5 must-have digital marketing tools for healthcare practices
Optimized Website
An essential component of any healthcare marketing plan is your practice’s website, which is a direct reflection of your business. If it doesn’t have a polished and professional look, prospective patients might question the legitimacy of your practice. Your website should contain a description of your practice and the services you provide as well as staff bios and patient testimonials.
Once you have a website, consider optimizing it for visibility There are more than 1.6 billion websites on the internet as of March 2019, according to Internet Live Stats. Consequently, you need a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to ensure your practice website is seen by your target patient base.
Not only does an optimized website rank higher in search results, SEO also allows you to tailor content to the needs of local patients. Even page speed can be optimized to enable quick loading of your website across different types of devices which then produces a better user experience.
Enhanced Web Presence
Your practice website is just one component of online visibility. It’s also important to ensure that your other web profiles are visible, accurate, and consistent.
Including third-party platforms in your healthcare marketing strategy can also have a strong impact on your digital presence. Having a completed, detailed profile on directory and review sites boosts your visibility and promotes your practice to potential patients. Innovative features — such as integrating online scheduling into your web profiles — make it easier for people to book appointments and increase your patient base.
Reputation Management
Managing your reputation through gathering patient reviews and testimonials on your website and high-profile review sites is a key component of any digital marketing strategy. Nothing assures prospective patients more than reading reviews from people who have received your care.
BrightLocal found that consumers need a business to have an average of 10 online reviews to feel like its trustworthy. In fact, when evaluating a local business on reviews, 56 percent of people focus on average star rating, 49 percent care about quantity, and 44 percent are interested in how recently they were written.
Some patients will take the initiative to write a review on their own, but others need an extra push. Healthcare marketing software can send patient satisfaction surveys after every visit and invite patients to share a positive review online.
Online Scheduling
Requiring patients to call your office to schedule an appointment is a thing of the past. According to a recent survey][8], 81 percent of patients would schedule a doctor’s appointment online if given the option, and 40 percent of people **would actually consider switching providers for online access**. Modern healthcare practices make the process easy by allowing patients to book available appointments online at their convenience.
Patients aren’t the only ones who benefit from online scheduling. Automating this process also reduces the burden on your administrative staff, allowing them to focus on the patients in front of them.
Social Media Presence
Approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults (68 percent) have a Facebook presence, and roughly three-quarters of this group use the social networking site on a daily basis, according to Pew Research Center . Additionally, 35 percent of adults use Instagram and 24 percent have a Twitter account.
It’s easy to understand why every successful digital marketing strategy has a social media component. If your practice isn’t on Facebook and Twitter, it’s time to create profiles on these platforms.
More than half of Millennials (54 percent) and 42 percent of all adults would like to befriend or follow their doctors on social media, according to the American Osteopathic Association . Furthermore, 65 percent of Millennials and 43 percent of all adults feel it is appropriate to use social media to contact their doctor regarding a health concern.
Keep your audience engaged by posting content that’s relevant and interesting on a regular basis. You can even take it a step further by using social media advertising to alert local patients of the services provided by your practice.
If you’re interested in taking your digital marketing strategy to the next level, PatientPop is here to assist. The HIPAA-compliant PatientPop solution, along with our healthcare marketing services, provide your practice all of the assets noted above and more. PatientPop enables healthcare practices to focus on patient care by executing the practice’s digital marketing strategy to drive new patients. Thousands of practices already trust PatientPop to help grow their practices. Find out how PatientPop can help your practice succeed with digital marketing. Contact channelteam@patientpop.com or schedule a demo today.
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Jared Jost is the vice president of marketing for PatientPop, the market leader in healthcare practice growth technology. Jared has 15 years of digital marketing experience with deep expertise implementing integrated marketing campaigns, and helping businesses achieve their revenue goals. |