There are constant developments and changes being made in the healthcare industry and with that also comes different methods of how patients are finding their local practices and facilities. Although healthcare is a specific need for the majority if not all members of the public, the competitiveness in the sector makes it extremely important you’re able to meet and target your audiences online and through search engines. This is how a healthcare marketing strategy can help.
If you’re in the process of reaching out to more patients and looking to engage with them more, there will be certain ideas that you’ll need to implement into your strategy to make sure that it’s effective. This will help your practice to stand out and make your brand visible. Here’s a list of effective strategies that you can implement for your facility straight away.
1. Implement a medical PPC marketing campaign
Google receives of 63,000 searches per second on a daily basis. This is a huge market and shows that users tend to go to Google to find what they’re looking for. When consumers are looking for a new practice or facility they’ll revert to search engines to do the work for them. This means you’ll need to increase your visibility on search engines but this can normally be a lengthy process that requires patience and time.
A way you can get immediate results on search engines can be done through PPC, but it does require a little investment. Pay-per-click ads allows your ad to appear at the top of search results for particular keywords that are relevant to your practice. For example, a user may type in “breast reduction manchester” to find the most local place that deals with breast reduction in their area. With your advert appearing high on the page, it can normally give off instant positive results.
2. Adopt a healthcare SEO strategy for rankings
As mentioned earlier, Google comes across thousands of searches per second on a daily basis, so it’s important that you’re ranking as visibly possible through the search engines. Search engine optimisation (SEO) helps your website pages to rank highly in the search engine results when search terms are typed in the search bar.
This requires making changes to your site that will contribute to better SEO factors. By optimising your site for related healthcare searches, it will help your website to rank higher for them against your competitors. SEO isn’t an instant success however, and the changes you make will take effect over time and is part of a long term strategy which requires staying on top of.
3. Use social media for healthcare
Many people tend to associate social media with sectors that are a bit more creative such as advertising or marketing. But, it can be just as effective when it comes to the healthcare sector too. There are a range of social media platforms that healthcare providers can use such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which can expand a practice’s outreach.
Implementing a healthcare social media marketing campaign can improve the awareness of your brand and drive more business to the site. It’s essentially a great platform to get your name out there and connect with potential new patients. Not only is it useful for finding new patients, but it can also help with retaining your existing ones. Engaging with your existing patients allows you to be informative and helpful to them which they’re very likely to appreciate.
4. Engage your patients with email marketing
Another great way you can engage with your patients is through email marketing. It’s a great way to directly feed your patients with up to date information and events that are happening within the practice. You can use it to send newsletters, provide reminders and book appointments for patients, plus more.
Email marketing is a great way to build trust with your patients, particularly if you’re using it as a tool to keep them up to date with their health or other valuable information about the facility. These can lead to long-lasting relationships with your patients and help you to stay within their mind.
5. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing
Pretty much every aspect of your marketing strategy will lead back to your website. To make the right impression for potential patients, ensure that users can find information easily and it’s an appealing website to look at.
The main purpose of your website is providing information for users about your practice, where you’re based and the services you provide. This content has to be well-written, easy to understand and engaging for your customers so they know whether the practice they’ve chosen is right for them.
