Marketing Strategies for Medical Clinics
In the past, healthcare professionals and hospitals have focused on medical clinic marketing through patient education and brand awareness. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology and the growth of the internet, it is imperative to have a good and solid medical clinic marketing plan. A good marketing plan is designed to help you achieve specific business objectives and measureable results over a specific period of time. In other words, it allows you to build a unique road map of where you would like your business to be headed. Your marketing approach has the ability to improve your chances of building a successful medical clinic.
The crucial building blocks of an effective marketing plan include: target audience, competition analysis, SWOT analysis, marketing strategies, and financial budgeting. How you decide to market your medical clinic is up to you; however, there are certain valuable questions that you should consider. First and foremost, you need to ask yourself: who is my target audience? The first step in any marketing plan is figuring out who is going to buy your product or service. You need to identify your target audience - prospective patients - by determining why they would seek out your services, what they stand to gain from your services, and who is influencing their decisions. Next, you need to ask: who is my competition? Examine how fellow competitors market their services and determine how they differentiate from your own. Look at what they do and conduct a pros/cons analysis. After you have tackled the above two questions, prepare yourself to develop a marketing plan by conducting a SWOT analysis (your medical clinic’s strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities) and marketing strategies (product, pricing, distribution, and promotion). Think in terms of what makes your services stand out and how to distinctively present them. After you have done so, you need to consider what a feasible budget for your marketing efforts is and whether you can achieve your goals within your budget.
In several ways, the process of attracting new patients has become much more challenging. Patients are more empowered than ever before and they have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to looking for a qualified healthcare professional. Effectively winning over patients and a successful marketing plan for medical clinic go hand in hand. In order to stay on top of marketing trends, it is important to follow key marketing strategies for medical clinics. Such marketing strategies include the following:
- Establish a website for your medical clinic
According to statistics, over 72% of American adults search for health-related information online. This means that if you want to acquire new patients, you need to be able to market yourself online. In other words, prospective patients need to be able to find you. Consider establishing a website for your medical clinic, depicting what you and your clinic stand for. Outline who you are, what you have to offer (your areas of expertise), and why prospective patients should make an appointment to see you.
- Keep your website up to date
One of the most crucial things to do is keep your website up to date. If your website contains outdated information, chances are that prospective patients will look for the latest medical news somewhere else. Keep all your information accurate, descriptive, and up to date. Create customized quality content that will inform patients about your medical practice, your qualifications, the procedures you perform, and the services that you offer. Moreover, you need to keep your website up to speed with the latest technology. This means having a mobile-friendly website, a creative web design, and high SEO ranking.
- Implement SEO practices
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a must if you want to obtain a spot on the front pages of search engine results. Take the time to properly implement SEO practices by eliminating low-quality or duplicate content and focusing on quality content and local listings (Google, Yahoo, and Bing).
- Use review sites
Reviews sites, such as Yelp and HealthGrades, are becoming immensely popular among patients. These sites allow patients to leave reviews about the quality of care they have received from different healthcare professionals at different medical clinics – including yours. Online reviews can help new patients find you by providing useful insights from the personal experiences and expectations of other patients. The more positive reviews you have, the better the chances you have of attracting new patients.
- Seek out referrals
There is no shame in asking for referrals from patients and colleagues. Referrals are a great way to spread the good word about your medical clinic. If your patients are satisfied with the care that you provide, they are likely to refer friends and family members. Moreover, referrals can help you to connect with colleagues in different specialties and establish a friendly bond for future work together.
- Provide health-related tips
Consider providing health-related tips in a number of places: newsletters, blog posts, social media, etc. By doing so, you are reassuring patients of your caring nature as well as your qualifications. You can even try out email marketing as a way to send out routine information on upcoming events, appointment reminders, the latest medical news, the latest news relating to your medical clinic, and more. When patients decide on health-related tips and email newsletters, it provides you with another way to stay in touch and communicate with them on a regular basis.
- Hand out goody items
Every individual loves a freebie. Send your patients home with goody items that relate to your medical clinic’s branding, such as magnets or pens. What’s more, make sure to include your clinics’ phone number. Best of all, you can hand out different types of goody items to different patients.
- Get involved within your community
Participating in health fairs, charity runs, or fundraisers are just some of the ways in which you can get involved within your community and help patients recognize you. This also gives you the chance to connect with prospective patients and demonstrate your positive work / quality of care.
- Use electronic health records (EHR)
Electronic health records can help your clinic to stay well organized and allow your patients to stay actively involved in every aspect of their own care. Patients can access their medical information and together, you can make better informed decisions.
- Focus on patient experience and quality of care
When it comes down to it, your overall goal is to provide patients with the best care possible. Word of mouth is an extremely powerful and influential tool – if you want your patients to recommend you to others, you need to ensure that they receive the highest quality of care.
With so many resources available today, healthcare professionals have a major advantage they did not years ago. FindaTopDoc is an example of an innovate website that allows you to create your own profile and connect with current and prospective patients. FindaTopDoc’s tools and resources – Expert Blogs, Expert Q&A, Reviews, and more – help support doctors in embracing brand awareness and targeting new patients within the online health community. The more you know about your patients, the better you will be able to communicate and connect with them.
Your marketing plan – the strategies and messages you send to patients - is something that you can take control over. Such messages need to encompass reputation, loyalty, advantage, and future worth. You need to get with the contemporary times and establish an online presence by properly introducing yourself and the services that you have to offer. Failure to do so will only direct patients to your competition next door. In today’s age of innovation, competition is fierce – especially for medical clinics. Marketing is an essential part of organization growth and by generating exposure to your medical clinic; you can find yourself rising to the top pages of search engine results.
