Businesses typically spend approximately 8.7% of their total revenue on marketing. This will vary depending on certain factors, such as your industry and the size of your business.
The medical industry requires unique marketing strategies to effectively reach patients and build trust. We’ve put together a list of some of the most notable to help you get started with medical marketing. Let’s dive in.
Define Your Target Audience
This is the most important step for effective hospital marketing. No matter the value your facility provides, it won’t mean much if you target the wrong audience.
It’s crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of your target demographic so you can send messages they resonate with. Factors to consider include:
- Major pain points
- Level of education
- Annual income
- Hobbies/interests
- Primary language
How well you understand your audience will serve as the foundation for your entire marketing strategy. It can sometimes take months of research to pinpoint your target demographic.
Assess Your Online Presence
The Internet is the most powerful marketing tool you can leverage. Your online presence will play a large role in how effective your marketing is.
Examine your social media accounts, website, and similar platforms. This will help you determine areas that need work.
For example, your website might receive substantial monthly traffic but your social media posts might have hardly any engagement. Illuminating these details will help you configure the best marketing tactics.
Put Consumers First
Your healthcare marketing should be customer-centric. This means the content you create should provide something of value. You have plenty of opportunities for creativity in this regard.
There’s no shortage of ideas you can use for videos, infographics, or blog posts. If your audience doesn’t find your content useful, they likely won’t interact with it. This can dramatically reduce your conversion rate.
Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms are great for getting content in front of your audience. They can also help convey how you interact with patients.
A common scenario involves a user asking a question on a medical facility’s social media page. The facility can answer publicly, allowing other people to see they’re accessible and responsive. Simple interactions like these go a long way toward building trust.
You can’t neglect how useful social media is for sharing content. Even the most stellar websites sometimes have numerous pages that nobody ever finds. Social media is your opportunity to show your content to your target demographic.
Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Proper SEO is essential for maximizing your website’s traffic. It involves optimizing your site so people are more likely to find it on search engines.
There are many factors that play a role in your search engine ranking. Notable ones are:
- Your page load speed
- Your site’s bounce rate
- Your target keywords
- Your site’s age
An important detail to consider is mobile formatting. Your site should display appropriately on desktops and mobile devices.
Otherwise, people will navigate away from your site and choose a competitor instead. Don’t neglect to focus on local SEO.
This involves targeting keywords related to your local area. For example, a dental facility might target a keyword like “best pediatric dentist in Atlanta.”
People looking for medical facilities are unlikely to travel outside their immediate area. So, local SEO is a highly effective part of a medical marketing strategy.
Take Advantage of Email Marketing
Email marketing can provide amazing results, and this is especially true for medical facilities. It offers a way to directly communicate with your audience.
In your email content, you can include exclusive offers or provide useful information. Many medical facilities send weekly newsletters with important facts patients need to know.
Depending on the type of facility you run, this could include the warning signs of common diseases or ways to protect yourself during flu season. You have plenty of flexibility here as long as your audience finds the information valuable.
Research Competitors
A brief look at what your competitors are doing can provide valuable insight. Examine how they interact with their audience online. You should also consider how they design their digital advertisements.
Look at their website, as well. How intuitive is it to use? Is the information you’re looking for located where you expect it to be?
It’s never recommended to blatantly copy competitor strategies. Your audience could confuse your brand with someone else’s. Instead, look at the core details of their strategies.
How often do they post on social media? What type of language do they use when communicating? This should provide enough info to help you hit the ground running.
Analyze Key Metrics
There are certain performance details of your medical practice marketing you should keep an eye on. Understanding them will help you emphasize effective strategies and rework those that fall short. Listed below are some of the most notable.
Email Open Rates
This term refers to how many people will open the emails you send. A poor open rate can quickly derail an email marketing campaign. The good news is that it’s easy to pinpoint the issue in this situation.
In most cases, your headline is the problem. It should be brief but captivating. It should also say something your audience finds interesting or relevant.
If you’re sure you’ve crafted effective headlines, you might be targeting the wrong recipients. Maximizing your open rate is only half the battle, though.
Your email body copy should be scannable and provide value. It should also have a strong call to action that redirects to your website.
Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction is one of the most important metrics to consider. After all, it’s much easier to retain existing patients than acquire new ones. Keep track of user feedback and respond to reviews as soon as possible.
Thank patients for positive feedback and convey how appreciative you are they chose your facility. When responding to negative reviews, never be defensive or aggressive.
Hostility is something that will deter potential visitors. Instead, offer them a way to contact you so you can resolve their issues privately. Having a public negative interaction with a customer is never good for your brand.
Over time, this will help you achieve high ratings on review platforms. Most people look into a facility’s reputation before making their decision, so don’t neglect this attribute.
Social Media Engagement
Key metrics to consider include comments, shares, and likes. Followers are secondary to these details. To clarify, let’s assume an account has 100,000 followers but receives an average of only 10 likes on most of their posts.
In contrast, consider an account that has 5,000 followers but receives 500 likes on most of their posts. The second account has a much higher engagement rate, making its presence on social media more effective.
Consistency is key when it comes to maximizing social media engagement. If people don’t see your account in their feed for even a few days, they might forget about you.
Post frequently but don’t spam. You should also ensure everything you post is high quality.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Never make the mistake of neglecting your ROI. It can be easy to get caught up in large spikes in revenue.
For instance, there may have been a few days over the past three months when revenue skyrocketed past normal amounts. However, you may still have fallen short of your goals even with these short periods of great performance.
Be honest with yourself about the numbers so you can make the necessary changes. Otherwise, you risk overspending on marketing and getting insufficient returns.
Having a substantial ROI indicates that your marketing strategies are effective. You can then use these methods as a solid foundation for future campaigns.
Work with a Professional
It’s possible to handle these obligations on your own. However, it often isn’t worth the extra time and resources you spend. Working with a professional will provide much better results.
When searching for someone to hire, look into their past reputation. See what other clients have had to say about their services. Ensure they have worked with companies like yours.
The medical industry comes with many nuances that require expert insight to handle. This knowledge helps make your paid media more effective.
Ask about their billing structure, as well. You often get what you pay for when outsourcing, and it’s never recommended to choose the cheapest options.
Never work with someone who isn’t interested in your project. If they don’t seem enthusiastic, continue your search elsewhere until you find a suitable option. With enough due diligence, you’ll find the ideal firm for your needs.
Leverage These Medical Marketing Strategies
The above medical marketing strategies can help take your facility’s performance to the next level. From here, you’ll hit target metrics like never before and build a better connection with your patients.
At 46Mile, we believe that comprehensive audience research is the foundation of a successful marketing strategy. We aim to make marketing as simple and effective as possible, and we achieve this by creating a plan backed by your target audience’s data. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
