Healthcare marketing is an extremely dynamic and fluctuating industry. Patients have access to more resources now than ever before. Because they have so many healthcare options, it is vital businesses and practices within this industry stay on their toes when marketing.
Patients are constantly marketed to on their way to work, the television, shopping centers, and when they are in your practice. You may be content with the size of your patient base, but it cannot be maintained without an established marketing strategy. Plus, with constant marketing efforts being thrown at patients, it can be difficult to keep them returning.
ASAP Marketing Solutions understands how to navigate the lurching waters that are the healthcare marketing landscape. Our team has experience with rheumatologists, chiropractors, gastroenterologists, dentists, orthodontists, insurance providers, and many other healthcare industry professionals.
Critical Healthcare Marketing Focuses
There are many ways to tackle healthcare marketing, but there are some critical areas you should focus on. By neglecting these major areas of your healthcare marketing plan, you are hindering your efforts. So, take a step back and hyperfocus on these few critical areas of your healthcare marketing strategy.
Online Experience
Can your patients request an appointment online? Do potential patients know what types of conditions or diseases you treat? What insurance providers does your practice accept?
These are questions your business’s website should answer. Healthcare.gov has a great website that offers plenty of information for clients. They have an extensive FAQ section and distinguished tabs for viewers.
When it comes to your website, it should meet a handful of basic requirements, but the user experience is at the top of the list. If patients or potential patients cannot find you online, you’ll have a more difficult time maintaining patients.
Having the ability to schedule an appointment online benefits the patient because it’s convenient. They don’t have to take the time to call your front desk. Plus, it alleviates some work for your front-desk employees.
As for other parts of your website, it should be informative. Let patients know what your practice is designed to treat. Tell them about the conditions and diseases you treat, how it affects them, and other aspects of the practice. The primary physician should have a detailed bio along with any other doctors.
People want to know about the healthcare professionals that could potentially be treating them. Your website is the first step in convincing patients to choose your practice. Inject personality and professionalism into your website to draw in patients.
Optimization
Every business marketing online should optimize their website to show up in relevant search results. The healthcare industry is no different. One of the easiest ways to optimize your website is something we have already discussed: make it user friendly. Google and other search engines understand how important the user experience is.
For example, your website needs to be mobile-friendly. Searchers are using their phones to look for services and products more than ever before. A poor mobile experience creates a higher bounce rate for your website. The bounce rate is the percentage of users who leave your website after visiting just one page. A high once rate does not benefit your website, so a mobile-friendly design is paramount.
Of course, user experience is not the only requirement your website should meet. Content, page speeds, keyword integration, meta descriptions, backlinks, and more play a major role in developing your online presence.
Branding
As we have already mentioned, there are so many options for patients to choose from. You need to set your practice apart from the six other dentists that are available to the patient. To the patient, you all look the same, unless you have a focused branding to coax them.
Take time to establish the message you want to send patients. What makes your practice different from others? Answering this question will be important in distinguishing your practice from others in the same field of study.
Branding, along with other healthcare marketing strategies, takes time. You can expect to establish your brand overnight. As you become more comfortable with the marketing strategies and your practice, you can start cementing your message in your branding.
Precise Healthcare Marketing
Growing a business or practice is no easy task. ASAP Marketing Solutions understands the challenges marketing or, more specifically, healthcare marketing presents. Our team of specialists can help you develop a robust online presence that maintains your current patient base and draws in new ones. Contact our team today for a free consultation. We’ll provide you with a precise healthcare marketing strategy that meets your goals and bends to your business.