Digital marketing for healthcare is not as simple as buying an ad as – comparatively – the goal is to get your medical practice in front of more than one audience. At any given time, some will be doing searches on symptoms, using a healthcare directory they trust, or asking friends on Facebook for doctor recommendations. Just as the attention patients are diverse, so will efforts be in marketing channels. 

Chances are, your medical practice already has at least one form of a digital asset such as a website, online directory listing, or Facebook page. Meanwhile, digital marketing is an investment – resources must be poured into it for it to be effective at achieving your medical practice’s business goals. 

But with so many digital marketing channels to choose from and invest in, where do you begin? Which digital asset should be top priority? What can you do to get started or jump back into building an online presence? We will answer these healthcare digital marketing questions and more in this article. 

Starting With Purpose: Why Healthcare Marketing is Important 

Knowing the “why” will help medical practices stay motivated and consistent with their investment in digital marketing. There are many benefits to be gained from having a strong online presence, but this takes time and persistence to develop and thrive. 

The number one reason to engage in healthcare digital marketing is to meet patients where they go for information – online. Andrei Zimiles, CEO of Doctor.com remarks, “The fact that 81 percent of patients will read reviews about a provider, even after they’ve been referred, indicates that we’ve entered a truly consumerist era of healthcare. Patients depend on online sources of information more so than ever, and are using all of the digital tools available to inform themselves and make healthcare decisions.” 

Digital Marketing for Medical Practices is Unavoidable 

The patient journey and digital marketing have converged, and this was caused by modern consumerism, both in the healthcare industry and in general. When a patient uses Google to look for an urgent care center, despite having used it just to get information, they are automatically participating in digital marketing. The question is, would they ever find your practice while actively searching? 

3 Main Medical Practice Goals Achieved Through Digital Marketing Investment 

Each medical practice is unique and will have goals that differ from the providers down the street, but there are some goals that many healthcare organizations share. Common medical practice goals include: 

1. Syncing With the Patient Journey & Improving the Patient Experience 

Many medical practices reach a point where they urgently need an updated website, and one of the main motives for this is complaints from patients. To better serve patients, they need a website that meets the expectations of today’s healthcare consumer. 

2. Responding to Mounting Competition 

Doing a search on Google from your patient’s perspective aptly reveals the current health of your online presence. To find out, enter keywords describing your services so you can see what potential patients see. Compare how your practice ranks and your competitors’ positioning. Having a strong brand and online presence is key to attracting new patients, digital marketing is key for staying competitive. 

3. Building or Rebuilding the Patient Base  

New and long-established practices have one thing in common: they must bring in new patients to keep schedules full. And the truth is that patient loyalty is elusive these days, so drawing in new patients continuously is another top benefit of digital marketing. 

7 Action Items for Reaching Goals Through Digital Marketing Assets 

When deciding which goal to pursue first, it helps to consider your immediate needs. Here are some examples of how each healthcare digital marketing channel serves as a solution. We also recommend what immediate actions you can take to pursue this goal – as soon as this month. 

Goal	Asset	Immediate Action
Improve patient engagement	Practice website	Make the website more user-friendly with interactive enhancements and intuitive navigation
Have your practice found in Google search	Practice website (search engine optimization)  Google Business Profile	Add descriptive keywords to website, and publish blog content every month  Claim and optimize Google Business listing
Match the competition	Paid search (pay-per-click) Google reviews	Launch a Google paid search campaign  Encourage patients to leave new reviews on Google
Encourage patient loyalty	Facebook following	Encourage more “follows” from patients and set up a content calendar to encourage engagement
Maximize online reach	Online directories	Ensure that your practice is included in every major online directory and that the information attached to your profiles is complete and accurate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, there are many more steps to unlock the full benefits of each asset, but these mentioned here are practical steps to get started. 

Gain More Benefits and Streamline Your Resources by Hiring a Medical Practice Digital Marketing Agency 

To get the most that digital marketing has to offer requires experience and consistency, and most medical practices do not have adequate resources to match that of a marketing agency. Medical practices who partner with a full-service healthcare marketing agency: 

• Save money by not having to hire a full marketing staff 
• Avoid spending countless hours trying to learn the world of digital marketing and train staff to do it for the practice 
• Better serve patients by not pulling staff into marketing duties (like social media) and away from patient care efforts 
• Get the advantage of seasoned experts working on every aspect of the practice’s digital marketing 
• Track all digital marketing activities in one place rather than hiring a service for each channel 
• Gain insights to how well your digital marketing campaigns are performing by experienced professionals 

Full-service agencies – like iHealthSpot – are cost-effective solutions for meeting common medical practice goals and providing a streamlined way to track return on investment. 

Reap the Benefits of Healthcare Marketing for Your Medical Practice Now 

Digital marketing is no longer a business agenda item;, it is now ingrained into the modern patient journey. Medical practices best serve their current patients and attract new ones when they invest in full-scale digital marketing efforts. Learn more by reading further about how to grow your medical practice through healthcare digital marketing or contact us for guidance in action steps for digital marketing.