Take a look around and you’ll see that we are in the midst of a technological boom that is sweeping the nation. It’s no surprise that the old marketing methods (like commercials and newspaper advertising) we have grown so accustomed to are being buried by digital marketing techniques. In fact, statistics show that traditional marketing (also known as outbound marketing) is starting to lose its overall effectiveness. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is growing in popularity among health care professionals because it embraces the new ways in which people seek medical treatment.
Here are the five things you should know about inbound marketing in a nutshell:
1. Inbound marketing is the best way to book more patient appointments.
Inbound marketing differs from traditional marketing in that it is a responsive marketing strategy. This means that it constantly evolves to meet the needs of your target audience. The technological advancements that have occurred over the past several years have caused a fundamental shift in patient behavior. Technology has made accessing important information quick and easy. Because of this, your patients have become a more knowledgeable audience.
Instead of silently accepting their general practitioner’s referral, well over 80% of patients research doctors and practices online before finally deciding on a specialist (American Medical News). A comprehensive inbound marketing strategy employs a variety of marketing techniques to help surgical practices become their patients’ number one choice. Read more about how inbound marketing strategy works for medical and surgical practices in this blog post.
2. A high quality website is essential to attracting new patients.
Not enough can be said about the importance having a beautiful and functioning website. Your website will provide the foundation you need to implement a successful inbound marketing strategy. According to Forbes, in-person first impressions form during the first seven seconds of meeting. However, in the land of networking, a prospective patient will establish his opinion of your practice in less than two-tenths of a second after opening your website. This is why your website must possess the following three basic fundamentals of good website design:
- Strong Visual Appeal
- Accessible Navigation
- Mobile Compatibility
Read more about how your website can influence on-the-fence prospects in this blog post.
3. Understanding your current patients will help you reach new ones.
While every patient is unique, there are similarities in the way he or she goes about making medical decisions. The best way to reach new patients is to get to know your current ones by exploring their demographics and the steps they took to schedule an appointment. By asking the right questions, highlighting patterns, and tracking trends, you can create the perfect new patient persona which will allow you to tailor your marketing approach. Doing so well help you reach a specific audience full of people that are ready to receive your help, which means you’ll be making a bigger impact when you begin marketing to them.
4. Good SEO is more than just a magic pill, it’s a lifestyle.
A strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy will improve the ways in which people find your practice. When you write online content for your practice, incorporate popular words and phrases your patients might use in order to find you and/or your specialty. Doing this on a consistent basis will improve your search engine ranking and in turn, help people find your practice more easily.
How well do you rank for medical keywords?
Click here to see your SEO score.
5. Tracking your marketing efforts will yield better results.
After you set clear marketing goals, reporting tools such as HubSpot, Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, CallRail and others can help you track your progress. For example, analytics will show you things like how many new visitors came to your website, what referral site brought them there, and even their demographics and personal contact information. Using this data, you can tweak your inbound marketing strategy to generate more leads and book more appointments.
Over the past several years, Baker Labs has worked closely with doctors, medical groups, and their patients to better understand the marketing dilemma in the healthcare industry. Our experience has allowed us to create customized digital marketing strategies through which medical practices like yours can attract new patients, build strong relationships, and grow quality patient-to-patient referrals better than before.
To learn more about how we use inbound marketing to book appointments with new patients, please visit this page.
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