Best Healthcare Marketing Ideas Medical Clinics Should Focus On
Marketing a medical practice can be a challenging endeavor. Even if you have experienced some success, the landscape is constantly evolving, making it easy for marketing efforts to become stagnant or ineffective.
Refreshing your strategies or trying something new can significantly benefit your practice. Savvy marketers recognize the importance of regular A/B testing and innovative methods to reach and engage with their patient base.
I completely agree, and I've compiled a list of the most effective and some unconventional clinic marketing ideas to enhance your medical practice.
Table of Contents
1. Perform a Medical Website SEO Audit
Understanding the current state of your medical website’s SEO is crucial for determining the strategies needed to enhance your online presence. Your website is your most important digital asset, especially for ranking in search engines for your specialty or geographical area.
With numerous algorithm updates from Google each year, it is essential to frequently audit and update your website content and structure. An annual SEO audit will pinpoint errors, weaknesses, or areas for improvement and provide a roadmap for your SEO strategy.
Key Aspects to Focus On:
Website Speed: An audit can identify issues affecting load times, which are critical for both user experience and SEO.
Backlinks and Domain Authority: High-quality backlinks improve your authority and ranking. Conversely, broken links or toxic backlinks can harm your standings. Tools like SEMRush provide detailed backlink audit reports.
Keyword Ranking: Tracking your page rankings for relevant keywords is vital. Use tools like Google Search Console to monitor your performance.
Website Structure: Ensure your site is easy for Google’s bots to crawl and understand. This will help your pages rank for the right queries.
2. Leverage Search Ads to Target Treatments and Conditions
Using Google ads or PPC advertising is now essential for driving new patient appointments. Search ads are effective because they target patients actively searching for specific treatments or conditions, making them more likely to convert. This approach, known as "pull" marketing, attracts high-quality patient leads who require fewer touchpoints to convert.
3. Grow an Email List and Send Monthly Specials Newsletter
Retargeting past and current patients is a highly effective healthcare marketing tactic. This is particularly useful if your practice offers ancillary or cash-based services. Promoting services to existing patients can increase revenue and patient loyalty. Exclusive promotions for existing and past patients can also boost high-revenue procedures and patient retention.
4. Utilize Geofencing Ads to Convert New Patients
Geofencing allows you to target potential patients based on their location. For example, a urology practice looking to perform more vasectomies could target male patients at gyms, barber shops, or golf courses. When potential patients visit these locations, they can be targeted with ads across their devices. This strategy counts a patient as a lead when they physically visit your practice.
5. Create Videos that Feature your Physicians
Video content is becoming increasingly important for SEO. Establish a YouTube channel featuring your physicians and treatments to boost your SEO and digital presence. Tools for video creation make it easier to produce professional content. Ensure your videos are optimized with proper descriptions, tags, and locations to maximize their reach.
6. Backlink Building to Grow Organic Search Traffic
Backlinks are essential for building trust and authority in Google’s eyes. An effective backlink-building campaign should focus on quality over quantity. This strategy is beneficial for both national and local SEO.
7. Google Business Profile Optimization
Optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is crucial for local SEO. Ensure your profile is complete with categories, photos, and a business description that includes location keywords. This will help your practice appear in local searches, which are increasingly prioritized by Google.
8. OTT & C-TV for an Omni-Channel Marketing Approach
Over-the-top (OTT) and connected TV (C-TV) advertising deliver video content via the internet on devices like Apple TV, Roku, or Chromecast. This allows you to target potential patients with high-quality ads in a cost-effective and trackable manner. For example, promoting a new ASC center with a 30-60 second video can effectively reach local patients.
9. Test Interactive Lead Generation Strategies like Quizzes
Quizzes can be an engaging and effective lead generation tool. For treatments or procedures requiring pre-qualification, quizzes can help identify ideal leads. For instance, a women's health facility could use a quiz focused on menopause symptoms to generate leads for HRT therapy.
10. Use LinkedIn to Connect with Local Physicians for Referral Growth
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking with local physicians and referral coordinators. Use LinkedIn’s advanced tools like Sales Navigator to find and engage with key contacts in your area. This strategy can help increase referrals to your practice.
11. Healthcare Marketing Ideas Wrap Up
In conclusion, healthcare marketing offers numerous platforms and creative strategies to grow your practice. These ten marketing tips can help you reach new patients and enhance your medical or dental practice. If you need professional assistance implementing these initiatives, our healthcare marketing experts are here to help. Schedule a free practice assessment and meet with us via Zoom!
