Healthcare marketing has undergone a radical change in the past decade. Online presence is now more important than ever and could mean the difference between a patient choosing your practice over a competitor. In fact, most marketing experts agree that your online presence is equivalent to your first meeting with a customer or patient. Medical practices and medical equipment suppliers have gravitated toward the world wide web to reach their target patient audiences, but not everyone understands how to effectively use their online presence to build their practice. In this blog, we've narrowed it down to 4 important tips that can help you effectively build your online brand.
A clean web design has the advantage of being simple and functional which means that it is likely for it to be successful. Of all the website styles, this style has the biggest rate of being well received by all audiences across the board. Many people have the misconception that a clean design is minimalism because it focuses on the aesthetics of the page. A minimalist design is clean, but a clean website design does not have to be minimalist. The key to a clean website design is keeping true to the core functionality and avoiding cluttered design at all costs. This should be implemented for content and graphic elements as well. Make sure that your website is also responsive with all devices, especially mobile phones. According to research from eMarketer, consumer time spent on mobile apps and websites is increasing, while time spent with all other media is decreasing – which furthers the need to prioritize on the functionality of the website on mobile first.
Social media marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your practice and increase the visibility of your brand. Being in touch with your social media marketing builds up your visibility, brand loyalty, and recognition. In addition, it enables you to reach many audiences, both near and far, while promoting your brand in a positive conversation. It is important to keep your brand consistent throughout all social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google +, and YouTube, by maintaining the image banners, profile icon, and daily posts.
Creating quality content is that is relevant and relatable to your patients is one of the best ways to gain visibility online. Quality content serves as a means of educating prospective patients about your practice's specific services, establishing the merit of physicians and the support staff. Aim to create helpful content that inspires the target audience to place trust in your staff and the quality of your services.
Posting blog articles and regular social media updates will engage a large portion of your target audience. However, some prospective patients are more visually oriented. Create and incorporate a handful of short videos or interesting graphics into your blog posts or your practice's website. If possible, feature the practice's physicians in the videos. Their appearance will forge bonds with target patients. Even videos featuring the support staff or videos that show the practice facility will inspire patients to reach out and schedule an appointment. Keep the videos short as most interested parties won't watch a video for more than a few minutes.