With so much information freely available online, modern patients are more educated than they’ve ever been. Many no longer feel the need to visit a hospital, urgent care center, or clinician’s office unless treatment or testing is necessary. Moreover, competition amongst healthcare organizations has never been higher, particularly with the rise of telehealth and digital care options.
With this in mind, it’s incredibly important that your organization has a properly-budgeted marketing plan. Even if you’re happy with your current patient volumes, you’ll need a strategy that helps you reach out to both new and returning patients. Success in this regard starts, as it often does, with outreach.
Evaluate The Patient Experience
First, consider why someone might switch their care provider – changes in services offered, relocation, wait times, or even a slightly negative experience. Ensure patients have plenty of ways to reach out to your clinic’s customer service representatives, including via phone, chat, and email. You may also want to consider commissioning a mobile application that allows patients to manage their care and putting automation in place that keeps people up-to-date about upcoming appointments.
You might even consider having your physicians directly reach out to their patients after an appointment.
When it comes to user experience, design your website with it in mind.Many designers have a tendency to lean towards aesthetics over functionality. This is a mistake.
Your website needs to be both fast and intuitive, as it’s the first thing most potential new patients will see. It’s the face of your practice, a representation of what you can offer as a care provider. A site that’s optimized to load quickly across a wide range of devices and form factors is essential.
From your site, patients should be able to find information about your practice, location, hours of operation, and appointment booking.
Since Google focuses primarily on readable content and the user experience, it prioritizes sites optimized for mobile devices.
Stay Consistent With Your Advertising
What sort of brand are you trying to build with your clinic?
Like any business, you have unique selling points. For example, perhaps your offices are luxurious. They have padded armchairs and a spa-like atmosphere. Alternatively, your professionals focus on families. They stock toys for kids. Or, maybe you prioritize patients. You treat them like friends first. In any case, highlight these differences. Ultimately, let them set you apart.
Showcase your unique attributes. Your advertising must clearly state your services. It should show who benefits. Explain why people should choose you. Compare yourself to competitors. For digital ads, target the right keywords. Apply these to your SEO too.
Although it’s a bit dated, this guide published by digital advertising specialist Wordstream provides a good overview of how you can research your pay-per-click keywords effectively. Paid advertising can be blended with organic social marketing to extend your reach across multiple platforms, as well. At a minimum, your firm should maintain a Facebook Business Page, which can be used for reviews, clinic updates, and informative, interactive posts.
Look Into Search Engine Optimization
Speaking of SEO, figure out what patients looking for your clinic tend to search for.
Generally speaking, local SEO is going to be your area of focus. Someone in Chicago, for instance, isn’t going to be looking for a dentist’s office in Wyoming. They’re going to be searching for a clinic located in their city or neighborhood.
With that in mind, it’s important that you not only maintain a website but also set up a Google My Business listing. Provide patients with as much information as possible, including hours of operation, location, contact details, and photos of the clinic. As for your website, a tool like Google Analytics, Moz, or Yoast can help you sort through the search terms that bring people to your website and target the most effective ones.
Consider In-Office Automation
Offering visitors a tablet allows them to manage care and appointments. They can also leave reviews. Use positive reviews on Google My Business or Facebook to gain more patients.
Poor scores, meanwhile, can be reviewed by medical team representatives as an opportunity to improve the care you offer.It is vital to follow up on these reviews, and also consider checking independent review sites like Yelp. Reputation management is a critical aspect of your marketing strategy. Not only can it turn a negative patient experience back towards the positive, but it can also be used as a means of improving both equipment and process.
