Marketing is a vital part of operating a medical practice. Marketing, as a component of your overall digital strategy, establishes you as knowledgeable and trustworthy, makes you more relatable and accessible, and makes it easier for new patients to find you. Marketing and healthcare are two worlds that are constantly changing. Put those two together and you have set yourself up with quite the challenge.
Here are three things that healthcare marketers need to stay on top of to keep up with the competition:
Changing Audience Behaviors and Expectations
Managers of healthcare marketing need to stay on their toes because the industry is always evolving – as are the audiences. Patients today are more knowledgeable and empowered than ever before. They are choosing doctors and practices based on what they find in their online research: reviews, reputation, accessibility and branding. Therefore, your online presence needs to be up to par and you need to be on top of your marketing game. If you don’t know how to market to and engage with your patients, someone else out there will.
Underestimation of Marketing
This is an internal problem and perhaps a bit trickier to deal with. Some may assume that the medical practice exists and that’s simply all that is needed to bring in customers. If that is true for you, count yourself lucky! The rest of us, however, need to be a bit more strategy. Marketing your medical practice is an investment in your future. Marketing builds up your brand, solidifies your online presence and creates loyal patients. If you are not the one making the ultimate budget decisions, you need to convey just how important marketing is. Even a small bit of investment will help set you up for future growth and success.
Online Reviews
Online reviews for any business can either be a great boost or a giant headache. People want to know what they are getting into and often take reviews very seriously when researching a physician. If another provider in your area has similar credentials but better reviews, your chance of bringing in those potential new patients decreases. Best practice is to stay on top of your reviews. If a negative review is posted, try to deal with it (offline) as soon as possible. Best case scenario is you keep that person as a patient and have invaluable feedback to better your practice.
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