does the process of working with a healthcare copywriter involve?

Each healthcare copywriter or agency has their own process, but typically, it begins with an initial discussion to understand the project’s scope, followed by a proposal, agreement on pricing (hourly, daily, or fixed project rate), and then the actual content creation and revisions​​.

The best healthcare copywriters develop a relationship with their clients. Over time, this knowledge, insight, and understanding translate into better copywriting and content.

Do healthcare copywriters work on a retainer basis?

Some do! Many healthcare copywriters offer retainer agreements, which can be a cost-effective way to secure regular content creation at a lower per-project cost. eRetainers also ensure priority treatment for the client’s projects​​.

Are free samples available when choosing a healthcare copywriter?

Professional healthcare copywriters do not provide free samples. At 42group, we’re confident that our portfolio and past work are enough for you to gauge our expertise and style​​.

Can healthcare copywriters work with international clients?

Yes, healthcare copywriting agencies work with clients globally. At 42group, we have clients in the UK, Europe, the USA, and the Middle East. We write in UK English but can adapt to different English language variations and colloquialisms based on the client’s location​​.

Should I work with a freelance writer or a healthcare copywriting agency?

Freelance healthcare copywriters can provide an excellent service, with many having highly developed specialist skills. However, a single freelancer can never deliver the breadth of skills and scale that you can get working with an agency like 42group. 

Healthcare content is critical to the patient journey. It informs and guides clinicians, patients, and the public through the journey – using information to improve outcomes at every stage.

Healthcare content marketing includes healthcare blogging, but it’s more than that. Successful healthcare content strategies include all touch points, including your website, social channels, printed materials, and even PR.

Having a strong healthcare content marketing strategy is critical for every healthcare provider. In this guide, we explain what healthcare content marketing is and what it isn’t. We look at the fundamental building blocks of an effective healthcare content strategy, explain the importance of digital marketing for healthcare, and answer your FAQs.

What is healthcare content marketing?

Healthcare content marketing is the strategic use of content channels (including your website, social channels, and physical media) to engage your audience. It’s a structured way to share information about your services. It can inform them about changes, help increase access, ensure you’re reaching everyone in your area, and

Organisations are adopting digital marketing strategies used by some of the world’s leading businesses to improve the user- journey. Giving people access to the information they need can have a positive impact on service delivery through:

• Providing clear information on service opening times and availability
• Offering advice on common healthcare conditions
• Launching a new healthcare service, pathway, or facility
• Promoting a new healthcare app
• Supporting them to make better healthcare decisions
• Breaking down barriers and ensuring equity of access to healthcare services

Content marketing is a critical way for healthcare organisations to create connections with their audience. Some of the organisations that can benefit from a specialist content marketing strategy include:

• NHS primary care and secondary care providers
• Commissioning organisations
• Charities providing healthcare services
• Independent care providers
• Pharmaceutical organisations
• Medical device manufacturers

To connect with your audience, you must develop a detailed picture of who they are. In an effort to make it as simple as possible, we can split the audience into three core groups:

• Clinicians – We’re including core medical staff, as well as commissioners, and other stakeholders with a professional interest (local authority, charity heads, etc.)
• Patients – This describes people who are engaged in a healthcare journey. This can include those visiting your website to book an appointment, someone receiving treatment for a long-term condition, or a service user.
• The public – It’s a crude term, but it describes people who aren’t medical professionals or core stakeholders and not existing patients.

This is a basic way for us to segment your audience. You’ll likely have a much more sophisticated way of breaking down your audience. In the commercial world, before creating content, we develop personas. These are pen portraits of your consumer or user groups to help bring them to life.

Examples of healthcare content can include:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Patient communications materials, including leaflets
• Whitepapers
• Animations
• Videos
• Podcasts

As well as content outputs, like these, specialist healthcare content agencies like 42group can also help you to improve content production processes and internal capabilities through:

• Tone of voice guidelines
• Content production process development
• Content production guides
• Training & development

What healthcare content marketing isn’t

It’s important to draw a distinction between healthcare content and medical copywriting.

Healthcare content is information, advice, and guidance about healthcare services. It can also cover certain conditions, but in a general way.

Medical copywriting, in contrast, is an expert service provided by specialist agencies that goes into details about specific conditions and treatments. Medical copywriters are typically qualified medical professionals and/or scientists with a background in clinical research.

At 42group, we don’t provide medical copywriting services. We do provide healthcare copywriting services.

If you’ve got a brief and you want to chat about it, contact us. If we can help, we will. If you need a medical copywriter, we’ll put you in touch with some of the UK’s leading freelancers and agencies.

Principles of great healthcare content

We’ve worked with the NHS for over a decade, producing patient-first content. We’re highly familiar with the NHS Content Style Guide, which provides a clear and consistent instructions for producing exceptional quality content.

You’re probably familiar with them too, so we won’t go over them again, but what we can do is provide some principles of great healthcare content that we’ve learned from over a decade in the healthcare content business:

Tip #1          Put people first in your content

It sounds obvious, but too many organisations go into broadcast mode when creating content. By pushing their priorities, they’re failing to put people first.

You’ll have seen content like this yourself. It usually includes the words: we and our a lot. This makes a lot of assumptions. Are you sure that your priorities the same as the people you’re writing for?

Go back to your audience, and place them at the centre of your content production. People-first content (or patient-first content, if you like), is about structuring your content on what’s important to the person.

• What information do your readers need and want? (They may not be the same thing)
• What are the questions they will ask, and do we answer them?
• Can we provide better, more accurate, and more meaningful content?
• Does the content we provide make the patient or person journey easier?

These are just some of the questions to ask, and there will likely be more specific ones, depending on your healthcare product or service.

Tip #2          Treat your audience as customers

Treating readers as customers is concept is widely used already, and it’s effective. You can learn from the content marketing skills of commercial businesses, using the same tricks and techniques as commercial businesses.

To achieve this, you have to understand your audience’s pain points. These are the triggers that will get them

For patients, this could literally be a pain that they need to ease. For clinicians, this could be a problematic process or 

Finding out what’s causing frustration can help you structure your content, engaging your readers in a dialogue as you work toward a conclusion. For more on that, read below.

Tip #3          Layer complexity into content

Too much healthcare content is complex and confusing. While details are critical, the best content builds things in layers. Start with a simple explanation and build from there.

This is a hard concept to convey without a live example, but if you can imagine a pyramid that can help. Your first sentence conveys everything you want the reader to know. Underneath that, you layer complexity, stratifying messages in order of importance.

The pyramid principle is well known in commercial content production, but it’s not universally applied in

Tip #4          Make content conversational

The core strength of any healthcare organisation isn’t its facilities, tools, or technologies – it’s the people who work there.

When we speak to a doctor, for example, we’re engaged in an explorative conversation as both sides learn more and more about a symptom or problem, to identify a cause and a solution.

This process of shared learning and exploration can be applied to content – and it’s highly effective.

Take the NHS’s Health A to Z as a shining example. When we look at conditions such as cancer,  it builds layers of complexity (see above) and works in the same way as a consultation would.

It’s also beautifully written in a conversational tone of voice that’s crystal clear, but easy to understand. If you can apply these principles to your content, you’ll have an impact.

Tip #5          Answer questions

When searching about our health (and pretty much everything else) we use questions. “Where is this hospital?” or “How long will it take to get an appointment” or “What the hell is this spot on my leg?”

The best content understands what SEO experts call the search intent to create content.

Answering questions is a really effective way of ensuring your content delivers value for the reader and leaves them better informed after engaging with your content. Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.

You’ll also find that content that answers specific questions ranks better than bland and unfocused copy that satisfies nobody.

Tip #6          Edit and optimise content

Content production is all about writing, of course, but there’s another (arguably more important) stage of the process: editing and optimisation.

Editing is self-explanatory and something you’ll do as part of the process (if not, let’s chat).

Optimisation is an ongoing process of improving the quality, relevance, and quality of content. Optimisation includes the following steps:

• Checking all content is relevant and matches the search intent
• Content delivers value and answers questions
• The structure is logical, simple, and the headings contain keywords
• All links work and take readers to authoritative and accurate sites and documents
• All phone numbers, address, email addresses and details (such as opening hours) are 100% correct

Make content accessible to everyone

Healthcare content must be accessible, engaging, and open to everyone. When creating content, we must consider that anyone could read it – and write accordingly. Of course, if you’re creating a technical whitepaper this is less relevant, but the principles of content accessibility can benefit all readers.

This isn’t about dumbing down content but about ensuring equitable access. The strategies above (using the content pyramid, layering complexity, and judicious editing) are all ways to simplify content without making it simplistic. The challenge is to ensure that the meaning of your content and the messages you want to convey is achieved as quickly and efficiently as possible.

One of the main purposes for creating accessible healthcare content is that doing so increases engagement with you and your organisation. If you’re promoting a service, it can increase uptake. If you’re providing patient information, it can increase adherence.

The growth in translation software and its use by people who speak other languages means your content must be accessible. To achieve this, you should use short sentences with a single point you want to convey. Avoid complex sentences with multiple clauses, as these can be hard for translators. One great trick is to read your content aloud. If the sentences flow naturally as you read them, you’re doing the right thing. If you find yourself struggling with the syntax, then it’s time to edit.

Beyond these technical considerations, there’s a moral one too. If you’re providing care services, you have a duty to engage everyone from any background. Ensuring your content is accessible can help you engage the widest possible audience and deliver the biggest impact.

The power of healthcare blogging

For most people, content marketing is all about blogging. In 2023, are blogs still relevant? The answer is yes. In fact, they’re probably more important than ever.

Blogs provide a connection between your organisation and the people you want to speak to. Shouldn’t your website do that job? Yes, but bogs work in a slightly different way.

Blogs enable you to delve into detail on subjects that matter. Every new piece of content helps to boost your organisation and brand with your readers. The best blogs are professionally written pieces that answer the questions your patients or stakeholders may have.

In addition to answering questions, your blog can also function as an extension of your customer support team, helping to connect people with the answers they need.

We work with several healthcare SaaS providers. When one customer experiences a problem (an inability to login on a legacy device, for example), they assume that others may experience this issue to, and use this as the basis for a blog. When users search online for this issue (which they inevitably do), the first search result they see is a solution provided by the company. This strengthens the brand perception and provides a speedy solution.

That’s the power of a blog – and the impact of a strategic approach to content.

Too many healthcare organisations use their blogs to broadcast content. Consider whether your latest award win or team away day means anything to your readers. (It doesn’t.)

An integrated healthcare content strategy uses every channel to engage your audience and provide answers t their questions. The by-product of this process is a boost in your brand among your key audience and stakeholders.

To be successful, your content strategy must put patients and people first.

Why is SEO critical for healthcare organisations?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the ranking position of your website (or specific pages on your site) in Google and other search engines. The principles of great SEO aren’t dark arts or dodgy tactics, it’s ensuring that the content you produce is the best source of information about the subject.

Take cancer, for example. Type the term into Google, and the top search result is the NHS and not one of the many millions of other websites, treatment providers, patient blogs, or unproven testing technologies.

This, in a nutshell, is great SEO. How does this happen? Google doesn’t tell anyone (even Google Partners like us) how it works – but we know that the search engine giant goes through a complex process analysing the quality of content, alongside a range of other factors, including website speed, domain authority, age, and links.

When it comes to cancer, the NHS is going to come top of every one of these.

Healthcare SEO does two things: it promotes your organisation, and it provides people with the information they need from a source that they can trust.

We’ve written some fascinating guides on what SEO content is, why your content may not be ranking, and how you can use it to improve connections – so start there.

Optimising your content is essential in delivering the information that your readers want and need, from a source that they can trust: you.

Healthcare PPC and paid-for advertising

Healthcare organisations, including software providers and private businesses may consider paid-for advertising, including Google pay-per-click advertising, Facebook ads and others.

Do they work? Absolutely. The algorithms that power search and social media advertising platforms enable you to pinpoint your customers with complete accuracy.

PPC doesn’t normally come under content marketing, but the content does. Digital marketing agencies may be experienced at creating and managing campaigns, but they’re rarely (if ever) able to create compelling ads and strong CTAs.

At 42group, we consider PPC ads and social media ads to be part of the content marketing process, and a service that we offer our clients.

Your healthcare content marketing FAQs

OK, so we won’t be able to answer all of your healthcare content marketing questions, but we’ll answer as many as we can before we need a coffee.

What’s best practice in healthcare content?

The NHS shines out as a beacon of best practice in the healthcare content world. Specifically, the NHS.uk site exemplifies much of the advice and guidance in this healthcare content marketing outline. If you want to write like this, then follow the NHS style guidelines.  Even if you’re a private business or third-sector organisation, the style guide is a simple to follow set of rules for creating great content.

Does the NHS always follow its own style guide? You’d hope so, but it’s not always the case. In fact ,we’ve worked with several NHS organisations who had strayed away from the crystal clear content approach. Thankfully, we were able to get things back on track with some expert editing, rewriting, and optimisation.

Why is healthcare blogging important?

Healthcare blogs are a way that you can engage your audience directly. Your website is all about promoting a product or service, a blog enables you to dele into the details. The more specific you can be, the better the SEO impact. As we’ve explained earlier in this guide, your blog is a great mechanism to deal with customer questions, concerns, and problems – which can reduce pressure on your customer contact team.

But don’t blog for the sake of it, only create content if you have something to say…

How to create a healthcare content strategy?

We’re 3,000 words intis this guide to healthcare content marketing, and we’re not sure we have another 3,000 words in us. Briefly, a healthcare content marketing strategy is a document that pulls together all your content channels (website, social media, ads, etc.), your key messages, and content outputs.

The purpose of a content strategy is to ensure that your content marketing activities (whatever they are) contribute to the business’s overall objectives. It ensures that every piece of content or post has a defined audience, message, outcome, metric, and purpose.

Should I work with a healthcare digital marketing agency?

After reading this healthcare marketing guide, do you believe that you have the capabilities and capacity in-house to achieve your aims? If the answer is yes, then you don’t need an agency. If it’s no, then you should contact a healthcare content marketing agency – and there’s no better out there than 42group. We can support you to achieve your aims, working with you to develop a content marketing strategy that put your people and patients first. The answer is 42.

Charity fundraising packs are a vital way to connect with fundraisers, donors and other core audiences that can benefit your organisation. The fundraising pack is typically sent as a physical product or shared via a PDF with potential partners.

Your fundraising pack is a vital component of your complete fundraising strategy – and should receive the most interest and investment.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the steps to create a fundraising pack, examine the essentials (and the nice to haves) and explain why working with a professional charity copywriter is going to deliver the greatest return for your investment (while also saving you some time!).

Why create a professional fundraising pack?

Charities need a clear, compelling and relatable fundraising pack to connect with fundraisers. Even more importantly, the fundraising pack provides legal information to ensure events – and fundraisers – are safe and legally protected. The pack also provides details on how donations can be successfully transferred once the event has been completed. 

Many charities will create their own fundraising packs. That’s fine, but in our experience, the more professional your fundraising pack the more profit you’re likely to make. That’s because fundraising packs contain everything required to raise money while keeping fundraising fun.

You also have to consider that charities are in competition for vital resources and the ones that make the best case will be the biggest beneficiaries. When fundraisers are interested in raising money for a cause (like diabetes, cancer or mental health, for example), they’ll often search online and access resources  like fundraising packs.

If yours if professional and clear, you’ll have an advantage – and that means more opportunities to raise funds you need.

What’s included in a charity fundraising pack?

Your charity fundraising pack is a core way of communicating directly with your core audience. Fundraising packs can contain pretty much all information that you need to organise, manage and complete a fundraising event. Buy beyond that, they provide a way to 

Some common things you’ll find in a charity fundraising pack include:

• Welcome letter
• Case studies
• Fundraising ideas
• Legal information
• How to raise money and transfer money
• Setting up an online giving page
• Legacy and will section

You might also find other things, including specific inserts that provide information on certain aspects of fundraising, like school events, community fundraising ideas or challenges. There may be other elements you need to include in a plan. A fundraising pack for a marathon might contain a running guide. A century cycle challenge may want a mileage chart.

The best and most successful fundraising guides are shaped around you, your organisation and your audience – so they’re what we’re going to consider first when designing your charity fundraising pack.

Designing your charity fundraising pack

OK, so now’s the time to begin creating your charity fundraising pack. We begin by identifying some of the

• Who are we writing for?
• What information do they want?
• What do we want them to think, feel and do?
• What’s a logical structure for a guide?
• What case studies should we include?

Working through this list on your own or with a charity copywriter (or charity copywriting agency like 42group) can help bring some clarity to your fundraising pack.

From this exercise, you should have the rough outline of a structure. There are no rules when it comes to fundraising packs. They can be as short or long as you like, but they should deliver for your audience.

Here’s an example of a simple fundraising pack outline and pages.

1. Cover
2. Intro letter from CEO
3. Fundrising ideas
4. Case studies
5. Creating an online fundraising page
6. How to transfer your donations to us
7. Fundraising tips to maximise donations
8. Back cover with contact information

This provides a simple and logical structure to create a fundraising pack.Will it work for you? Work through the process above and you’ll be able to develop a page structure and content that helps drive donations to your charity.

Charity fundraising tone of voice and style

This is a really challenging one. Charities don’t conform to the style rules that corporate companies do, which gives you the freedom to do something different. 

Think of it this way. Charities raise donations by appealing to people like you and me. They do this through building human connections, something that we, as copywriters, believe is the core of what we do. 

Connections are built when people, brands, businesses and (perhaps more than the rest) charities speak with clarity and authenticity. Basically, they’re true to themselves and their causes. 

We don’t know about your charity, and can’t provide advice and guidance that will add value. What we do recommend is spending time developing your tone of voice, establishing a style that’s unique to you.

Do that and you’ll be well on your way to establishing a tone of voice and style that delivers huge benefits for your charity.

Building a charity fundraising pack

Fundraising packs (sadly) don’t just appear fully formed and ready to send. Instead, they’re the product of hard work and collaborations among copywriters, designers, fundraisers and charity leaders. 

You can choose to outsource the creation of your charity fundraising pack to an agency like 42group, or manage it internally.  That’s your choice. Some of the benefits of working with an agency include:

• Established processes and ways of working
• Strong history of delivery
• Fixed fee
• Agreed timescales
• Relationships with other providers (designers, printers, distributors)

Outsourcing the creation of your fundraising pack to an agency is a simple solution – but it can cost more than your in house team. The reality is that most charities don’t have the time, skills or resources to deliver the kind of end-product that an agency partner can.

Work with a charity copywriting agency

You’re probably wondering whether you should work with a charity copywriting agency or not. In our view (not impartial, obviously, but based on over a decade of experience), working with a specialist charity copywriting agency like 42group is the fastest and most cost-effective way to get the result you want: a charity fundraising pack that generates the maximum donations with the minimum of stress. 

We can walk you through the process here (and a whole lot of other resources and information that can add massive value but that we’re not prepared to share for free!). The result will be a fundraising pack that you’ll be proud of and plays a key role in securing the future of your organisation.

The future for SEO content in all sectors – but specifically healthcare charities and non-profits – is human, helpful and high impact. It’s exclusively written by humans for audiences, demonstrating a detailed understanding of the audience. It’s about providing answers, insights and outcomes as quickly as posible.

It’s about building human connections.

SEO content used to be a game for some pretty foul tactics. It was all about keyword density, meta data, and backlink volume. If you knew the rules and played them well, you could climb the rankings, all of this with content no human would ever want to read.

Not anymore. We reckon that’s a good thing.

Google’s Helpful Content system, and the algorithm updates that continue to evolve around it, makes it clear that content must be written for people first. That means relevance over repetition, insight over optimisation, and clarity over clutter.

So, what does that mean for you?

It means shifting your approach, ditching the gimmicks, ignoring the noise, and building a content strategy that delivers actual value to humans. We call it building human connections and it’s at the core of our identity and approach.

Here’s why the future of SEO content is human, helpful, and high-impact – and how you can apply the rules to your work and website.

Introducing Google’s Helpful Content System

Launched in 2022 and updated in 2023 and 2024, Google’s Helpful Content system analyses your website to create a site-wide signal to determine whether your content is genuinely useful to real people.

If your content is deemed unhelpful or overly optimised for search engines, your entire domain can suffer. All that junk content isn’t just being ignored by readers, it could be damaging your rankings, too.

This isn’t about punishing “bad” content. It’s about elevating content that answers real questions, addresses real needs and reflects real expertise.

This is historically an area where healthcare organisations, non-profits and charities have excelled. Instead of chasing customers and clicks, they remain focused on the audience. The ones who do it best achieve the greatest results.

They shouldn’t let that advantage slip.

The days of AI-spun articles and keyword-stuffed service pages ranking well are (mostly) over. While these sorts of pages can sometimes still rank well, it’s not with the effort or the investment.

The future belongs to content that is:

• Created with clear purpose
• Authored with authority and authenticity
• Designed around user needs, not SEO tricks

Overall, this is good news for readers (like us), for writers (like us), and for brands brave and bold enough to invest in content that connects.

What does “helpful” actually mean when it comes to content?

Helpful content doesn’t mean basic. It doesn’t mean dumbing things down, writing endless “how to” articles, or stuffing every post with lots of FAQs.

Helpful means useful to the audience reading it.

Helpful means writing for the audience’s context, not your content calendar. It means understanding the intent behind a search, not just rehashing or re-ordering the keywords.

It means producing something original that adds to the conversation, rather than echoing what’s already out there. I

Take two articles targeting the same query: “How to create a B2B content strategy.”

One is a generic list of steps copied from the top 10 results. The other is a real-world walkthrough written by a strategist who’s built content engines for scaleups.

Which would you choose to read?

Even better, the second page doesn’t just rank, it also gets shared, cited, bookmarked and believed. That’s helpful content, and that’s what Google (and your audience) is looking for.

In fact, it’s what the internet was created for.

SEO isn’t dead — but it is different

SEO is dead. Long live SEO.

This seems to be about 50% of the AI-generated posts on LinkedIn.

Google updates means that the way SEO works, and the role content plays in it, is changing. We all know that old-school SEO was about volume, with SEOs looking for more keywords, more links and the creation of more content.

The new approach is about quality, authority, and focus. When ranking content, Google now considers a range of factors, including:

• Topical authority: Are you consistently publishing valuable content in your niche on your website?
• First-hand expertise: Do you demonstrate lived experience instead of posting regurgitated tips?
• Page experience: Is your content readable, mobile-friendly, and fast to access?
• Engagement signals: Are users actually sticking around and finding value in your content (good) or clicking away after a few seconds (bad)?

Understanding the importance of these factors is vital. This is where genuinely great content can give you a competitive edge. Because most brands are still trying to game the system, if you focus on the reader, you’ll outlast them and outperform them.

What does future-proof SEO content look like?

Forget 500-word keyword blogs and “ultimate guides” that say nothing new. These are what we call “me too” content. This is the kind of junk that SEO writing assistants or AI will create for you.

The content that will rank today and in the years ahead is:

• Human – It reflects real voices, real experience, and real insight
• Helpful – It solves problems and answers questions, clearly and confidently in a conversational tone of voice (like this blog post)
• High-impact – It builds trust, shapes thinking, and encourages people to act

We know what you’re thinking, but this doesn’t mean every blog needs to be 3,000 words long.

It means every blog needs a reason to exist. It means using formats that suit the message. It means applying journalistic standards to marketing content – sourcing, structure, clarity, originality — and editing with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.

If there’s one thing to take from this, it means slowing down. We recommend publishing less content, but better content. This is likely to be great news to charities and non-profits where content creation budgets are always stretched.

AI is a tool — not a shortcut

Can we be honest with you now?

We *do* use AI tools at 42group. For structuring briefs, surfacing SERP data and (if we need it), for exploring headline options.

But we don’t use AI to write content for our clients.

Why? Because AI-generated content is fundamentally reactive. It’s based on what already exists, not what your audience needs next. It doesn’t understand tone or capture nuance. Fundamentally, unless you invest in some seriously expensive and in-depth LLM-model development, it doesn’t know your business.

We all know that AI is getting better, but it still lacks judgment. (Can an LLM model ever exercise judgement in the way we do? Who knows.)

AI doesn’t write in the way we conceive of it. Instead, it assembles words in a logical and contextual order. You can smell AI. It writes with gloss instead of grit. And in Google’s Helpful Content world, that’s a liability.

If you’re going to use AI, use it smartly. Treat it like an intern, not a strategist.

What SEO content winners are doing differently

The businesses that are thriving under Google’s new SEO rule aren’t necessarily publishing more, they’re publishing better.

Companies are investing more in research, strategy and storytelling to find original angles and approaches. They’re aligning SEO goals with audience value, finding ways to build human connections.

Fundamentally, they’re producing content that’s useful to audiences and algorithms.

Here are a few examples worth studying:

• Zapier’s blog blends search-driven how-to content with human, value-packed advice.
• Shopify’s content hub is packed with original insight and clear buyer-stage strategy. We know that because we worked with them (dusts off cape).
• Figma’s editorial approach builds deep community trust among an intelligent and engaged audience

What we can surmise from these examples is that some of the world’s best and biggest SaaS brands don’t publish for robots, but for results.

The future is slower, smarter, and more strategic content

We’re not recommending you stop publishing SEO content. Instead, slow down.

In a world where content appears cheaper and easier than ever to create, there’s a temptation will be to rush in an attempt to outproduce, out-optimise, and even out-AI your competitors.

Don’t.

The brands that win in the years ahead will be the ones who resist the urge to flood the feed. They’ll focus on quality over quantity, insight over imitation and on developing content that creates human connections.

This could (and really should be you!). Need some help? That’s where we come in…

Let 42group build you a content strategy that works in 2025 (and beyond)

At 42group, we help businesses build SEO content strategies that actually work — not just for Google, but for the people you’re trying to reach. We don’t chase trends. We create useful, usable, human content that connects, converts, and endures.

If that’s the future you want to build, get in touch.

By now you must know that search isn’t simpler in 2026. Google’s integration of AI-generated summaries (above organic results) is the latest kick in the teeth for the content creation sector. Behind the smoke and mirrors, creating an SEO content strategy that actually works is still pretty simple – and we’ll show you how.

We’re going to unpack the principles of good SEO content and walk you through developing a practical approach to building an SEO content strategy that puts people first. We’ll show you how to incorporate data to create content that clicks and connects. 

Start with people, not keywords

Content starts with keywords, right? Not in 2026. ChatGPT (and any AI writing assistant and tool) knows the main keywords, search terms and phrases. If you do what they do, you’ll fail.

This is because, if you begin with a keyword list, you’ll end up chasing what competitors already own. 

Instead of clicking Keyword Planner (or even worse, firing up SEM Rush), we urge you to starts with people. 

Really *think* about who are you trying to reach? What are they trying to do? Where do they get stuck?

We’re going back to the old school for old clients. We Interview customers, supporters, and service users. We take the time to read support inboxes and live chat transcripts. Through social media we can listen and learn from the language people use to describe problems.

This works for commercial companies, brands, businesses, public sector bodies, third sector leaders and charities. When your SEO content strategy is anchored in real needs and based on the thoughts and views of real people, you’re getting to the core of great content. 

Even more fundamentally, you’re creating new and unique content with genuine value, not spending (or wasting) a fortune on more “me too” content.

Push pillars

As content professionals, we talk a lot about pillars, content architecture and so on. It’s all pretty simple if you change the way you think about your website. 

Instead of a shop or information store, think of your site as a library. Your pillar pages are your shelves that organise things into broad categories. The individual articles, blogs, guides and so on are like books. They’re tightly focused resources that explore specific questions and scenarios.

To illustrate this point, let’s bring it to life with an example (and break you out of the dusty olf library).

A strong topic architecture for an information-led site might include:

• A pillar explaining the core topic in plain language, with clear definitions and context
• A set of in-depth articles that unpack subtopics (processes, methods, tools, case studies)
• A series of problem-led articles that mirror real user questions (“how do I…”, “what’s the difference between…”, “how to fix…”);

Bringing logic to all this is a series of internal links that make the relationships obvious and easy to navigate in both directions. These signals are as important to the users as they are to Google (and Bing, but nobody talks about Bing).

This informational architecture is vital and a core part of your strategy. You can do this visually, through a line diagram, or simply by using a Google Sheet (which is what we do). The logic behind it should be simple and obvious to anyone – including non specialists.

Decide what you’ll own (and what you won’t)

Ever had a client that wants to dominate every search term related to their industry? Those days are gone. Today, it’s all about finding a niche and owning it. The narrower and more defined, the better.

The truth is that you don’t need to publish everything on a topic. Instead, publish information on the parts where you can be the most helpful and credible.

Grab a piece of paper and list your potential themes and score them by:

• Audience need (how much it matters to your users)
• Organisational fit (where you have genuine expertise or evidence)
• Competitive landscape (can you realistically become the best answer?)
• Strategic value (how the topic supports services, campaigns, or products)
• Potential impact (will this make a material impact on customer acquisition, sales or the user experience)

You should only invest in creating content where there’s a demonstrable organisational need and where it will deliver an impact.

Match content format to user intent

The content you create must match the user intent. If you’re dealing with a complex topic, you’ll want an expert-authored, in-depth guide. If you’re talking a practical topic, a step-by-step, or ‘how-to’ guide is more appropriate. If you want to validate your brand, a case study can help.

Here are some of the types of content and how to use them: 

• Explainers for foundations and terminology
• Guides for tasks and processes, with clear steps and outcomes
• Decision helpers for choices, with criteria and “choose this if…” guidance
• Case studies that show evidence and impact
• Resource hubs that curate the best internal and external links on a topic

You’ll want to ensure that your content hub has a broad range of content types. Nobody wants to wade through endless “how to” guides (trust me). Also, similar content types and structures suggest AI, so keep it varied, original and user-focused.

Write for humans, structure for search

Good writing isn’t defined by your colleague, boss or (god help us) an online writing tool. It’s defined by users. 

The reality is that people will read and (more importantly) share and reference content that’s valuable. That’s what you’re aiming for. 

We’re not going to explain what we thing “good” writing is. If you’re reading this far down, we must have got something right. We’ve developed and defined a style that works for us, and you should too.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to give your writing a structure search can understand:

• A direct H1 that answers the core question in plain English
• H2s that each align to a distinct sub-question or angle
• Short, purposeful paragraphs that build logically
• Descriptive internal links that set expectations (“read our guide to content testing”, not “click here”)
• A clear next step at the end, which is likely to be a related article, a download, a service page, or a support resource

Make originality non-negotiable

You can often spot AI content because it conforms to these rules rigidly. Sometimes, you’ll want to break them – but only if it benefits the reader. Even better than sticking to the rules is being original. Do that, and you’re already creating content in the 1%. 

The aspiration must be to create and provide readers with something no one (or no other organisation) can credibly provide:

• Evidence from your own work (with permission and anonymisation where needed).
  
• Process detail that goes beyond the surface 
• Honest and integrity
• Context for the UK where it matters: standards, regulations, funding routes, or service pathways.

If you can’t add unique value on a topic, then why publish? Seriously, if you have nothing to add, then find a new angle. Instead of thinking like an SEO expert, think like a magazine or newspaper angle that’s always looking for a fresh and original take. 

Treat accessibility as non-negotiable

Accessible content benefits everyone, not just those with accessibility issues. Plain English, clear titles and all the technical stuff we’ve talked about here are essential. 

Write in plain English, structure headings logically, describe images meaningfully, and make links descriptive. Ensure colour contrast and readable type on your site. 

Even if you’re writing for a commercial company, try to align with WCAG guidance and GOV.UK’s content design principles where relevant. 

Keep pages alive with purposeful updates

A page published in 2022 can still rank in 2025 — if it remains accurate, complete, and useful. Create a lightweight maintenance plan:

• Review priority pages every 6–12 months.
• Refresh statistics, examples, and screenshots when they date the content.
• Add new internal links from newer articles to older pillars (and vice versa)
• Consolidate thin or overlapping pages to concentrate signals and avoid cannibalisation
  

Treat each update as an editorial improvement, not a box-ticking exercise. If nothing substantive has changed, don’t add filler.

Measure outcomes, not just traffic

Data is what drives us all really. Buy instead of vanity metrics (that your SEO agency and digital marketing suppliers love), define success in terms that reflect your goals.

For businesses, that might be quality leads that reference a specific guide, increased demo requests from comparison pages, or reduced sales-cycle time because prospects arrive educated. For charities, it could be more people reaching support pages, increased registrations for services, or donations attributed to content journeys.

As well as the quantitative stuff, try and connect with customers, users and readers to get their feedback. You can use social listening techniques (through social media, customer call logs and more) to understand the real thoughts, feelings and views of your readers.

Use everything – the numbers, the feedback and the negatives – to continually improve your content. That’s what the best organisations and individuals do.

Build positive habits and embed them in your business

Your business, marketing team and writers will only succeed if you build positive habits and embed them in your business. Here are a few tips to achieve this:

• Involve content early in product, service, and campaign planning so you’re shaping the work, not just writing it up
• Get the team involved in coming up with new ideas and ensure every idea gets a fair hearing
• When it comes to authored content, authenticity is more important than spelling and grammar accuracy (although you shouldn’t push this too far)
• Share audience insights across teams so everyone understands the real questions users bring
  Keep a flexible editorial calendar focused on topics and outcomes, not just publish dates
• React to what’s happening in the world with content, news, views and insights
• Always innovate by running small, regular experiments on content types and styles and keep what works

We know that when content is everyone’s responsibility, it becomes easier to maintain quality. Getting the wider team involved will ensure your content doesn’t drift too much into listicles, how-to guides and generic junk content. 

Building a content strategy that connects

A 2026-ready SEO content strategy is simple to describe and hard to build. AI tools sell the illusion of creativity, but it’ll cost you more than it gives you. The world needs no more generic content, we want stuff with authenticity, insight and value. Aim for that and you’ll succeed.

Or, to coin a phrase: Thinking like a reader and writing like a human is the best way to create human connections.

Want someone else to do all this for you? Contact 42group, the UK’s leading independent content agency.

Message frameworks are a structured, logical and coherent document that provides clarity for all brand communications from your health, charity and non-profit organisation. You can use your message framework to build, edit and optimise all content, including digital communications, printed collateral, ads, emails, newsletters and more.

At 42group, we have applied this message framework process for organisation of all sizes, and in all sectors, including health, charity and non-profit, the public sector and leading commercial brands.

The principle is that we’ll take the insights and information we gain about customers, audiences and other key stakeholders, to build a document that provides clarity for all communications activities in the future. 

We’ll show you how you can build a message framework for your healthcare, charity or non-profit organisation that’s human, authentic and shaped around your audience.

Building a messaging framework

These are the core elements that are used to create a messaging framework document. We’ll work through the whole list and provide an explanation of what goes in each section and why we include it.

• Context
• Problem(s)
• Audience identification & segmentation
• Value proposition(s)
• Communications pillars
• Messaging grids
• SEO & optimisation opportunities

Message frameworks are created by professionals who build the frameworks according to a standard template.

But everything is based on insights that we generate from your organisation, existing communications materials and through structured interviews with key internal and external stakeholders.

We call this phase immersion and we’ll walk you through that first.

Step #1: Immersion

To help you communicate with clarity, we need to know your organisation, audience and market segment(s) before we’re able to begin building a message framework.

We do this through a series of activities that focus our attention and sharpen our approach, including:

Customer content and communications audit

• Website content analysis
• Technical website assessment
• Content and collateral review

Market analysis

We look outside your organisation to understand the current and future market context. That can include:

• Market scanning
• Desktop research (including market assessments, media analysis)
• Competitor audits (reviewing all comms and content produced by competitors)
• Social listening

Structured interviews

One of the most important aspects of any messaging framework is ensuring we reflect the natural language used in the industry, sector or specialism. 

Structured interviews with several participants enable us to build a complete picture of the organisational context, challenges, pain points and opportunities.

By asking key questions and providing contextual additions, we can probe and push beyond the superficial to identify key areas and opportunities for you to establish an advantage.

When communicating with industry leaders, sector specialists and stakeholders, we get to learn the language that they use and can reflect this through the content, communications and messaging we recommend. 

When building a message framework, immersion is essential. It provides the clarity and context that we need to build. 

Let’s walk you through that process now.

How to build a messaging framework (in sections)

Messaging frameworks are complex and involved documents that have developed a simple, comprehensive and clear structure that builds a logical and clear case for change.

When we create a message framework, the bare bones of the document include:

• Context
• Problem(s)
• Audience identification & segmentation
• Value proposition(s)
• Communications pillars
• Messaging grids
• SEO & optimisation opportunities

Let’s work through each section to explain what’s included and why it’s vital.

Context

What’s the current state of the organisation, the market and the business or organisational proposition? These (and more) are the kind of questions that we ask – and answer – in the context section. 

The context section is a mixture of both high-level situational content, which can include headline facts and figures, and personal information and insights gathered through the interviews that we have completed.

Problems

Every organisation is built to solve a problem – whether that’s delivering a public good, introducing a new product, or creating a better experience. In this section, we define the core challenges that your audience is facing.

This isn’t just about surface-level frustrations. It’s about uncovering the deep-seated barriers, frictions and unmet needs that your product, service or organisation is designed to address. 

To help us define the problem (or problems), we draw on our interview insights, competitor reviews and market intelligence to map these problems clearly.

Why? Because all compelling messaging begins with a clearly articulated problem. When your audience sees their challenges reflected in your messaging, they’re more likely to engage – and trust – that you have the solution.

At 42group, we use this section to create clarity and alignment. Everyone across your team will understand the why behind your communications.

Audience identification & segmentation

You’re not speaking to everyone. The more focused your audience understanding, the more effective your messaging framework, and resulting communications, will be.

In this section, we define and segment your key audiences. These might include customers, clients, users, funders, partners or internal stakeholders. Segmentation can be based on roles, responsibilities, behaviours, values or stages in the customer journey.

We bring together qualitative insights (from interviews and secondary research) and quantitative data (analytics, CRM information, market research and other information you provide ) to build simple, user-friendly audience snapshots. 

This approach ensures your content speaks to real people in your market – not the typical abstract personas created by other agencies. 

Whether you want to connect with a Chief Information Officer in a hospital trust or a volunteer team leader in a charity, we help you understand who they are, what they care about and how to reach them with messaging that matters. 

Value proposition(s)

The value proposition is your core promise. It’s the unique combination of benefits, outcomes and emotional impact that your organisation delivers. And that your audience wants.

In this section, we define your value proposition in language that is confident, clear and consistent. We often break this down into three parts:

1. What you do – A simple statement that outlines your product, service or offer.
2. Why it matters – The tangible benefits and real-world impact for your audience.
3. What makes you different – Your competitive edge or unique approach.

Depending on your audience segmentation, you may need to tailor these messages for context.

In a world of fake news, AI and branding BS, an effective value proposition is rooted in truth, not spin. We avoid jargon and keep the message focused on the people you want to engage.

Communications pillars

Communication pillars are the foundations of your messaging. These are the themes, ideas or values that we believe you should reinforce across all communications.

Typically, we define 3–5 communications pillars that reflect the organisation’s strengths and strategic direction. These pillars ensure consistency across different channels, formats and teams.

Each pillar includes:

• A short headline
• A supporting explanation
• Example messages or proof points

These aren’t straplines or slogans, but they do inspire them. We use these pillars to develop everything from homepage headlines to social campaigns, ensuring every message supports your core goals and helps you build human connections. 

Messaging grids

The messaging grid is where everything comes together. It translates your strategy into practical, usable content that can be used across all formats. We love a message grid and so do our clients because they can see where the work we have done and the words we have shaped can be applied.

Each grid includes:

• Audience
• Problem or need
• Value proposition
• Key message
• Supporting proof
• Tone and style considerations

In our view, this is one of the most valuable parts of the message framework. It gives your internal teams and external partners the tools to write with clarity and confidence. 

Whether you’re briefing a copywriter or publishing a blog, the messaging grid ensures that your voice is consistent and credible. It also enables you to create, from scratch, effective communications materials faster than ever before.

We often create different grids for different audiences or communications types (e.g. recruitment campaigns, internal updates, B2B marketing). 

Message grids are more effective than branding and tone of voice guidelines. They take these passive documents and make them a vital part of the writers’ toolkit.

SEO & optimisation opportunities

Messaging doesn’t just need to be engaging – it needs to be discoverable, and that means SEO optimisation. 

In this final section of your brand spanking new message framework we explore opportunities to improve your visibility through search engines and optimise content for digital performance. This includes:

• Keyword research
• Competitor content analysis
• Topic clusters and content strategy suggestions
• On-page SEO best practices (headlines, meta descriptions, internal links)
• Accessibility and readability checks

We align SEO opportunities with your messaging strategy, so you’re not just ranking for keywords—you’re attracting the right audience with the right message.

Search performance is often the first point of contact between you and your audience. By integrating SEO with strategic messaging, we help you make a strong first impression—and drive long-term results.

That’s the full message framework.

It’s structured, evidence-based, and developed with your audience in mind. Once completed, 

it can become one of the most powerful tools your organisation owns—helping you communicate with clarity, consistency and confidence.

Applying the message framework: Tools for success

Creating the message framework is the start of a long-term process to reshape and revitalise your communications and content.

Once we’ve created the message framework, presented it and (hopefully) got sign-off from key stakeholders, we start the work of applying it.

At 42group, we offer  comprehensive range of corporate copywriting and content services, including:

• Website & digital copywriting
• Content & social strategy
• Blogs, thought leadership and content
• Brochures, reports & printed collateral
• PPC and social ads

This is just the start. We can support you and your teams to embed the lessons, insights and advice in the message framework to everything they do. 

Want to transform your corporate messaging? Get in touch today.

42group is one of the UK’s leading healthcare and medical copywriting agencies, working with a huge range of clients in the healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical sectors. We get approached by clients from across the world about new projects and we’ve developed a (near) foolproof process to get the best results. 

Clients have a responsibility when working with a healthcare content agency to provide all the information they need to do the job. It’s our role to help you – and we will. Here’s 42group’s guide on how to work with a healthcare copywriting agency, including everything you should prepare and provide to kick off your project and ensure it’s a success. 

Making first contact with a medical copywriting agency

So, you’ve got a healthcare copywriting project you want to discuss.

Are we interested? Absolutely!

Before you contact us, here are a few of the things you should provide in the initial email.

• Outline of the project
• Name of the lead person
• Short description of deliverables
• Any key dates (conference next week? Stick it in!)
• Links to your business
• Contact name, number and email address

This sounds like a lot, but you can achieve it all in a few sentences. The purpose of being as clear as possible in the initial email is that we can then identify who the best person for you to speak to would be.

You may want to speak to our MD, digital lead, content strategist and designer. (They’re not all the same people!)

This information also enables us to prepare for the initial call or email. We can provide context about our experience, previous projects and successes.

Let’s imagine you’ve sent us this email, we’ve arranged a meeting and are ready to go. Here are some of the things we’ll need to have from you to work on the project. You can prepare them in advance, or we can develop them together. Experience tells us that these are the building blocks of the best relationships and the most successful healthcare copywriting projects.

#1. Audience profile

Who do you want to communicate with? What do you want to say to them, and critically, what do you want them to do? What are their pain points? What are their preferred communication channels? What communication strategies and approaches have been successful in the past? What have failed? Do they like cats or dogs? (We prefer cats.)

OK, you can ignore the last one, but every question before that is relevant – and answering them honestly is integral to the success of your project. 

Even before we get to the brief and the deliverables we need to know who your audience is (or are ,if you’ve got more than one).

Why do we ask for this first? 

We need to understand who your audience is so that we can critically appraise everything that follows (brief, TOV and KPIs). We need to ensure that the people on the call, conference or involved in the project team understand who your audience is and how to connect with them. 

We also need to have the confidence that we can create content that’s going to work for that audience. 

New clinical guidelines for diabetes treatment? Not us. 

Copywriting and content for a diabetes app? That’s us.

At 42group, the audience is at the forefront of everything we do and guides every decision – including whether to take on a project or not.

#2. Copywriting and content brief (including timelines, dates & deliverables)

Now we get into the good stuff!

The copywriting and content brief is everything about the project in one place. (If you’ve never written one before or want a free template, check out our guide on how to write a content marketing brief.)

The brief contains as much information as you can provide us on the project, including:

• The people we need to connect with (audience),
• Deliverables
• Timelines and timeframes
• Project stakeholders
• Project sign-off
• Project partners (including other agencies)
• Interdependencies
• Compliance information
• Corporate approach (including TOV – which we follow up in the next section)
• Keywords
• Expected outcomes
• Budget and payment schedule
• Terms and conditions

It sounds like a lot, but the brief provides the context, controls and constraints that enable us to get creative and ultimately deliver a better product for you.

You can create the brief yourself (using your template or ours), or we can work through it together. 

We have established that the better the brief, the better the project outcome. 

3. Tone of voice guidelines

We know what you want to say and who you want to say it to, but how are we going to say it?

That’s a convoluted way of introducing the importance of tone of voice guidelines. If you’ve for them, send them. (If they’re part of a larger corporate toolkit, do us a favour and isolate the pages for us.)

But what if you don’t have TOV guidelines? (First thing, we can write them for you – so ask us.)

We’ll ask you to send us a selection of content that exemplifies the tone of voice you want for your content. That could be existing content on your website, that from close competitors, or from the best in the marketplace. 

Tone of voice is critical in healthcare copywriting, and we’ll spend lots of time finding that balance between conversational relatability and clinical clarity. We work through several iterations of core pieces of content to build a consensus and then apply the same tone of voice across all content. 

#4. KPIs and targets – measures for success

What does success look like? You can tell us you want to be on page 1 of Google for a specific search term or something vague like “sell more stuff” – but try and be as specific as possible. 

If you’re finding it hard, read our guide on healthcare content marketing KPIs to get started.

Marketing has moved on and is a sector that’s defined by data. We want out content and copywriting to contribute to your broader strategic goals, so find a way to incorporate them. 

As well as performance measures of success (page ranking, etc.), consider project measures of success, too. Set deadlines and timescales and assess your agency’s performance against them. Are they delivering high-quality work on time? Setting expectations early is crucial to establishing a productive and effective relationship.

Project started? Stay in touch

Once your healthcare copywriting and content project has started, it’s time to sit back and wait for delivery, right?

Wrong. 

The best results come only from collaboration. You’ll need to stay in contact with your copywriting agency at all stages, ensuring content is ready for delivery and at the quality level required. 

At 42group, we work 100% openly. Our clients and customers can access everything at any time, including all copywriting and content drafts, project documents, briefs, guidelines and terms and conditions.

We schedule regular meetings to provide feedback on progress, raise any issues and deal with any problems. In the end, the deadlines are yours – not ours – so it’s up to you to drive the project forward, but at 42group, we’re with you every step of the way.

Finding and selecting a good SEO content writing agency can be challenging. Why? Because the world is full of poor-quality SEO copywriters, cut-price content agencies pumping out junk. Even worse, you’ve now got AI-first agencies pumping out thousands of words at the touch of a button.

You may have read that traditional search is on life support and that SEO is dead. while it’s true that old tactics don’t work anymore, there’s still a need for good quality content. In fact, in the world of the AI, it can be a key differentiator.

In this guide, a few of the writers at leading SEO copywriting and content agency 42group provide insights into common tasks and SEO copywriter can tackle for you and how writers can use their skills to deliver long-term, sustainable success for your business.

Ready to get started? Let’s look at the typical SEO content writing services an agency like 42group can provide. (If you want an agency partner, then contact us at 42group today…)

SEO content writing services – What 42group can do for you

SEO content writing covers a huge range of activities that all can continues to improve the search engine ranking of your website and provide a sustainable boost to your business.

SEO blog writing

Whether you call it SEO blog writing, SEO blogging, SEO content or anything else, this is the core of what an SEO content writer does. Blogs remain one of the most important elements of SEO. A steady stream of high-quality, keyword-optimised content is open of the best ways to boost your business.

An SEO content writer will be able to translate a brief into clear, compelling and completely optimised content that helps to boost your ranking. Individual pieces can be targeted at specific keywords. Over time, your content can establish your business and your website as an authority on specific subjects.

Establishing your business as an authority on a subject (like SEO copywriting, for example), takes more than publishing a couple of blog posts. You’ll need to manage this in a structured and strategic way, building niche posts, tying them together through cornerstone content, balancing both blogs and website pages. But that’s just a start… (This is something we can walk you through over a call, it’s much easier than creating a blog posts. But we’ll do that as well.)

SEO article creation

Aren’t SEO blogs and SEO articles the same? Yes and no. A blog is typically fairly short whereas articles (guides, whitepapers, etc.) can – and should be – longer. SEO article creation is where you can build a real authority for you and your business. Take SEO copywriting, we’ve created this in-depth, 2000 words guide on how to write SEO website copy. This isn’t conversational content, it’s evidence-informed content that provides real value to your audience and provides the best signals to the algorithm, too.

You can do more, including composite articles like this SEO content guide where we have collated all resources into a single article.

Articles are where you can really go deep into a subject – building up a real authority in what you do.

SEO content at-scale

A single blog post won’t have any impact, regardless of how well-written and optimised it is. Instead, you need to invest in content at scale. How many posts? That depends on your business, expectations, budget and impact.

At 42group, we work with businesses across the world providing content at scale. We’re talking about 50-100 blog posts covering a huge range of topics. Your SEO content writing partner will need to be able to deliver the content you need at the quality standard. This is a crucial point. Too many businesses accept poor-quality content created by AI. At 42group, we don’t do this. We invest time, effort and expertise on developing 100% original, human-created content.

This is a big difference. You need to know who is creating your SEO content. If you don’t, you could be dealing with potential disaster.

SEO website copywriting

Did you read our SEO website copywriting guide linked above? Your SEO content agency should also be able to help you create optimised copy and content for all pages on your site. It all starts with the homepage, but your SEO content producer (or freelance SEO writer, depending on the path you go down), will be able to support you with content writing for every page of the website.

Website copywriting is obviously different from content writing. You need to ensure that every word has a purpose in promoting your business and engaging algorithms.

SEO product descriptions

Too many brands and businesses use generic product descriptions provided by the manufacturer. The negative impact on SEO could be catastrophic. Instead, you should create new and 100% original SEO product descriptions to ensure your business stands out.

We offer this service to several UK businesses who use our SEO product descriptions to help them engage customers and inspire them to make a purchase.

Think about it this way. We can create hundreds, even thousands, of SEO product descriptions that contain the right keywords. The impact of this can be transformative. Why? Google ranks original content much higher than copied content. By investing in original product descriptions, you’ll immediately elevate your business and brand, building a sustainable advantage through SEO.

SEO meta titles, tags and technical aspects

Everyone knows about the importance of meta tags, titles and other technical aspects of SEO (image descriptions, etc.). Your SEO content writing partner can support you with this, ensuring that all content on your site – including those bits that only search engines and algorithms see – is optimised.

This is a short and sweet task that could be completed by your SEO agency but is probably better done by your SEO content writing partner.

SEO-optimised adverts

Can you optimise PPC adverts? Of course you can. While advertising creatives don’t want to be told what to write, incorporating keywords into your PPC ads can improve their performance and impact, delivering a better ROI.

Don’t ever discount the importance of keywords in connecting with your audience.

SEO social posts

Again, do you need to optimise social posts? Not really, but ensuring your social posts represent the keywords your potential clients or customers are searching for is vital.

At 42group, we have a standard process for optimising adverts, ensuring that your keywords are used sparingly and effectively to connect with your core audience.

The value and impact of tailored SEO content services

Generic never hits the mark when it comes to SEO performance and impact.

Specialised SEO content writing agencies like us at 42group understand the value of tailored content that speaks directly to your audience. We take the time to research your industry, competitors, and target demographics, creating content that resonates with potential customers, clients and others.

Of course, by incorporating industry-specific keywords naturally, they enhance your visibility in search engine results. But our approach to tailored content goes beyond optimising for search engines; it establishes your brand as a voice and authority in your niche. You’re not a follower, you’re the leader.

There’s no single solution to this problem. Instead, we adapt content formats, structures and approaches to suit different platforms and outcomes. We’re talking about creating concise, SEO optimised website copy to detailed blog posts.

The result of this is more than SEO content. It’s a cohesive SEO content strategy that aligns with your marketing goals. When content, copy and adverts are customised to your brand, it drives more traffic, increases engagement and grows your brand. This isn’t a generic promise, it’s the reality of investing in strategic SEO content.

What to look for in an SEO content writing agency

Choosing an SEO content writing agency isn’t just about finding a good writer; it’s about finding a partner who understands your business. Understanding this is vital in selecting an SEO content writing partner that can deliver a sustainable improvement in your ranking performance.

Let’s start with the basics. Expertise in keyword research is vital, as it lays the foundation for creating content that attracts the right audience. Look for agencies that are up to date with the latest SEO trends and algorithms and use the right tools. But ensure the tools they use are done in a way that benefits your content production activities, not creates generic junk that nobody will read and won’t rank.

An effective SEO content partner should demonstrate flexibility, adapting content tone and style to match your brand’s voice. But it’s not a mechanical activity. Creativity is also a key quality, as compelling content stands out in crowded search results.

When looking for a partner, ensure they’re confident in their content review process. As you’d expect, agencies with a solid and tested quality assurance system will deliver polished, error-free work.

What else? Alongside the hard, technical skills you’ll want assurance that your partner can work effectively with you.

In a results-driven business like SEO, collaboration, communication and responsiveness are critical. The right agency will work closely with you to refine your SEO content strategy as needed. Ultimately, the best agencies are those that view your success as their own – something that must be proven through actions, not words.

Research your SEO content agency partners…

Anyone can make bold promises online, but do you know who you’re working with?

Start by identifying your business goals. A good SEO content agency will align their services to your needs. Look for agencies that showcase a track record of success in your industry. This works, because niche knowledge can often result in better content and higher ranking results. You can check by examining their portfolio for a variety of content types, from blogs to website copy, ensuring they offer the services and deliver the results that you want.

Before signing a contract, ask about your agency’s research methods to understand how they craft optimised content that aligns with your target audience. Effective agencies will be transparent about their strategies and how they measure success.

Find out who is writing your content and where they are based. This is a big issue, especially in the at-scale end of the market. Lots of UK agencies will seek to cut corners and keep costs low by outsourcing content to writers for whom English isn’t their first language. Is this an issue? It can be, yes. To keep costs low, these writers often use content tools, including AI, to generate cop. In our experience, much of this content can be poorly written, lack authority, have little evidence and basically be a bit rubbish.

How can you measure the success of SEO content writing?

Success in SEO content writing goes beyond merely ranking high on search engines (although that’s ultimately the point, isn’t it?).

An experienced SEO content agency will set clear metrics for success, focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) like organic traffic, bounce rates and conversion rates. It’s more than having eyes on your pages, it’s about inspiring action.

Tracking keyword rankings is crucial – and something we inevitably do at 42group – but it’s equally important to measure how well the content engages readers and prompts action.

As you’d expect, SEO content writing agencies use analytics tools to gain insights into user behaviour, refining SEO content based on what resonates most with your audience. This is about adapting and improving a strategy, not slavishly following it.

We also measure the success of link-building strategies, assessing the quality and relevance of backlinks generated through their content. User engagement metrics, such as time spent on page and scroll depth, offer both us and our clients with a deeper understanding of content effectiveness.

By focusing on a combination of these metrics, any content agency can provide a holistic view of how their work contributes to your brand’s growth.

Maximising ROI with an SEO content writing agency

At the end of the day, SEO content writing (and all of SEO if we consider it that way) is about making money. To ensure your investment provides a good ROI, you need to invest in quality content – created by an expert SEO content partner – that not only attracts more visitors but also engages them, increasing the chances of conversions.

An effective SEO content writing agency will ensure that that every piece of content serves a purpose, whether it’s to inform, persuade or convert. Optimising content for long-tail keywords and attract high-intent traffic, leading to better conversion rates. It also improves your search engine ranking, which is what it’s all about, right?

Regular content production and publication provides a strong signal to search engines that your site is active, which can improve rankings and attract even more organic traffic. Over time, investing in SEO content can improve organic visibility, reducing your reliance on paid ads. Result!

Basically, by choosing the right agency, you turn content creation from an expense into a valuable investment. And who is the right SEO content writing agency? 42group.

Digital health content marketing is the use of digital channels – including your website, social media, videos and more – to promote your product, service or solution.

Digital healthcare content marketing is about building a positive perception of your brand among your core customer or user group, including clinicians, healthcare providers, patients and the general public.

42group is one of the UK’s leading healthcare content marketing and digital health content marketing agencies. We’re going to explain what content marketing is and why it’s critical to positioning and promoting your healthcare brand today and in the future.

What is digital healthcare content marketing?

Digital health (or digital healthcare) describes the use of new tools, technologies and solutions to improve patient care. Examples of digital health includes healthcare apps, AI-decision making tools, websites, wearable technologies, internet-of-things (IoT) enabled tech, point of care testing and more (lots more!).

We know that digital health technologies will play an increasingly important role in the NHS as its reshaped and refocused to deliver for a growing, changing and ageing population.

Content marketing describes the use of content channels, including your website, social media, videos, infographics, animations and podcasts (and more) to engage and inform your audience, while building your brand. Content marketing isn’t about explicit sales, but about providing valuable content at every stage of the customer journey – from interest and awareness to purchase, post-purchase, problem solving and more.

Digital healthcare content marketing is the use of content channels to build a brand. It’s not about sales or promotion (although that can be part of the upsides to content marketing) but about providing value. Everything you do should be focused on your audience.

Get that right, and you’ll build a successful healthcare content marketing strategy.

Common digital content marketing content channels

Content marketing for many brands is all about their blog. This makes sense as content marketing, for many healthcare organisations (and others) is primarily focused on SEO – and improving a search engine ranking position.

Today, blogs are still a core part of content marketing, but there are several other channels you may want to consider. Here’s a list of common healthcare content marketing channels:

• Social media
• Email marketing
• Blogs
• Article, whitepapers & in-depth content (gated and un-gated)
• Infographics
• Paid social ads
• Podcasts
• Videos & animations
• Case studies
• Knowledge bases
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing

Should you use all these? No. You won’t have the time, budget or need to do that. Instead, as part of your content strategy, you should understand what your audience wants and will engage with and create that.

As an example, a consumer healthcare app will want to use commercial marketing techniques and channels like social media, video and blogs to generate a following. A company promoting a clinical decision making tool will want to focus on healthcare professionals, reaching them through LinkedIn, targeted emails, and detailed and clinically relevant content on a website.

The choice of content channel is up to you, but the purpose is always the same: to boost your brand. How? Let’s look at that.

What impact can digital content marketing have?

Content marketing for digital health (and anything else) only works if you use it strategically. We’ll come on to some tips on how to build a content marketing strategy a little later.

Fundamentally, conent marketing is about creating materials – using the channels outlined above – to improve your relationship with core audiences.

Some of the benefits of successful content marketing include:

• Building brand awareness
• Increasing website traffic and conversions
• Attracting higher-quality leads
• Enhances brand visibility
• Boosting SEO
• Extends and improves social media engagement (including posting, likes and shares)
• Establishes you as a thought leader

Building a digital healthcare content marketing strategy

Effective digital healthcare content marketing involves more than picking up a pen or striking a key. To be truly successful and impactful, it needs to be underpinned by a clear and well-considered strategy.

Writing a content strategy is a challenging thing but we’re written perhaps the world’s best guide on how to write one here. Read our article on how to write a healthcare content marketing strategy.

The steps to follow include these (don’t worry, we go into detail in that guide, so just read that):

• Understanding your audience
• Setting clear objectives
• Developing a healthcare content plan
• Content distribution and promotion
• Engaging with your audience
• Measuring success and adjusting strategy
• Ensuring accessibility and compliance

Writing a healthcare content strategy is time consuming and complex, but ultimately highly rewarding and ultimately, it’s massively beneficial to you and your business. If you have the skills in-house, you can do this – but if you don’t it’s better to work with a digital content marketing agency (like 42group).

Why work with a digital content marketing agency?

OK, so 42group is a leading digital healthcare content marketing agency. We want to work with you and hope that you want to work with us.

Why?

Digital healthcare content marketing agencies like 42group (and yes, some of the others out there that we must begrudgingly mention) are experts at building content strategies that are based on intelligence, targeted towards your core audiences, informed by research and packed full of creative content ideas.

A healthcare content agency can take all the hard work from you, accepting the challenge and producing a complete integrated campaign solution to support your product, service or solution.

Sound good? Then get in touch with 42group today.