In past decades, healthcare providers hung out a sign, wrote a check for a Yellow Pages ad, and sponsored youth sports. While that approach may work in isolated corners of the world, most of us need a comprehensive healthcare marketing plan that puts us on the radar.<\/p>\n
Caring for patients sometimes feels like the easy part of our professions. Rounding out our roles as managers and entrepreneurs can be daunting, and we don\u2019t always know where to focus. But we can\u2019t afford to sit back and expect patients to choose us if we\u2019re not directing our brand story.<\/p>\n
With over\u00a070,000 chiropractors\u00a0<\/a><\/span>performing over a million adjustments every day, there\u2019s no shortage of options for prospective patients. And\u00a0200,000 dentists\u00a0<\/a><\/span>offer services that to the average consumer looking for a new office often appear similar. New optometry programs expect to\u00a0add 1,800 net optometrists\u00a0<\/a><\/span>to the profession in coming years. No matter which angle we view our healthcare business from, we\u2019re not the only game in town for patients.<\/p>\n Consumers don\u2019t just compare us to each other; they subconsciously hold us up against the standards of the names they see every day. It may not seem fair to compare us to Amazon, but on some levels, that\u2019s how consumer psychology works.<\/p>\n Here are five tips that help every healthcare practice needs to emerge as patients\u2019 top-shelf resource.<\/p>\n Over half\u00a0<\/a><\/span>of today\u2019s traffic occurs on mobile devices, and it\u2019s even more critical for local searches. As consumers deepen their dependency on smartphones, \u201cnear me\u201d searches rose about 900%.<\/p>\n Mobile optimization provides user-friendly experiences by reformatting websites on every device. Viewers stay engaged with your site, and that connectivity produces other advantages, too. Google considers site activity for SEO rankings. If viewers leave your site quickly due to poor formatting or slow loading speeds, Google and prospective patients punish us.<\/p>\n We like to see direct cause-and-effect relationships in our marketing efforts, but effective strategies include a web of intersecting touchpoints. Neuromarketing experts tell us that many purchasing decisions require\u00a0ten or more\u00a0<\/a><\/span>exposures to achieve \u201cmaximum consumer attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n Healthcare digital marketing often involves building awareness before meeting specific needs with solutions. Steady exposure to our brand on Facebook may cause a patient to click on our physical therapy ad appearing in their search results on Google when they\u2019re seeking help with a balance problem. After they\u2019ve taken our website assessment and seen some educational emails from us, they\u2019re ready to schedule. Connecting the pieces delivers the experience consumers want in the palm of their hands.<\/p>\n Jeff Bezos said, \u201cA brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.\u201d Our patients talk, but they also post, tweet, and text.\u00a0Over 90% of patients use online reviews\u00a0<\/a><\/span>to evaluate providers and healthcare services. In other words,\u00a0just about everyone is looking at us online before they make an appointment.<\/em><\/p>\n Some patients will choose to leave a review, but people love it when we ask for their opinion. In-office requests with satisfied patients generate a few online submissions, but automated tools dramatically improve input. Send a text or email with a link to sites like Google and Facebook to patients after leaving your office. Social proof works:\u00a084% of consumers\u00a0<\/a><\/span>trust reviews as much as their family and friends.<\/p>\n Social media forms communities where patients look for information about everything from healthcare to vacations. For example, the\u00a0Mayo Clinic saw 76,000 new listeners\u00a0<\/a><\/span>tune into their podcast in a single month when they started using social media promotions.<\/p>\n Stalwart forums like Facebook and Instagram set the foundation to meet people where they spend time, and it\u2019s not just Millennials glued to their phones. At least 40% of the users on Facebook are 65 or older. Include video educational insights that appeal to the pain points you see and hear in your patient population.<\/p>\n Every time I check my email, there\u2019s another offer for a free SEO audit of my website. I learned long ago that SEO involves complex algorithms and an emphasis on local results. Most of these services don\u2019t understand healthcare organizations or how to help my practice stand out within a few miles of my office.<\/p>\nTips For A Better Healthcare Marketing Strategy<\/h2>\n
1. Make a Mobile-Responsive Website Top Priority<\/h3>\n
2. Go Multi-Channel And Include Patient Experience Touchpoints<\/h3>\n
3. Build An Online Reputation<\/h3>\n
4. Use Social Media Like A Dripping Faucet<\/h3>\n
5. Emphasize Location-Based SEO<\/h3>\n