Online Medical Marketing Strategies For Attracting Quality Patients
Online medical marketing sounds like it can be confusing. There’s SEO, there’s ads, there’s social media, and all of these things need to be combined to form a cohesive marketing strategy. That’s a lot of different tactics to consider!
But healthcare marketing is not about tactics, it’s about strategy. While tactics play a role, they’re not the end of the conversation. Do the first things first.
Figure out who you want to reach
The first thing all businesses need to do before they start marketing is figure out who they need to be marketing to. Marketing doesn’t work if it’s to the wrong people.
Can’t decide what kind of people who want to reach? Start with your services. What services do you currently offer, and what kind of people come in for those services? What are their problems? What are their demographics? Define these things, and you’ll have a good idea of who you should be reaching with your marketing.
Then take a look at your local market’s needs. Do research on your local market’s demographics, and take a look at their behavior.
For example, a bariatric surgeon may be looking for women aged 30-45 who are struggling with their weight and have not found success with diet and exercise. Figure these things out for your practice!
Decide what medical topics you want to speak about
Now that you know who you want to speak to, you need to figure out what you need to say. Medical topics that relate to your practice are the best topics to discuss, as they give prospective patients information that could lead them to book an appointment.
It’s not enough to have something to say: you have to have a reason to say it. Why should prospective clients listen to you?
Ultimately, you want to talk about issues near and dear to your target audience, while also providing interesting and highly informative content for them to read.
What kind of topics should you discuss? Whatever is highly relevant to your audience! Going back to our bariatric surgeon example, you may want to discuss things like the post-op diet that all patients have to go through, or how they should be preparing for surgery. Figure out what your market wants!
Read More: Ways to Promote Your Medical Practice
Test different digital online medical marketing tactics
There are many different medical marketing tactics. You will want to invest in many, or all, of them and see which ones are moving the needle the most. Search engine marketing, social media marketing, paid search, paid social, PR… all of these things should be tested. Invest small amounts of money and time into them, and see the results.
You’ll notice that not all of them bear fruit, but given enough time and tests, some of them should. Then, you’ll know what you’ll need to invest in further.
Last Words: Make Sure To Track The Results Of Your Marketing!
Many businesses, clinics included, fail to measure the true impact of their marketing. When you measure this, you’re not going to get a 100% accurate picture, but you will get a good idea of what’s working and what’s not. However, you can’t get this idea if you don’t collect the data and analyze it!
You should be collecting information about where your website traffic is coming from, what people are doing on your website, and how many people are requesting an appointment (either by phone or through your secure web form).