Word of mouth marketing is certainly an old fashioned concept, but it’s effectiveness has not waivered. If a patient visits a new doctor or medical facility and tells their family and friends about it, this increases the amount of people that learn about this doctor or medical facility simply by word of mouth. Over 92% of patients trust recommendations from doctors, family, friends and co-workers.
People are always talking about what’s going on in their lives and certainly relay information about good or bad healthcare practices. You want to ensure whenever people are talking about your practice, they only have amazing feedback. So, how can you capitalize on word of mouth in your healthcare marketing strategy?
Social Media Helps With Word of Mouth Marketing
If you expand your social media marketing to encourage others to review your page, share your posts, etc., you can encourage word of mouth via social media. It is more important to have 50 loyal patients that love your services rather than 1000 that signed up just to enter a contest on your website. A good word of mouth healthcare marketing campaign engages your patients, gives them reasons to talk about your services, and provides them with ways to share this knowledge with others.
Find a Way to Use Employees and Patients For Referrals
A doctor’s office, healthcare facility, or hospital definitely has a great deal of employees. Finding a way to encourage your employees to talk about your services is a great way to generate some chatter. Offering an incentive program for referrals from staff member builds excitement. Gifts like a coffee cup or mug, jacket with the company logo, or a gift card gives them a reward for promoting your medical practice.
You can even expand this referral program to the public. A patient referral program is an effective marketing tool that takes a small amount of time to set up. Post the patient referral program and details on your website or Facebook page. Offer patients free giveaways or discounts off of medical services for referrals. Providing patients with informative blogs about your services will certainly give them unlimited topics to share. Consider blogging about new products, tests, information on new drugs, and special events to find your practice news-worthy.
Having a feedback form on your website can easily improve customer service as well as the patient’s experience. When staff members answer patient questions and effectively resolve complaints this enhances customer relations which can lead to more referrals. Incorporating a feedback form allows patients to feel that they are being genuinely listened to and simultaneously allows your practice to improve on weak areas. It’s a win-win!
Provide Patient Testimonials and Patient Sharing
Videos and testimonials of successful patient treatments is another way to use word of mouth advertising. This will keep patients and consumers talking about how you helped them with a chronic illness or medical problem. Providing testimonials on the website about patients you have helped can build confidence and encourage referrals for your practice.
Testimonials and videos posted on your Facebook page can receive comments and posts on the story. That is an indirect method of getting referrals for your healthcare business. Provide a spot on your Facebook page for patient sharing. They can share photos, births announcements, graduations, positive reviews of your staff and office. This is another indirect way to build referrals by encouraging patients to feel part of a community.
Participate in Community Health Fairs and Wellness Events
Many local healthcare marketing companies organize community health fairs and wellness events. This gives you a chance to meet other health care professionals and patients face to face. These events are a way to inform new people about your medical services and often operate as an indirect referral. Offering free pens or other free giveaways, health screenings, and brochures at special events can certainly open the door for new patients.
Good healthcare marketing companies can help you develop a healthcare marketing program that includes word of mouth marketing referrals. They can help you develop an effective social media campaign that focuses on word of mouth marketing too. Contact Atlantic Health Solutions to learn more about our healthcare marketing services today!