By Dr. Greg Grillo
As 2021 marches on, healthcare continues to experience some hangover challenges from 2020, but fresh opportunities have opened for innovative practitioners. And we’re bolstered by growing public faith and their new expectations as life edges closer to normal.
In every niche of healthcare, a focus on wellness presents an opportunity to help improve lives. But if patients don’t find us, we’ll slip through the cracks in their search for providers.
Healthcare digital marketing can’t be an afterthought in our new economy. And it’s not enough to let the same website we’ve had for the past five years float in cyberspace without updates. Here are 10 ways to maximize our ability to attract, nurture, and retain a stream of patients.
1. Use Paid Ads To Appear In Local Search Results
Health-related topics round out one of the top categories that consumers turn to Google to explore. At least 80% of consumers report searching online for health topics, and they usually look for specific answers.
TIP: Design ads that display when consumers search for specific keywords or phrases within a few miles of your practice.
2. Emphasize Benefits Through Your Digital Healthcare Marketing
Healthcare content often focuses on the practice’s expertise and describes the technology, accomplishments, training, and services. But patients want solutions, not explanations and definitions.
TIP: Produce content that offers solutions that motivate people to act. For example, “5 Ways To Eliminate Back Pain” is a more effective blog post than “The Causes of Back Pain.”
3. Be Proactive With Reviews of Your Healthcare Business
Very few patients step into your office without checking online reviews, and good ones may even motivate them to spend more. Nearly 50% of people say that they would go out-of-network for a doctor with excellent reviews.
TIP: Ask for reviews consistently, and respond to negative reviews within 12 hours . A measured response shows prospects that you listen, and you’re concerned about taking care of concerns immediately.
4. Build Smooth User Experiences For Traffic to Your Website
If site visitors click away from your website, you lose them–and the respect of Google–within seconds. Clean website designs that adapt to every device and load within two seconds keep prospects engaged and boost your search engine optimization.
TIP: Don’t cut corners on your website or opt for a design that belongs in the last decade. Emphasize mobile-responsiveness, custom graphics, and sharp copy that reflects on your brand and make search engines happy.
5. Impress Patients With Convenient Tools They Can Access From Mobile Devices
When visitors land on your website and find more than content to consume, they’re impressed. More than half of Millennials and Gen Xers say they’d switch providers for the option to book online appointments.
TIP: Make your website centralize essential tools that match consumer demand for convenience. The ability to book appointments, pay bills, and check visit history through secure portals impresses everyone who visits your site.
6. Be More Social And Outgoing
Two out of every three internet users spend at least ten minutes on social media daily, and they’re likely to remember brands that show up on their feed regularly. They’re also interested in learning helpful tips that contribute to their well-being. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube entice the majority of consumers who fit target demographics for providers.
TIP: Assign a staff member to monitor your social media accounts and engage with anyone who comments on your posts. You can also actively invite those who “like” your posts to follow your page if they haven’t already made the connection.
7. Personalize Your Marketing Plans and Campaigns
Healthcare serves people with specific needs and desires one-on-one, and they want to be treated that way. Consumers that find authenticity and personalization tend to give their loyalty, especially Gen Xers.
TIP: Segment your marketing campaigns to offer patients what resonates with them. You can send specific emails to different demographics and set up email workflows for people who’ve expressed interest in particular services.
8. Create Active Engagements On Your Healthcare Website
A website presents a picture to the world about your brand by blending design, content, and colors. But your practice website can also engage visitors and open the door to an emerging relationship. Nurturing visitors beyond the first few seconds can set the stage for future appointments and treatment opportunities.
TIP: Add calls to action in the forms of quizzes and assessments to your website that encourage visitors to enter contact information. These tools keep people engaged with your pages longer, but they also embed your offerings into their awareness. They receive follow-up emails on topics that interest them, and the process nudges them closer to action.
9. Open Virtual Space For Deeper Reach With Your Healthcare Services
Before the pandemic, telehealth visits had grown year-over-year by more than 50% . But the lockdowns led to an explosive uptrend that entrenched more convenience and efficiency into healthcare. Innovative practitioners in every niche find ways to include virtual visits into their routines, and patients love it.
TIP: Add a virtual visit option to a small segment of your practice, and consider how to offer specific services to your community. For example, physical therapists can monitor exercise routines, and dentists can provide Invisalign® consultations. Telehealth offerings show patients your innovation, and practitioners who embrace positive trends stand out in the market.
10. Fly With Eyes Wide Open And Adjust Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Traditional marketing often felt like throwing darts: put out a newspaper ad or record a radio jingle and see what happens. Today, targeted ads and powerful analytics give us insights that maximize marketing budgets.
TIP: Running ad campaigns that deliver results takes an understanding of the platforms available and the best ways to use them. Most consumer buying decisions occur after multiple exposures to a brand. Design a multi-platform budget and strategy with healthcare marketing experts to produce steady practice growth.
Healthcare Web Marketing Maximized
Americans ages 65 and older will double over the next 40 years and reach 80 million in 2040. With an aging population comes increased pressure on medicine, dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, and chiropractic. Practices that embrace web marketing stand out now, and they’ll continue to hold a profitable market share in the years ahead.
Legwork offers the first marketing growth platform for the healthcare industry that helps our practices build a better experience across the entire patient lifecycle. Attract prospective patients searching for wellness, convert website visitors with an engaging online presence, and execute dozens of complex tasks on one platform. That’s healthcare digital marketing that works! Schedule some time to speak with an expert and get started attracting more patients to your practice.