How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

Marketing Director at Arthur Lawrence, overseeing the strategic marketing initiatives within the technology and healthcare management space.

How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

Consumerism by and large has radically changed the way healthcare providers are now required to market their offerings. Many of today’s clients look for a digitally advanced healthcare experience, just like the innovation they expect in any other industry.

How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

Healthcare systems and medical practices are thus evolving by the hour to live up to these expectations in order to remain competitive and to avoid staying behind. Consumers are now empowered to choose the best healthcare experience, with supreme credibility given to high-quality services provided.

How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

As a healthcare digital marketer, approximately 89% of your potential clients with college degree search the internet for health-related information (70% of internet users with a high school degree). And of those who say they were swayed by what they read online the last time they sought health information, 70% say that information influenced their decision about how to treat an illness or condition.

How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

How Digital Marketing Can Be A Game Changer For Healthcare Providers

While your current patient volume may be sufficient for your business, marketing your practice digitally can still not be neglected. How else do you plan on maintaining your brand’s recall value for existing clients, or to get potential clients to know you and reach out?

It is understandable, though, that your primary attention is invested in patient care, leaving you with hardly any time to strategize your marketing plan. Precisely why the ease and tact of hiring an agency that specializes in healthcare marketing can come into play. You might have to allot a bigger budget than you have before, but it can certainly be worth the investment when you enjoy your bottom line growing consistently thereafter.

Healthcare digital marketing can be tricky if a novice experiments with it, as the set of regulations, if not adhered to, can cause legal repercussions. Hence, as a healthcare provider who is likely not very well-versed in the digital marketing of a medical entity, it is vital that you only go about it via a professional marketing agency that specializes in healthcare marketing and is well aware of HIPAA compliance.

As a healthcare digital marketer, I witness rapid changes in the healthcare industry that requires agility and focus. I have in the past (and as we speak) devised effective plans for healthcare providers ranging from hospitals and health device companies to clinics and solo practitioners. Below are some methods that can be applied for varied healthcare clientele to boost their practices (not in any particular order):

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Aim to create a user experience that is the most informational and the ultimate health-related guide for your patients, relevant to the services you provide. Building trust with quality content in order to educate and inform can help keep one’s target audience interested in the long run, too. As an example, with the help of SEO expertise, healthcare practice can enjoy an increase in website visibility and offer an improved patient user experience by being more readily found on search results, which can drive more organic traffic to the website.

Here are some actions that can actively help you get more wins:

• Improving the average position of keywords.

• Multichannel content distribution.

• Uplifting the click-through rate.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media marketing grants effective tools with which you’re able to specifically target your audiences. Examples can range from a Facebook Messenger chatbot that efficiently answers questions and directs potential patients to your relevant service webpages, to regularly sharing information about your treatments and medical accomplishments.

The following actions can greatly contribute to success:

• Publishing informative content.

• Audience-centric impactful visuals.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Through PPC search ads, you can create some great opportunities and help secure quality traffic to grow the number of potential leads for your practice or healthcare company. As you measure the day-to-day performance of your ads on each of the chosen online platforms, you can get an accurate picture of what does and what doesn’t really work for you.

Some marketing strategies that can prove to be effective are:

• Adhering to advertising policies.

• Monitoring budget bleeds.

• 360-degree advertising.

Reputation Management

Reputation management of a medical business is a great value addition many health industry marketing agencies can provide. It goes a long way to build, nurture, establish and maintain your brand as a reliable healthcare provider in the U.S. I recommend implementing it as a well-integrated part of your marketing strategy. Ensure that your medical brand will make its footprint across the most prevalent third-party online review sites of the health industry, such as Yelp and ZocDoc.

Some tactics that can help you achieve your reputation management marketing goals are:

• Reviews and ratings on brand handles.

• Footprint on top industry-specific third-party mediums.

Email Marketing

Always start by segmenting your email subscribers based on demographics, like age and health conditions. A spot-on subject line can be even more important than the content that lies within.

Aim for well-strategized, automated email marketing to send effective emails at regular intervals to keep reminding leads of your presence and offerings. Through email marketing, you can effectively acquire fresh leads for your healthcare practice and also be better enabled to retain your current patients.

Final Thoughts

The landscape of digital marketing is ever-changing, now more than ever, and healthcare practices have got to be agile to keep up. Your audience has to be the key focus when devising your marketing strategies so the voice of your medical entity resonates with your target market. With the abundance of information readily available, it’s crucial to make use of data analytics to guide your strategy plan so you know exactly what’s working and what’s not.

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