IF YOUR PRACTICE HAS BEEN STRUGGLING TO REACH PATIENTS - IT MIGHT BE TIME TO RE-EVALUATE YOUR HEALTHCARE MARKETING STRATEGY
Sometimes though, you want to make small, incremental changes and test out working with a marketing agency before diving into a long-term relationship. That's absolutely normal - and possible. If any of the signs below apply to your business, but you have an internal marketing department already or aren't ready to go all in, then some of our a la carte options might be a good fit for you. You can always scale up, adding more activity, as you see success!
If you're wondering whether it's time to invest in an updated healthcare marketing strategy...
The answer is easy. Whether you've built your practice from the ground up and know every single thing about the practice, or if you just stepped into the game, you need to make sure you’re making the most out of your patient leads. However, the digital marketing world we exist in today is not making it easy. Digital competition is rapidly evolving every second, and it takes much more time and creativity to get those leads than it did ten years ago, and it takes even more to convert them into a patient. Investing in high-quality healthcare marketing is essential, now more than ever, and here are 5 signs you need to act ASAP:
1. Your Current Marketing Efforts Don’t Produce Engagement
Some people say that content is king but we would say that content is more like an heir to the throne. In fact, the engagement that your content drives is the real king. You want your prospective patients to get engaged with your social media posts and web content in order to build a personal relationship with your practice and establish some brand loyalty. This is also going to help more potential patients be exposed to your messaging.
However, for many practices this is not happening anymore, for a number of reasons. Either you have a low social media and web presence, or your content is poor and is not bringing any value to prospective clients. Patients are trying to Google you, but can only see an outdated webpage with minimal info about your business, while other practices share valuable information every day and look pretty credible. Now imagine you don't even have a website or a Facebook page - how can someone find you? Why should customers choose you over the alternative, especially if the alternative is marketing themselves better?
2. Your Competitors Are Doing Better
Online competition is much more real than it has ever been before. In order to compete, you should be visible to your customers through one search or another. If someone is browsing for a healthcare service or product, but they don’t see your website on top of the first page, it means your SEO page ranking is pretty low compared to other competitors above you.
According to HubSpot, 75% of users never scroll beyond the first page of search results, which means you are already losing most of your customers if you’re not on the first page. It can be keyword targeting, content, or website optimization that your rivals are outperforming you at, and if you want to fix that you’ll need to work with the right marketing agency that has a heightened knowledge of the ins and outs of SEO and will fight for your online presence.
3. Your Business Is Not Growing
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: a stagnant business is one that’s dying. Even if you’re not a Fortune 500 company, continued growth year-over-year is crucial to keeping the lights on, especially if you work in the healthcare industry. In today’s world, growing your volume doesn’t just happen in the office, it happens online. Cultivating patient conversions online is integral to your business’s success, and in order to do that, you'll have to become far more intense with your healthcare marketing.
Getting conversions online isn’t as easy. There are a number of variables like outdated web content, weak leads, or lack of proper conversion optimization, that might prevent you from growing. In order to figure out what weakens your healthcare business, you need to work with experienced marketing professionals who can analyze your digital marketing strategy and develop an action plan that will improve your KPIs.
4. Your Patients Are Not Coming Back
Find a way to make today’s customer tomorrow’s customer too. It’s the motto you have to keep in mind all the time if you want to win the race. Garnering strong brand loyalty is almost impossible when so many sources and attractive offers are available to your target market. Today’s customer will only return tomorrow if they receive incredible care while at your office and are appropriately followed up with after their visit.
Online surveys and quality assessments should become an important part of your healthcare marketing strategy. In addition, sharing user-generated content like online reviews and testimonials can make your customers feel valued. Wouldn’t you feel important, if you see your personal opinion shared with others?
5.You Don’t Have Enough Time
Companies are fighting for each customer on plenty of battlefields at the same time. Healthcare marketing is rapidly developing and if you are not winning the most battles, in the long run, your healthcare practice won’t survive. If you don’t have enough time to track and respond to every online review, manage your paid search campaigns, optimize conversions, manage social media accounts, and constantly write new blogs for your practice, hire somebody who does. Let the healthcare marketing experts manage the marketing, that way you have more time to do what you do best: run the business.
