It is very evident these days that the major challenge any hospital is facing is marketing. It has become important to understand marketing techniques for gaining patient leads, building brand presence, maintaining reputation both offline and online, as well as proactively keeping in touch with the existing patient base. Digital Marketing can bring value to a clinical practice by the following ways.
Digital marketing for doctors can be challenging. This is particularly because medical professionals need to put extra efforts to build trust with patients. Whether you are a practitioner or looking for ways to improve the visibility of your clinic, it is important to incorporate digital marketing practices to widen your patient base.
Why is digital marketing important:
1.Increasing number of people on social media and online: The internet and social media networks are reshaping the way potential patients search for their healthcare provider. According to a survey in 2016, nearly 54 percent of customers search for a local doctor online on a weekly or monthly basis. This figure is likely to grow by 2020, reflecting the increasing time spent by patients online.
2.Easier to approach the right audience: With plenty of online channels and social media platforms, you can focus on markets and specific groups of an patients anywhere across the globe. For example, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter allow you to search for specific groups based on demographics, interests and more. This means you can advertise and promote your practice to the right customers and improve your patient base.
3.Digital marketing is cost-effective: Equal opportunities are available to all practices, regardless of their size, budget or location . Look for the relevant tools and services to position your medical practice online. Traditional advertising mediums such as television and newspapers can cost more than the other mediums and may not be impactful. However, digital marketing is not only cost-effective but offers a wider reach across the globe.
4.Easier to interact with patients: You must be continually updated and aware of what your patients are looking for, what they demand, what they prefer and what they dislike. This information is necessary for marketing purposes. Traditional methods are typically one-sided, where the information is placed in media for potential customers to view, offering zero interaction. On the other hand, online marketing offers plenty of interaction and engagement opportunities with potential and existing patients. Through popular social media networks, you can interact with your patients, gain insight on their preferences and build a stronger digital healthcare marketing plan.
5.Brand Building: Branding is necessary for the long-term success of your medical practice. Digital marketing is helping new and small practices make a place in the market and move toward strong brand building. Through effective online channels, you can advertise that will add to the brand building.
6.Competitive Market: All your competitors have started switching to online platform for marketing purposes. That’s why it is important to get into online platform and do it better than them. Digital marketing tools offer a lot of options for online branding and to market your services. Your job is to make a digital marketing plan that fits your practice ideology and goals, attracts more patients and does not exceed your budget.
How digital marketing can be done:
- Optimizing website user experience by keeping both aesthetics and ease of use in mind.
- Making the website SEO friendly, to be easily found by target audience/ patients
- Digital/ Online Ads to direct traffic to the website.
- Building and Maintaining Social Media Presence on various platforms, and engaging proactively with audience as well resolving queries
- Creating easy brand recall through blogs and by posting specialization specific literature on appropriate platforms to gain mindshare.
- Better Scheduling by enabling appointments on Website and following it up with SMS/ Email.
- Staying in touch on a regular basis with both old and new patients through Email Marketing, sending regular e-newsletters/ Updates/ offers.
- Take advantage of many profitable online advertising opportunities, including Google Display Network, pay-per-click advertising, social media advertising, Facebook remarketing, and paid online directories.
TO CONCLUDE Digital Marketing has become the need of the day for all healthcare professionals and one needs to stay constantly updated and consistantly active on the digital front to improve and increase their presence in the market.
It is the superficial and macro level study for more details kindly contact Hospaccx Healthcare business consulting Pvt. ltd on info@hhbc.in or hospaccx.india@gmail.com
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