Thanks to the digital revolution, word-of-mouth referrals and directory listings are no longer enough to bring in new patients. More and more, consumers are doing it all online, and this trend shows no sign of stopping – as COVID-19 accelerated the drive to digital. This has put an increased emphasis on digital medical marketing.
The modern consumer expects to do everything online, and there is heavy competition for their attention. For this reason, the modern medical practice must be proactive in meeting people where they are: online. Strategic digital marketing increases the chances of introducing your practice to prospective patients while they are looking for answers and to book services.
Medical Advantage and iHealthSpot recently joined forces to provide a powerful digital marketing package with everything the modern practice needs to remain competitive and bring in new patients. In this article, we’ll introduce five essential components of an effective digital medical marketing strategy.
1. Be Found When People Search Through SEO Implementation
When considering medical care, over 70% of consumers use a search engine. Consider that when someone is searching for solutions to a problem, it is highly likely that they are ready to do something about it. When people are searching, SEO tactics help your practice be presented as a solution.
When anyone conducts a search on Google, they are presented with a results page. This page displays various sections of media including links to the most relevant content. When a website earns placement on the first page of Google results rather than pays for it (PPC) this is called organic search.
Google rewards websites with quality content and high relevance with high rankings – the pursuit of this merit is known as search engine optimization (SEO). The goal of SEO is to make your page show up toward the top of an organic google search – where your competitors are. SEO is essential but also complex, so it’s best to partner with experts who understand how to best position your web properties for the greatest chance of success in organic search.
2. Increase Search Visibility with PPC Campaigns
PPC (or Pay Per Click) is the Google Ads bidding space and is yet another opportunity to be found in search. Advertisers earn preference from Google based on the quality of their ads (relevance to user search) and what maximum spend is set (CPC).
Just be aware that ad campaigns for medical entities must be carefully communicated, lest they violate any healthcare regulations. With that said, some practices cannot afford to not have PPC in their budget because the competition lures away too many leads through PPC campaigns. PPC is a full-time effort, so when you recruit help to manage your campaigns, you need experts who are skilled at getting the most for your ad spend.
3. Take Control of the Conversation with Reputation Management
Around 70% of prospective patients read patient reviews as a first step in finding a new provider. When it comes to your online reputation, it pays to be proactive and pursue any recourse for remediation.
No establishment can control what is said about it online, but this doesn’t mean practice managers should be passive about what is being said. By moderating what is said about your practice online, you mitigate the influential power of negative reviews. Your practice should be represented fairly, with only legitimate reviews displayed and an overwhelming number of positive reviews.
When you’re running a medical practice, you don’t have time to be reading every review posted and responding to every patient complaint. A team of review platform moderators dedicated to managing your reputation takes proactive measures while you give full attention to your operations and to encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews.
4. Leverage Social Media Tools for Brand Building and Laser-Focused Target Marketing
We think of social media as being all about entertainment, but these platforms are built for business advertising. According to Statista, Facebook generated close to 84.2 billion U.S. dollars in ad revenues in 2020. But a medical practice is not a typical business, so why bother with social media?
Why a medical practice should have active social media campaigns:
- PR value – With your social media presence, you have control over how your brand is presented to the public. Business page visitors will become acquainted with who you are, learn more about what you do, discover what differentiates your practice, and see the quality of your public outreach.
- Social media platforms are search engines – Like Google, Facebook provides a search bar for users to enter what they are looking for and specify a location when they seek goods and services.
- Patient engagement opportunity – Patients can post a check-in on Facebook or tag your practice in a praise post which is effectively influencer marketing. We recommend encouraging your patients to connect with your practice’s social media channels by posting promotional signage in the waiting areas, exam rooms, restrooms, etc.
- Sophisticated ad targeting – Facebook has comprehensive knowledge of each user including their demographics, specific interests, search history, website visits, and more. This means you can be extremely specific in who you market to. For example, run a sports physical campaign targeted only to parents of middle school students who are in groups or like pages about competitive sports in your local community.
With the assistance of healthcare social media marketing experts, a team dedicated to crafting social media marketing copy and assisting with laser-focused campaigns can help your practice reach its revenue goals.
5. Get the Most of Digital Medical Marketing by Tracking ROI
The big question is – are you gaining enough leads and conversions to make the marketing spend worth it? No one should continue pouring money into marketing activities that are not attracting and converting qualified leads. With any marketing budget, you should know exactly what you are gaining from your investment. Ideally, marketing should pay for itself.
If one or more aspects of your marketing plan are not generating leads, something needs to change. A marketing plan must be organized. Every digital marketing service used and campaign executed must be accounted for, so you don’t lose track of expenditures and end up wasting resources.
Better yet, partner with an all-in-one medical marketing service. Our clients are given full transparency and input into marketing activities for their practice.
Get the All-In-One Online Medical Marketing Package
Every facet of online marketing strategy is best handled by a professional who gives their full attention and expertise to a specialty. It would take months to recruit all the talent needed to run comprehensive digital marketing operations – but the good news is you don’t have to.
With our monthly marketing services — including search engine optimization, digital advertising, online reputation management, social media marketing and more — our clients have seen tangible results that boost online presence, increase patient and visit volume, and improve ROI for their medical practice marketing. Our clients have reported:
- 47% boost in website visits.
- 58% increase in appointment requests.
- 160% gain in online reviews.
- 2,645% growth in Facebook followers.
Our teams are committed to delivering maximum ROI for all aspects of your marketing project – Let’s discuss how to gain a competitive edge and attract new patients with an improved marketing strategy – fill out the form below!
