Marketing is essential for businesses and brands in the medical industry, but unfortunately, it’s not quite as easy as promoting a sale or buying ad space.
Executing the wrong strategy could lead to an epic business fail. Marketing in the medical field must follow a different set of rules for a practice to gain awareness and its patients’ trust. Read on for important do’s and don’ts in the world of medical marketing.
DO identify your demographic.
It is critical with any marketing plan to identify your target audience according to the services you provide. Invest your time in planning and creating the right strategies with your objective in mind.
Target marketing with a well-defined goal in mind allows you to shrink your budget and attract the demographic you want. Once you have your audience and your objective, focus on educating your audience instead of just talking about practice.
DO invest in marketing materials.
Brochures, mailer cards, and folder inserts will be a must for referral marketing. Regardless of your practice size, you have to have marketing materials that clearly depict your brand and explain what your practice offers.
Invest in superior marketing materials and remember – superior doesn’t always mean expensive. Brochures, postcards, and other items can be professional without costing too much. All you need is some well written and informative content and quality images. If you already have marketing materials, utilize them, but check them over and make sure they are informative and accurate.
DO send a clear message.
Similar to identifying your audience, you need to send a clear message to your patients. The message should be concise and convincing. It needs to make current and potential customers feel confident and comfortable with your practice.
Your marketing message needs to give encouragement and convince them that your services are what they need.
DO work to improve your online presence.
It is so easy for potential patients to find out about your practice before they even step foot in your office. With just a click of a mouse, online reviews, comments, and ratings are at their fingertips. Because of this, medical practices need to have a healthy online reputation.
Do this by regularly monitoring your reputation, creating a robust social media presence, creating a user-friendly website, and engaging with your patients online.
[Want to know how to use technology to engage with patients? Click here!]
DO create a personalized website.
Ensure your digital space is informative, professional, and user friendly. If you do not have a quality website that meets these criteria, now is the time to invest. These days, most people prefer surfing the web for all services.
This personalized site should be well laid out and include contact information, quality images, patient forms, details about your employees, and even an engaging blog. Some other ideas include:
- Set up a form on your website for appointment requests.
- Integrate a self-scheduler.
- Create an online patient health portal for documents, appointment reminders, and bill pay.
- Apply a simple online contact form so current and potential patients can easily reach you at any time of the day.
DON’T wait for patients to come to you.
Use the marketing “do” methods, get out there, and work to bring patients to you! Waiting for customers to find your practice will quickly set your business on the path to failure.
DON’T offer discounts or coupons.
While this is unethical, it also sends an unprofessional message about your business. It is good to be proactive and creative with marketing ideas but avoid this route.
DON’T expect too much too soon.
Marketing takes time; don’t expect results overnight. It is usual for results to take a few months.
However, if you aren’t hitting your expectations after three months, it’s time to reevaluate.
DON’T violate HIPPA laws.
Never mention patient names, unless you have written consent and signed releases that allow you to use their name.
DON’T use too much medical jargon.
While sometimes it’s necessary, don’t overwhelm people with significant medical terms. Use relatable and easy to understand content in your marketing materials and on your website.
These do’s, and don’ts of medical marketing will help you define some clear goals for the future and prepare your office for the upcoming new year. Use these ideas to help give your medical practice what it needs to surpass your competition while staying on the path to success.
If you have any marketing do’s or don’ts, we would love to hear about them on our Facebook page!
Tags: Marketing, Marketing Dos and Donts, Marketing for Office Managers, medical office management, medical offices, national organization of rheumatology managers, NORM, office management, office managers, rheumatologists, rheumatology, social media, social media for rheumatology, tips for office managers Posted by
