Earlier the hunt for healthcare professionals used to start with calling parents. Now, the search begins with: Alexa, find a gynecologist near me.
The market has seen a huge change in the way people think and make decisions. The service providers are therefore looking for new methods to attract their clients. Among all the present marketing strategies, digital media is undoubtedly the most effective.
Therefore, we will discuss 7- effective ways to increase your patient inquiries using parts of digital marketing.
7 ways to use digital media to increase patient inquiries
Digital media can be a boon for professionals in the healthcare industry, especially during the pandemic. Everyone is on the internet searching for solutions. Hence, it’s very important to make use of this digital culture. You can do this by using these secrets.
1. Invest in a high-quality healthcare website
Websites act as a mirror for your business. If you choose to have a do-it-yourself kind of website, you’ll be considered unprofessional. Instead, if you seek professional help and get a high-quality website with all the necessary plugins, there will be patients in your pipeline. Professional website developers will set up a perfect design for your profession.
Another important aspect of a website is easy navigation. No matter how great your website design is, if it is difficult to understand and navigate through different sections, you will lose the digital game.
The last thing that matters is website speed. Your website should be responsive and have a minimum loading time.
2. Optimize your website for SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is considered to be the best practice for ranking your website on Google’s first page.
According to research, 77% of patients head over to Google before scheduling an appointment. And when I say 77%, it is 77% of 250,000,000 searches. These numbers are not a joke. Hence, you should focus on getting an expert on board to take care of SEO for your website.
Till the time you are an SEO expert, follow these tips;
- Use keywords in meta title and meta descriptions
- Keep the title under 70 characters
- Avoid black hat SEO methods such as keyword stuffing
- Always write for your audience and show them the transformation you can help them achieve
- The loading speed of your page is another great factor for SEO
There are many more factors that affect the SEO of a website. But these points are good enough to start with.
3. Advertise on social media and Google Ads
Who clicks on the 7th result on the Google first page?
According to research, very few percent of people look down at the 3rd search result.
This makes it super important to show up in the first 3-4 results. For this, you can use SEO practices or you can boost the process by using Google ads.
Google ads allow you to show up above the organic results through which you get a boost in SEO results.
In Google Ads (or PPC) you are charged when someone clicks on your advertisement to visit your page. For the excellent performance of PPC, you need to take care of landing page optimization, content on your webpage, keywords, negative keywords, and other factors.
4. Register on Google My Business
Why do I need Google My Business when I own a website?
This is a very common question among people who are new to the digital world. Google My Business allows you to take advantage of the local market. For example, if you are a dentist in Los Angeles, if anybody searches for ‘Dentist in Los Angeles’, your business details will pop up through which people will start contacting you.
Moreover, Google My Business allows you to land your business on the first page of Google search which is not easy with SEO alone. It is a win-win situation for you and your clients.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Ensure your business name, contact number, and address matches the details on the website
- Make sure to update the business category
- Upload images to build trust among visitors
- Ask your clients to give a review on your Google My Business
- Set up contact and map option for easy access
5. Send Newsletters (akA Email Marketing)
Most people think email marketing is dead, but this is not the reality. Email marketing is still the most effective marketing strategy.
There are more email users alone than all the social media combined, so never make the mistake of underestimating the power of email marketing.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when doing email marketing;
- Build your email list with only the target audience. Unnecessary subscribers reduce the final ROI and the analytics of the campaign.
- Have designated days to send emails to your subscribers. Sending newsletters without any strategy is like wasting time and resources.
- Track your campaign and collect analytics. There is no use in running a marketing campaign when you aren’t utilizing the analytics. Use the collected information to amend the future strategy and see what works and what doesn’t.
- You can try sending a casual email at regular intervals to build personal relationships with your subscribers. See if it’s working for you and make changes accordingly.
6. Start a blog / YouTube channel
We know blogs take time to show results and the tale goes similar for YouTube channels. But they are very rewarding in the long run. The amount of visitors they can attract is unbelievable.
When making a YouTube video or writing a blog, choose the topics that your audience wants to see. Try to make it interesting and provide a CTA at the end to contact you for further details.
For writing a blog that brings in leads, you need to focus on market trends. For example, during the initial covid days, all the blogs on covid and related topics got millions of views.
Similarly, look out for what problems your audience is facing, help them with a quick fix, and bait them to contact you for long-term solutions.
Also, use long-tail keywords to optimize your blog for the local audience, and don’t forget to focus on mobile user optimization.
7. Collaborate with Physicians
Collaboration is another great way to get more patients. Make friends with other doctors and health care professionals and ask them for recommendations. For every recommendation, you can offer them some commission. It will be a win-win situation for both of you.
Now you’d ask, where will I go to make friends with other professionals?
Well, you can join various events and seminars (now webinars) or you can reach out to them during welfare programs. Another great way is to directly set up a call or meeting with the professionals.
Whatever way you choose, referrals always work. So, don’t let this strategy go in vain.
Conclusion
Running a smart marketing campaign in this digital era can prove to be the best investment in your healthcare business. Initially, it takes time but once you have all your pillars like website, landing page, data, analytics, etc. a place, the results will be unbelievable.
We would advise you to seek professional help.
Get Catalyzed is a digital marketing firm and we provide all the digital solutions, right from SEO, web development, PPC, Email marketing, and more.
Schedule a call with us and let’s discuss how we can help your business grow.
