The healthcare industry has always been held in high regard. After the global pandemic put health-related topics back into the global zeitgeist and Millennials (who are a generation obsessed with health), took reign over the world, the healthcare industry seems busier and more hectic than ever.
This situation entails a couple of drawbacks, however. Most notably, the rise of countless new healthcare brands and services as well as health-related content creates a certain amount of information clutter where standing out becomes increasingly difficult. You can see how that can turn out to be devastating to up-and-coming healthcare practices trying to branch out and grow.
So let’s take a look at some of the tried and true marketing strategies that can help your new gig pop up on the mainstream radar.
Maximize your website’s potential
Your practice’s website is both the start and end point of all of your marketing efforts. So use this incredibly valuable resource to its full potential. Instead of simply using the website to publish basic information and stock photos, make sure it’s populated with well-written and valuable content, images that illustrate your expertise, and links to your social media profiles.
The website should also be easy to navigate, present simple visuals, and be fast to load. Checking the technical SEO boxes is highly advisable as well. Only when you build these foundations should you proceed to the next steps.
Optimize the customer experience
The practices that are available 24/7 and provide an enjoyable, simple, and fun experience are the ones that keep clients coming back. So, try to make yourself constantly available and make the client’s experience as enjoyable as it gets. Upgrading your website with chatbots should address the first issue.
As for the rest, try to make your communication polite and informative, keep scheduling simple, and offer numerous checkout options. Senior citizens and clients with impaired mobility will also enjoy a greater focus on virtual healthcare services. All these small touches will earn you a lot of goodwill.
Leverage peer recommendations
People tend to keep the opinions of their peers in very high regard – especially when it comes to purchase and healthcare decisions. Your job is to use this fact to your advantage. One of the ways to do that is to work harder on getting positive online reviews. Let’s say you are running a small dental practice in Sydney.
Well, you can use the best dental software – Podium Australia to streamline the communication and review submission process. Also, you can take a more immediate approach and simply start a referral program. Using these resources in combination with social media can produce powerful results.
Put more money into digital advertising
We are living in a digital age, and the online environment presents the biggest advertising venue you can imagine. Sure, since you are running a healthcare practice, you need to target the local audience. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to make yourself as visible as possible.
You can reach these goals with a mix of social media advertising, paid targeted ads, and Search Engine Optimization. Also, try putting more resources into content marketing. Releasing quality articles about health topics can transform your brand into a source of authority and an influential voice with high credibility in the local community.
Create a community atmosphere
Small brands harness most of their revenue from repeat business. Establishing a sense of community around your practice is an excellent way to build a strong emotional connection with your patients and keep them under your umbrella. How to do that? Well, think about small rewards, tried and true referral programs, and hosting free monthly seminars.
You can even add some dose of gamification to this mix. Creating some set of challenges for your clients and motivating them to post the milestones on social media will definitely earn your brand some sense of familiarity, friendliness, and character.
Partner up with other community services
Last but not least, if you are having trouble establishing your revenue base, you can always try to tap into someone else’s. Offering other communal business entities discounts for their employees will give you a healthy influx of new patients and also open the doors for getting similar discounts in terms of materials, logistics, etc.
You and other community service providers can also engage in more focused cross-promotion projects, share third-party resources (e.g., hired bookkeeping services), and make joint investments. Collaborations of this type can lend you a lot of clout in the local business landscape.
So these were the top six marketing strategies that have proved, time and again, to be able to put small businesses on a solid foundation and help them grow from that point on. There is no reason why you shouldn’t try to emulate these experiences with your healthcare practice.
After all, you are fighting your way through a very competitive business sector. Putting on a business hat and leveraging some of the established marketing strategies can only help you along the way. We hope we have nudged you in the right direction.
⸻ Author Bio ⸻ ⸻
Brigitte Evans is a lifestyle blogger with a passion for design, culture, and health. She is a regular writer and contributor to numerous lifestyle blogs and online magazines. She also loves to travel and enjoy the great outdoors.
