Orthopedic practices have unique marketing concerns that other practices do not. The right marketing strategy can help you attract more of the patients who really need your services and are a good fit for your practice.
We have found that orthopedic practices need 3 key components for a successful marketing strategy: an effective website design, online marketing, and patient education. Each of these components work together to help you attract new patients and keep your current patients happy.
Now more than ever, patients are using the internet to search for orthopedic surgeons. Even if your orthopedic practice primarily treats older patients who are less internet-savvy, don’t discount the fact that adult children and grandchildren often conduct health-related searches on behalf of their family members.
An clean, responsive orthopedic website design makes it easy for patients to quickly find the information they need on any device. Adding information about your location, specialties, and doctors helps patients learn more about your practice. Additional features like online appointment request and prescription refill forms make it easy for on-the-go patients to take care of routine needs. All of these factors will help your website stand out from competing orthopedic practices.
Your website won’t do any good if patients don’t visit it. An effective online marketing strategy will help you deliver the right message to the patients that are seeking out orthopedic services.
In our experience, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy in online marketing for orthopedic practices. Each orthopedic practice has its own unique needs and challenges.
Content Marketing – Content marketing can help patients learn more about your practice, the orthopedic services you offer, and how you can help. This not only helps you to stand out from your competitors, but also helps your website stand out in search engines, increasing your traffic.
Paid Search – A well-targeted paid search campaign with high-quality ads and landing pages can be an effective means of driving traffic to your website and gaining exposure for your practice. The key is to focus in on keywords that are specific to your orthopedic practice.
Social Media – Social media provides a great opportunity for orthopedic practices to directly connect with current and potential patients. In particular, sports medicine practices can benefit greatly from social media, as it provides the opportunity to share health and injury-prevention tips, motivational messages, and photos of local sports events.
Patient education ensures that your patients are getting helpful, medically-accurate information about orthopedic conditions and procedures when visiting your website. Quality patient education also helps you to earn your patients’ trust by showing that you are committed to helping your patients understand their orthopedic conditions.
Want to network with other orthopedic surgeons and earn CME credits? Stay up to date on upcoming orthopedic conferences with this list.
What Can Orthopaedics Learn about Marketing from Plastic Surgery and Dentistry?