Effective Marketing Strategies for Physicians
Today’s businesses need effective marketing for success, and the field of medicine is not immune to this rule. Physicians with private clinics need to adapt to the fast-paced environment of marketing. They should follow viable marketing strategies for physicians to enhance their reputation, attract new patients, and maintain loyalty.
On the other hand, physicians rarely have an expertise in marketing along with their medical careers. Therefore, we prepare this article to provide them with insights on the essentials of marketing and the best marketing practices for medical professionals.
In the first part, we will mention common misconceptions about marketing and explain the reality, while in the second part, we will share some ideas on viable marketing strategies for physicians.
Part I: Common Misconceptions
“Marketing means advertisement” – FALSE
Although the advertisement is a critical tool of marketing, it cannot be boiled down to merely advertisement. It also includes public relations, media planning, client support, market research, and community involvement.
“Marketing is an activity which has a beginning and an end.” – FALSE
Marketing is a continuous process. Your marketing strategy should be able to adapt to the changes in your industry and environment. Therefore, it should be considered a long-term process rather than a onetime activity if you ultimately aim for success.
“Marketing is a waste of money/time for a physician.” – FALSE
You may be a prominent physician running a clinic. However, very few people will know about your practice without proper marketing. Marketing is an investment in your business which will eventually be fruitful when handled properly. Along with investing your time and money, you will also need to track the benefits of your marketing strategy to ensure that you are on the right track.
“Marketing is completely separate from the profession of medical practice” – FALSE
Marketing in medical practices is closely related to the communication between you and your patients. You need to know the expectations of your target group and focus on these expectations in your communication to provide better service. This is also a part of marketing.
“Marketing requires overselling yourself and your services.” – FALSE
If you cannot give what you have promised during marketing, it will harm your reputation, let alone being helpful. Your marketing strategy can promote your practice only if it is built upon your true medical experience, capabilities, and professional success. Therefore, your most important marketing strategy should be to focus on improving your expertise and capacity.
Now, if we are set with the false marketing myths, let’s switch to the second part: recommended marketing activities that will bring the most benefit to physicians and private clinics.
PART II: Viable Marketing Strategies for Physicians
1. Get a professional-looking website
You should have an online address for your medical practice so that your existing and potential patients can easily find you. Having a professional-looking website will enhance your first impression and give a good image of reliability. Therefore, it would be wise to get support from an agency or an experienced professional to have a reliable website set up for you.
2. Write a blog
Setting a blog under your website is simple. However, you need to take some time to regularly write on your specialty – but of course in layman’s terms. This will be useful to highlight your expertise to your target audience and will bring great marketing benefits. Not only will patients who seek a physician in your field be able to find you easily, but it will also improve the ranking of your website in search engine result pages.
3. Be active on social media – as a medical professional
Social media is the most effective means of word-of-mouth marketing. Your presence on relevant social media channels is important to gain recognition as a physician. Having professional pages and accounts on social media platforms where you share little health tips, medical news and latest developments in your field will help people remember you when they need medical care in your field. You can also share your blog posts on social media channels to attract more visitors to your website.
4. Become a source for local media
Another effective way of displaying your expertise is to be featured in media. Newspapers and news channels usually get the opinions of doctors to provide scientific support for their stories. Being featured in your local media will enhance your recognition and authority in your field. Send an e-mail to your local media channels and let them know you would be pleased to offer your expertise when needed.
5. Create online profiles
In today’s digital world, people google everything. They search online reviews before seeing a movie or eating at a restaurant, and most also do so while choosing their physicians. Therefore, it is a good idea to create a profile on medical professional review sites such as RateMDs.
Note that patients can also create a profile for you on one of those sites to leave a review. Therefore, it would be wise to google your name occasionally, to see if there is a profile that you’re not aware of, and you’d better claim it if you find any. Claiming your unattended profiles is important for reputation management because you can provide responses to the patient reviews when needed.
6. Ask for feedback
Your current patients are your best marketing partners. Therefore, asking for their feedback will provide you with the chance to see yourself from their perspective and determine the points that need improvement. Both positive and negative feedback will give you an invaluable opportunity to improve yourself and your practice.
7. Contribute to medical publications
Along with writing blogs and providing a source for media, display your expertise with medical studies. Having your articles published in academic or professional publications will help you stand out from the crowd.
8. Get professional support for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a crucial tool to improve the ranking of your website on search engine result pages. It helps draw your target audience to your website. SEO can be improved through some simple steps, such as having your clinic address on your website and on Google Maps and creating original content. However, to benefit from SEO to the highest extent, professional help would be necessary.
Each of the ideas listed above has the capacity to bring certain benefits; however, employing multiple tactics in an organized manner would create a sustainable marketing strategy. When you use varying marketing tools and tactics, they will support each other and make up your ideal marketing strategy all together.
Contact us if you need professional help in the development and application of marketing strategies tailored to your needs or book a free consulting session to discuss your needs and how we can assist you.