Attracting and retaining patients is and always will be one of the top struggles for medical practices, which is why marketing is a must for doctors. Here is a list of the five best marketing strategies that will help drive new patients to your practice.
Generate reviews to build word of mouth and confidence in your medical practice
Some medical practices live or die by referrals and patient reviews, so they are a vital part of marketing for medical practices.
Almost three quarters (71%) of surveyed patients use online reviews as the very first step to finding a new doctor, so your online reputation is often the first impression you make on potential patients.
Physicians interested in improving their online presence should consider taking the following steps:
- Designate or hire a staff member to monitor and manage the online reviews presence of the medical practice at large as well as for individual physicians.
- Evaluate software programs that integrate with practice management systems to automate the process of recruiting reviews.
- Keep the patient experience in mind from intake to diagnosis, making all communications courteous and clear along the way.
- Consider investing in a healthcare CRM system with functionality designed to support medical professionals in marketing their practices.
Create Content/ Blog to position yourself as a knowledgeable, trustworthy practitioner
Writing consistent content for a blog can be time consuming, but it is a vital part of any content marketing strategy for medical practice marketing. You can increase traffic to your website, help grow your brand awareness and reputation, and position yourself as a knowledgeable, trustworthy provider for current and future patients.
Make sure to keep each piece of content focused on one particular topic. Your content should be concise and informative so that your reader is able to get the most out of it. Search your topic and find what other people are writing about and try to find gaps in their content that your knowledge and expertise can fill to make your content stand out more.
Don’t forget that when it comes to medical marketing and content, written blogs are not the only viable format. Infographics, videos, and patient testimonials will also help your content marketing strategy by attracting and engaging your patients.
Keep your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy localized to your area to get the most relevant patients
SEO improves the likelihood you’re found via online searches and can help drive traffic to your website for free as long as your website is optimized correctly. As a medical practice, it’s important to attract as many local patients as possible so that when someone types “[type of] doctors in [city]” into the search engine, your medical practice is one of the first that comes up.
You want to be one of the top three listed here before the “View all,” and you’ll only get that by having a targeted SEO strategy.
Step one is making sure you have an official business page on all online directories that mention your business name, location, and contact information. This includes Google, your website Yelp, Healthgrades, Vitals, and any social media platforms you’re making content for.
The more directories, review sites, and social media pages that contain your business information, the better, because it gives search engines confidence that you are a real business that is reliable, thus being something the person searching for is looking for.
Build an optimized website to capture as many new patients as possible
If you don’t have a website, you’re already less marketable to patients. 82% of patients prefer a medical practice with a website, yet only 56% of patients’ primary care providers did have their own dedicated medical practice websites, but more than a quarter of patients’ providers did not.
When thinking about your website, it’s important to consider a couple factors:
Ensure it’s mobile-friendly
It’s safe to assume most people who will find your website will be doing so on a mobile device, so it’s absolutely essential that your website is mobile friendly. The difference between a normal website and a mobile-friendly website is that a mobile-friendly website will have a more flexible structure.
Mobile-optimized websites are standard fare for nearly all website developers and builders these days, but double check your option to ensure that mobile optimization is available when making your website.
Include the services you provide
Make sure you have a visible, easily accessible link to all of the services and treatments you provide someone on the homepage, as well as in any dropdown menus you include on the homepage. You might also want to include a link to your patient portal as well.
You can use lead forms that link to your appointment scheduling system in order to capture new patients by making it simple for them to go from looking at your services to booking. In fact, these lead forms should be a key part of your healthcare marketing strategy.