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Marketing Strategies For Doctors

Marketing Strategies For Doctors Using Complete System Cost $799/mon.

Doctors who take a proactive approach to marketing their practices and facilities will be ahead of the game. However, many doctors think that marketing for their practice is an “expense”, in fact these days, it is an investment and required to flourish.

Medical marketing is increasingly competitive. Patient acquisition costs could be $8 to $27 per new patient. Patient trust is the foundation of medical marketing success for your practice. The 21st century is the “on demand” century.  A coffee shop on every block, order your sandwich how you like from you phone and pick it up 5 minutes later, and gas stations where you can have on demand soda machines providing hundreds of soft drink combinations. Your remote control likely has a “On Demand “ button.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Americans can now get medical care on demand with walk  in clinics that are a short drive from their house.

Medical Marketing Chatbots For Improved Patient Satisfaction and Conversion to Appointments

What is a Medical Chatbot? A medical chatbot is designed to have a conversation or a discussion with a real patient. Simply, from the view of a doctor or a medical practice manager, a chatbot is nothing more than software based on AI algorithms (Artificial Intelligence)  that will perform automatic tasks within given parameters. 

Generally in the medical industry there are 2 types of chatbots.

1. Medical Marketing ChatBots 

Designed to convert a visiting patient (on your website) to a paying patient. These are called Medical Marketing ChatBots. They are not designed to diagnose any specific medical conditions. They have 2 important roles.

A) Existing patient – direct them to a specific information. Like how to reach the office after hours. Access to patient portal etc. 

B) New potential patient – as a potential patient lands on your website, you have 15 seconds to engage them. So the medical marketing ChatBot should “walk” the potential patient through specific questions and steps so they can eventually become your patient.

2. Medical Symptom ChatBots 

Health chatbots ask patients a series of questions – so the ChatBot can understand basic information, the condition of a patient – this is very much like the front desk staff in a clinic, who would ask 1) Do you have a fever? 2) Are you in pain? so to understand their symptoms and then the ChatBot sends the data to doctor, who can provide diagnoses and prescribe medicine in real time.

6 Key Pillars of Healthcare Medical Marketing for Physicians. Used by the Top Clinics in USA and Canada.

Your patients start their journey to find your medical services in many ways. They may have immediate need for specific service, like a parent looking for a “pediatric urgent care near me”  and over 78 percentage of the time they will go to Google and search. And majority of the time, this is done on a mobile cell phone device.  You may have a client looking for specific MedSpa service like “Coolsculpting clinic near me” for non-invasive weight loss.  There are millions of ways patients search and look for your services, every day, however,  majority of the patients use online mediums like, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Yahoo, Bing etc to find a medical service provider.

6 Key Pillars of Healthcare Medical Marketing

Pillar No 1 – Patient Trust is the Foundation of Medical Marketing Success for Your Practice.

Provide excellent patient care and medical services to your target patients. Treat every patient like they are your first patient. Healthcare practices who focus on high customer/patient service have a solid foundation. From medical marketing perspective, Patient Trust starts from the moment they land on your website or read your online reviews. 

Pillar No 2 – Medical Practice’s Website.

Your website is the face of your practice. Your website can be an asset or a liability. Your website should look and perform better than your clinic’s practice. Moreover your website should always build your brand.

Pillar No 3 – Medical Practice’s Online Reputation.

Your online reputation – Number of 5 star reviews on Google is the most impactful strategy you can employ. Facebook, HealthGrades, Yelp and other sites are also important however Google Reviews ranking of 4.3 or higher with 100 or more reviews will make a huge impact on your business. We have seen the data and we are excited to help you achieve this.

Pillar No 4 – Medical Practice’s Online SEO and Advertising.

SEO and Advertising. Having  a nice website is a Step 1 – But if you are not improving the SEO on a monthly basis, you will be left behind.  Advertising on Google and Facebook will further improve your patient acquisition.

Pillar No 5 – Medical Practice’s Social Media Strategy.

Social media strategy to engage with existing and potential patients. Key strategies include

1) Installing intelligent apps on your Facebook business page

2) Posting weekly on Facebook business page

3) Posting daily on your Google Posts.

3) Advertising on Social Media – Start with Facebook

Pillar No 6 – Medical Practice’s Patient Communication Strategy.

Effective patient communication strategy.  Here is a great starting list 

1) HIPAA compliant communication from your website

2)  HIPAA compliant communication from Facebook. 

3) SMS-Texting from your website 

4) EMR integration 

5) Monthly Email marketing 

6) Daily Posts on Google Business Page

7) Weekly Posts on Facebook 

8) Monthly Promotions offered

9) Conversion Technology and Techniques 

SIX PILLARS OF HEALTHCARE MARKETING

This is the GOLD Solution From PatientGain

 

There are key steps you must take to be successful. It all starts with a successful Website and awesome SEO.

Use the Data in your EMR.

In the past doctors could depend on word of mouth to help grown their practices and build a loyal patient group.  With on demand medical care, people will often visit several different facilities based on their needs.  Doctors need to proactively market their practices and facilities to capture the attention of patients who need medical care RIGHT NOW. PatientGain provides doctors and facilities with the medical marketing tools they need to be successful.  Use the years of experience from our highly skilled web designers, Google Ad Word experts, and project managers to your advantage. Not technologically literate? Not a problem.PatientGain’s project manager will help train you and your staff and provide constant support as we grow your business together.

What was the word of mouth in the past is now the Google and Yelp reviews of today. It is easier than ever for people to get the word out about what they like or dislike about a business or service. If your clinic doesn’t have polite receptionists or is missing a doctor when they need medical care, they won’t only tell their friends but they will post it online for the world to see.  It is in your best interest to not only monitor what people are saying, but proactively seek out positive feedback to build a stellar online reputation.

Online Engagement Strategies

Research from PatientGain shows that of a sample of 3450 Medical Clinics in United States, only 148 of these facilities are using Online Engagement Strategies software to gain a competitive advantage over their colleagues. PatientGain medical marketing is data driven, results based, and is constantly being refined with the latest studies and new best practices. We won’t simply be making a static website for you with a few links. A shiny website that does nothing for patients is like having a fancy car with no engine.PatientGain websites are intelligent and incorporate responsive design so they look as good on a desktop as they do on a mobile device, plus there are over 20 applications embedded behind the PatientGain intelligent websites to give you competitive advantage. Although PatientGain websites are based on WordPress software, but they have custom CSS, custom Javascripts, custom apps and automation built into the base WordPress websites – so they are UNIQUE, High Quality and Extremely Optimized Websites. PatientGain WordPress based websites are premium A/B Tested sites with excellent conversion results. These PatientGain websites have been refined for years and provided to you free of charge as a customer of GOLD or PLATINUM Package. You can also use your own website and embed PatientGain apps yourself. But you will see the best results when a website is A/B tested repeatedly and refined over the years.

Results From Online SEO For Primary Care Physician

Review of a real customer.  Location is east coast – mid-level competition. Doctor Jones has been in practice for the last 13 years. Her focus has been Primary Care, Internal Medicine and general wellness with focus on Diabetic patients.  However, since last 3 years, multiple clinics have opened within her 5 mile radius. In addition, two Urgent Care clinics have also impacted her business. In the past all she had to do was to advertise in local yellow pages, few referral practices and business had grown due to her excellent focus on patient care. Due to competition, her average patient count had steadily decreased from 30 patients a day to 22.

In this case, Doctor Jones had to focus on new patient acquisition.  She search online for “online advertising for doctors” and found PatientGain.com as the first organic listing on Google. She signed up for PatientGain.com’s GOLD Service for $799/mon.  The results have been as follows:

Nov 2016 – Go live with new website, along with 20 apps embedded in the new Medical Marketing website.  135 phone calls received in the first month.  116 unique phone calls.

Dec 2016 – 434 phone calls received in the 2nd month.  388 unique phone calls.

Jan 2017 – 621 phone calls received in the 3rd month.  534 unique phone calls.

Feb 2017 – 518 phone calls received in the 4th month.  419 unique phone calls.

Mar 2017 – 599 phone calls received in the 5th month.  450 unique phone calls.

Apr 2017 – 697 phone calls received in the 6th month.  541 unique phone calls.

May 2017 – 801 phone calls received in the 7th month.  643 unique phone calls.

By the end of 7th month, Doctor Jones had achieved her target of 30 patients per day.   Mission accomplished. 

Not Focused On Technology, But On Results.

Many medical clinics have a great location, highly qualified & certified medical professionals, and state of the art equipment but are struggling to fill calendars with patients. They don’t realize what they are missing: online expertise, powerful web based software, and the medical marketing solution to increase patient acquisition.  You don’t  just need a good looking website to generate new patients leads. You need a medical marketing partner that is working every day to make your website better, your online ads more effective, and creating new ways to facilitate communication between patients and your facility.

PatientGain’s optimized and successful solution is not focused on technology, but on results.

1) Targeted online advertising for Patient Acquisition
2) Software along with online and medical industry expertise for Patient Retention
3) Effective communication and online marketing for Patient Engagement
4) Effective advertising and marketing strategies for low Patient Acquisition costs

To learn about Search Engine Optimization for Doctors & Medical Clinics, please go here.
To learn about Pay Per Click PPC Advertising for Doctors & Medical Clinics, please go here.
To learn about Content Marketing Strategies for Doctors & Medical Clinics, please go here.

6 Steps for Online Success For Clinics

Step No 1.

As medical practitioners, we have to realize that patient behavior is changing.  Patients are now looking for medical services online. 88 percent of patients search online for medical services and clinic information. Even 47 percent of existing patients look for additional, related services online on your own website or your competitor’s websites. So you must be present on the Web.  60 percent to 72 percent of patients look for your services, check your online reviews, using a mobile device. Make sure that you have website that is focused on Mobile Marketing for doctors.  Here are many examples of great ( and free Mobile, responsive and intelligent) websites.  Once your medical practice is online, there are 5 additional important areas to cover.

Step No 2.

In US, approximately, 78 percent of the time, your patients are going to use Google search engine to look for medical related services, reviews and other information.  So your first step is have a top notch Google presence.  Other places are important also, like Facebook, Yahoo, Bing etc. But start with Google.  There are 6 important aspects of Google presence. 

  1. Google Local Listing for your medical practice
  2. Google Maps, verified listing
  3. Google Reviews rankings
  4. Google Posts
  5. Google Organic results
  6. Google Paid Search 

Each of these should be addressed by your online strategy for your medical practice.  Many doctors and practice managers think that having a nice looking website will suffice. Unfortunately it is no longer enough to have a nice website and a Facebook page.

Each of the above mentioned 6 important aspects of Google presence require attention to detail, time and commitment, not to mention financial investment.

Step No 3.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization for Doctors & Medical Practices can be defined in many ways. To provide you with a high level guidance, these 5 areas are most important: 

A. Google Local Listing for your medical practice

  1. Create a Google account
  2. Add you clinic’s accurate information – Name, address are the most important information – Phone should be checked.
  3. If your practice’s information is incorrect, you will have correct it
  4. You may have to claim your listing also.
  5. In certain cases you may have duplicate listings, these should be resolved.
  6. There are dozens of other Local directories – They should be checked and updated.  But Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo/bing are the most important ones. Start with these.

B. Google Maps, verified listing

  1. Create a Google account
  2. Add you clinic’s accurate information in the Maps
  3. If your practice’s information is in correct, you will have correct it – sometime the Map Pin is Inaccurate
  4. You may have to claim your Map listing also.
  5. In certain cases you may have duplicate listings, these should be resolved.
  6. There are many of other map based directories – They should be checked and updated.  But Google, Map Quest, Apple Map are the most important.

C. Google Reviews rankings

  1. Create a Google account
  2. Check you reviews and ratings
  3. If your practice’s reviews are 4.5 and over 100 reviews on Google, then you are doing well. If less than this, you will need to focus on this area.
  4. Other important review sites are Yelp, Facebook and HealthGrades. But start with Google.

D.  Google Posts

Posting on Google is a new way to share relevant, fresh content with the people who are searching for you. Use images, videos and even animated GIFs to engage your audience, and add inline links to drive traffic to specific content. This enhanced format allows searchers to hear directly from the primary source — you — and complements existing results from across the web. One important note the Google Posts expire every week. You have to post every week.

E.  Google Organic results

Your content on your website is the most important factor on your website.  Content refers to your text, headings, sub-headings, main paragraph, images, videos, blogs etc.  Your website must contain non-copied, non-plagiarized content.

Step No 4.

Every year, billions of dollars are spent on online advertising. Very broadly, online advertising can be divided into 2 main categories:

  1. Display advertising
  2. Search advertising

As a doctor and a medical practice manager, both of these are important for you. You can acquire new patients using both of these mediums.

Display Advertising

Display advertising is a type of online advertising that comes in several forms, including banner ads, rich media and more. Unlike text-based ads, display advertising relies on elements such as images, audio and video to communicate an advertising message. For example, if your potential patient is on Facebook and has recently clicked on or watched a video related to Breast Augmentation medical procedure and treatment, ads related this subject can be displayed to the potential patients. This is an example of display ads.

Search Advertising 

Search advertising is very common. Every time you are on Google and type a search term, lets say “Urgent Care near me”, Google search engine will usually display ads on the top of the web page.  In the middle, there is a map, reviews and business listings, and at the bottom, there are organic or free search results.  The advertisers pay a fee to display their ads in the top area.  If a user clicks on any of the ads, the advertiser pays a fee for each “Click” This is called Pay-Per-Click advertising. For medical practices and doctors, this is very effective and creates excellent ROI.  Google PPC ads produce excellent results, however it is complex and requires a professional to manage your campaign.

Step No 5.

Reviews marketing is another emerging area. Online reviews are impacting decisions of your prospect patients dramatically.  This is one area that will make your medical clinic shine or impact negatively more than any other strategy. In fact it should not be a marketing strategy, it should be a necessity.

There are 4 ways to acquire positive reviews, and at the same time, minimize negative reviews. So your marketing strategy should be to minimize any negative reviews, and maximize positive reviews.

4 Ways to acquire online reviews

  1. Using Texting/SMS apps. A text is sent to a patient asking for feedback after a visit.
  2. Using Email apps. An Email is sent to a patient asking for feedback after a visit.
  3. Using an iPad in the lobby.  A patient  is asked to provide feedback right after the visit.
  4. Using Social Media or your Website.  An app can be added to your business page on Facebook or your website, asking patients to provide feedback.

There is no quick and foolproof way do this “quickly”.  There are pros and cons for each approach.  Google and Yelp understand that businesses are striving to acquire more positive reviews and “bury” negative feedback, their algorithms are aware of SMS requests for reviews – and they are blocking reviews posted using SMS originated requests.  Having an iPad in the lobby can cause block of IP Address and so on.

Step No 6.

Social Media Marketing is another very important aspect of your marketing. Your potential and existing are hanging around on Facebook. You have to make it easy for them to do business with you.  Here are 5 steps.

5 Steps for Facebook Success for Doctors & Medical Practices

  1. Create Facebook Business Page for your medical practice.
  2. Optimize FacebookBusiness Page for your medical practice.
  3. Add apps to your FacebookBusiness Page for your medical practice. For example, add Contact Us app, add Appointment Requests app, add Promotions app.
  4. Add content to your FacebookBusiness Page for your medical practice
  5. Advertise your FacebookBusiness Page for your medical practice  on Facebook – There are multiple ways to promote your FacebookBusiness Page for your medical practice. You can hire a professional ( recommended ) or do it yourself.  Professionals who are certified advertising professionals will produce better results for you.

Summary for Online Success For Doctors

These 6 steps are proven to add value for hundreds of medical practices. There are many other steps you can take to further improve your strategy. Monthly Email Marketing is another strategy, among many others.  Contact us so we can help you and view details GOLD package here.