15 Ways To Support Your Healthcare Marketing Strategy
Key takeaways
- Focusing on a patient’s needs enhances both patient acquisition and retention.
- Local SEO efforts and online reviews boost your practice’s visibility and credibility.
- Continuously refining campaigns based on patient feedback improves results.
- Using privacy-safe analytics helps you gain valuable insights while maintaining trust.
Tailored marketing efforts are crucial for healthcare organizations
In today’s digital age, finding a physician or other healthcare provider usually starts with a Google search. If you don’t have an effective healthcare marketing strategy, you may struggle to attract new patients and grow your practice. Utilizing digital platforms is the key to building trust, improving visibility, and expanding your practice.
This guide breaks down all the ways you can drive growth and make a meaningful impact. Follow the tips below for a successful approach to healthcare marketing, and take advantage of Weave’s communication platform for further results.
Why healthcare marketing matters
The way that healthcare consumers research providers and services has evolved. Rather than asking for personal recommendations, many individuals turn to online tools. If they see positive reviews from others and can access a lot of information about a provider online, they may be more likely to trust them with their care.
A proper health marketing plan impacts not only patient acquisition but also patient satisfaction and retention. Say a mental health professional only relies on word-of-mouth recommendations. Expanding their patient base and growing their business will be much more difficult when they ignore valuable marketing initiatives like social media advertisements, local SEO tactics, and more.
Key principles of effective healthcare marketing
When promoting their providers and services, healthcare organizations must prioritize the following:
- A patient’s needs: Recognizing a patient’s pain points is pivotal for helping them find your practice and trust your team with their care.
- Establishing credibility: Highlight your expertise within the field to show that you’re a trustworthy provider.
- Compliance standards: Complying with HIPAA and GDPR is non-negotiable.
Focus on these elements through digital and traditional channels for the greatest impact. Check out 15 proven ways that professionals across the healthcare industry are driving growth and reaching their audience.
1. Optimize your website
Every healthcare marketing strategy must include an easy-to-use, responsive website. After all, this platform serves as a patient’s central hub for finding information about your business.
You should optimize your website for the user experience. Make navigation bars simple to locate, take steps to minimize load times, and make things convenient with online scheduling tools. You should also add helpful patient resources directly on the site, include clear contact forms, and publish blog posts for search engine optimization purposes.
Don’t forget to comply with ADA standards when developing your website. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires web content and mobile apps to be accessible for those with various disabilities.
2. Go mobile-friendly
The majority of patients find critical information on smartphones or tablets. Making your site mobile-friendly is the best way to cater to a large portion of your audience. Be sure to include a tap-to-call button so users can easily get in touch with your office.
Take advantage of online scheduling programs and utilize digital forms to streamline appointment intake. Implementing structured data on the site and increasing page speed can enhance your search engine optimization efforts, so don’t ignore these technical aspects.
3. Focus on local SEO
How can you build a robust healthcare marketing strategy? Improving your local SEO is one of the most effective digital marketing tactics. Help your practice appear in search engine results pages by:
- Claiming your Google Business Profile
- Using consistent branding on your Google Business Profile, website, and other online platforms.
- Boosting patient reviews to help your local search ranking
When you combine this with other marketing techniques, you’ll get a leg up on the competition.
4. Plan content marketing
It doesn’t matter whether you work in healthcare or another industry. You can experience tangible results with the right content marketing.
Create informative blog posts and written guides that align with a patient’s search intent. You can also send newsletters with email campaigns that answer patient questions. Tailored content marketing helps build your website’s authority and keep your audience engaged.
Make sure you brainstorm ideas that support your overall healthcare marketing strategy. For example, say you want to notify people about your mental health services. The content you publish should focus on related topics, such as the benefits of talk therapy or ways to manage mental health in the workplace.
5. Use video and visuals
As a medical professional, you understand certain procedures and health conditions better than anyone. However, current and prospective patients don’t always have a full understanding of these topics. Use visual content to connect with them, no matter where they are in their healthcare journey.
Infographics are excellent ways to break down complex medical information. Whether you specialize in treating sports injuries, cardiac health issues, or anything in between, you should take advantage of visual aids on your website and social media channels.
Video content is equally effective and easy to digest. Common video categories include:
- Patient testimonials: Highlight some of your practice’s satisfied patients who can speak to the quality of your healthcare services.
- Physician explainers: Have a professional explain a common health condition, including its symptoms and treatment, to eliminate confusion.
- Procedure walkthroughs: Show patients what they can expect when they go for a routine check-up, health screening, or complex medical procedure.
6. Engage on social media
With so many digital technology platforms available, your healthcare marketing strategy should focus on capturing an audience on each of them. Take advantage of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to grow your audience.
These sites allow you to share educational content like wellness tips. You can also promote your services or health products to potential consumers by highlighting testimonials from others. Just make sure you comply with HIPAA regulations by avoiding publishing personal health info.
7. Manage your online reputation
A majority of consumers read and trust online reviews during their research. Healthcare professionals can take advantage of this by encouraging their satisfied patients to leave reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google, and Healthgrades.
Respond to all reviews to aid your brand perception and show your dedication to both potential and current patients. Suppose someone threatens to switch healthcare providers in a review because of a bad experience at your practice. Acknowledge their concerns and frustration, apologize for their negative experience, and share ways that your practice is actively working on rectifying the issue.
8. Run PPC campaigns
Pay-per-click ads are an integral part of any marketing strategy for healthcare practices. Running paid search ads supplements SEO practices. Attracting patients is easy when you focus on ads with high-intent keywords.
That’s not all. You can also run retargeting campaigns for better engagement among users who have previously visited your website. Since PPC campaigns will cost money, you must track your return on investment and adjust your campaign accordingly.
9. Send personalized emails
A personalized touch is a key part of patient care. Why should this only extend to your bedside manner? Make it integral to your healthcare marketing strategy, especially email marketing.
Focus on the patient experience by segmenting your email lists into relevant demographics. For instance, a primary care provider could send an email about colon cancer screenings to patients within the age group who should undergo testing.
Personalized emails may cover general health tips, as well as appointment reminders and follow-ups. Track your campaign’s performance with key metrics like:
- Email open rates
- Click-through rates
- Appointment conversions
10. Align leadership
Inform executives about your plans so all members of your healthcare organization are on the same page. When various departments take stock of healthcare marketing, it can lead to better results.
11. Support physician referrals
Your plan isn’t just for healthcare consumers. Your staff and referring physicians can also benefit from tracking tools. Internal teams can simplify workflows when you focus on referrals, while outside providers can earn incentives for referring patients to your practice.
12. Leverage privacy-safe analytics
Track the success of your healthcare marketing strategy with secure data analytics. Utilize programs that comply with industry regulations to collect sensitive data. You can then use this information to adjust your strategy without compromising a patient’s privacy.
For example, Weave’s Call Intelligence tool transcribes office phone calls and filters them into certain categories for better insights.
13. Track and test campaigns
Many healthcare providers don’t run A/B tests and find their marketing campaigns struggle as a result. Healthcare marketers recommend running these tests with new landing pages, email campaigns, and digital ads.
By publishing two variations, you can determine which one users respond to more. For example, say you send some emails with the recipient’s name in the subject line, while others omit the name. If the personalized emails have a higher open rate, you should consider using this tactic in your efforts going forward.
14. Map the patient journey
Don’t forget about the target audience at the center of your marketing and public relations strategy. Tailor your messaging based on the following stages of a patient’s journey:
- Discovery
- Research
- Scheduling
- Treatment
- Follow-up
Be mindful of common pain points to identify opportunities for engagement. For example, a blog post titled “What To Expect During a Yearly Women’s Health Screening” caters to a select audience in the treatment stage of their journey.
15. Build an agile framework
Establishing a successful health system is all about adapting. Pay attention to your campaign’s analytical insights and feedback to continuously improve. When you adjust your campaign based on your patients’ changing needs and new marketing trends, you can expect impressive results.
Grow your practice with a proven marketing plan and Weave’s technology
A successful healthcare marketing strategy isn’t just about attracting new patients. It should be a holistic approach to growing your business and enhancing the patient experience. Rely on your website, high-quality content, trust-building solutions, and detailed analytics to reap the benefits.
Weave supports hospitals, dental practices, and other healthcare facilities with valuable communication products. Review your current strategy and see how Weave can make a difference in your operations. Request a demo today to get started.
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