The use of Twitter as a medical marketing tool is becoming increasingly common. Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows you to post updates of 140 characters. Twitter can be a very useful tool for physicians to market their practice because it enables them to expand your web presence, connect with patients, network with other physicians, and much more. However, according to a study conducted by the Nielson Co., only 40% of Twitter users remain active after one month of creating an account. The doctors who stick around on Twitter must recognize the incredible value that Twitter has in medical marketing.
How to Get Started
If you want to get started using Twitter for medical marketing but don’t know how to go about it, make a personal account first. By doing so, you can observe the community and learn how Twitter works. You won’t have to worry about making mistakes and tarnishing your brand if you create an anonymous account in the beginning. Once you get the drift, you can create an account to market your practice. You may choose to use your full name or the name of your practice as your Twitter name. If you choose to use a name besides your full name, consider registering a Twitter account with your full name any way to protect your personal brand identity. You can redirect users to the Twitter account you actually use in case they come upon the account you made with your full name.
As you accumulate followers on Twitter, keep in mind that it is usually looked down upon if you follow many people but have few followers in comparison. You can also be considered a Twitter snob if you have many followers and do not reciprocate. If you’re ultimately trying to promote your business on Twitter, you can’t really afford to not reciprocate when someone follows you.
Be Authentic
Unlike other marketing tools, Twitter is not a one-way conversation. Twitter allows you to build relationships and facilitate dialogue. Authenticity is valued on Twitter so make sure to let your personality shine through your Tweets. Although your Twitter account may have been created to represent your business, forging personal connections and building relationships is an important aspect of succeeding in social media marketing.
Avoid Being Sales
Avoid blatant self-promotion. It is an unwritten rule on Twitter that it is taboo to promote yourself and market your goods unless you have already established a place in the community. You must provide value without expecting anything in return.
Protect Your Brand Image
Keep in mind that Google indexes Tweets. So never tweet anything that you wouldn’t want to reveal to the general public. Upon searching for your brand on Google, people may come across your individual Tweets, even years after they were posted.
Use Hashtags
There are an increasing number of healthcare-related communities popping up on Twitter. These communities are formed around hashtags. When using Twitter, you can add a hashtag such as #healthcare or #medical to your Tweets and they will be visible anytime someone searches for those particular hashtags. Searching for hashtags is also a good way to find influential people in the healthcare community to follow on Twitter. Furthermore, you can use hashtags to monitor what is being said about your practice or field.
Extend the Reach of Your Marketing Messages
The real power of Twitter lies in the fact that you can reach thousands of people in one place. Many people will choose a physician simply because they have noticed their presence on Twitter. Some physicians have even used Twitter to post a play-by-play of surgery live. Doing so is an inexpensive way to attract media attention as well as connect with patients and prospects. After tweeting about surgeries, medical practices may find that they can double or even triple their following on Twitter. Furthermore, they are likely to attract new patients who found out about their services via Twitter.
Using Twitter is also an effective way for doctors to communicate with their patients and prospects. However, most doctors probably have few patients who are actually using Twitter so at this point Twitter is more useful when it comes to connecting with anyone in the general population who is seeking healthcare information. Twitter is an excellent tool for physicians to use to educate the masses and help them make healthier lifestyle choices.
Twitter has also proven to be an effective tool for disseminating information during public health scares, such as the one that took place with H1N1 flu. There was lots of hysteria and misinformation floating around on Twitter. The CDC and other health organizations used Twitter to educate people about the H1N1 flu and spread information.
Physicians can also use Twitter to connect with other physicians. It is hard to facilitate much dialogue in tweets of 140 characters, but you can share links to articles of interest and valuable resources. Rather than treating their Twitter presence as an authoritative presence, many doctors use Twitter to connect with other doctors on a personal level.
If you decide to create an account on Twitter, keep in mind that you will need to dedicate time and resources to maintain your account. Building a Twitter presence for medical marketing purposes requires an ongoing investment so you must be sure that you can indeed keep up with the commitment
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
How to Position Yourself as an Expert in Your Field with Medical Marketing
Do you want to position yourself as an expert in your medical field? If so, medical marketing can help you accomplish that feat. In your medical marketing strategy, you must focus on your medical specialty, launch a website with your goals in mind, promote your website, and much more. Here are essential steps to take if you want to use medical marketing to come to be considered an authority in your field of expertise.
Launch a Website
In this day and age, a web presence is vital to the success of most doctors. Approximately 50% of adults search the internet for medical information. In fact, searching for health information is one of the most popular online activities after using email and researching products to buy.
If you don’t have a website, the fact is that many potential patients will not even consider you since they will have no idea that your practice exists. One of your medical marketing priorities should be to create a high quality website that contains details about your medical expertise and training, research, publications, testimonials from patients, and contact information. If you don’t already have a website, your first priority should be to get one as soon as possible.
Focus on Your Medical Specialty
When you build a website and create other marketing materials, make sure that you focus on your medical specialty. People will come to associate you with your specialty and look to you for information about it. On your website, narrow your focus to the procedures you offer that set you apart from other physicians in your field.
Outline Your Website Goals
Don’t create a medical website without outlining your goals first. A medical marketing plan with no goals is bound to fail. A doctor’s website is the face of his/her practice. If it is consists of an old, outdated template, what kind of message does it send to potential patients? Make sure your website design enhances and complements your brand, expertise, and image. If your website looks outdated, get it redesigned and revamped so it meets up to the medical marketing challenge.
Promote Your Website
So you’ve had a killer website designed and added some excellent content. Now what? If nobody sees your website, you may as well not have one. Your ultimate goal should be to attract tons of traffic. Website traffic is life in the online world. Find a company that can help you use search engine optimization, social media optimization, and pay per click advertising to bring droves of traffic to your new website.
Publish Articles Featuring Your Research and Findings Both Online and Offline
As a doctor, your aim should be to frequently publish information and research about your area of expertise both online and offline. Webmasters, editors, and other professionals search online and beyond for informative articles about disease diagnosis, research, and medical advancements. If they find your articles and refer to them in their articles, reports, or websites, it brings you further exposure and potential media attention. Furthermore, when you teach people about your area of expertise, you become a recognized authority in your field and your services become more in demand.
Participate in Public Speaking Engagements
When you write informative articles about your area of expertise, and they get published, you will find yourself receiving an increasing number of invitations to participate in public speaking engagements. Speaking in public gives you instant credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field. The majority of people feel highly uncomfortable speaking in front of large groups comfortably. If you can manage to speak in public confidently and articulately, you are bound to boost your reputation dramatically.
Focus on the Patient, Not Your Practice
When creating a website for your practice online, your aim should be to focus on your prospects rather than your practice. Although it’s important to provide details about your educational background, training, and level of expertise, you don’t want that to overpower your entire site. Your prospects need to know what’s in it for them when they visit your website. Hire a competent copywriter to write your website copy so that it really speaks to your potential patients. You want your prospects to feel that there are several reasons why they should choose you over your competitors, and that you will be able to solve their medical issues.
To add depth to your website, make sure to include plenty of testimonials from your current patients. Website visitors love to read patient testimonials because it gives them a better idea of the kind of services you offer.
Start a Blog
Blogging is an essential part of medical marketing because it helps you position yourself as an expert in your medical field and allows you to provide useful information to your patients and prospects on a regular basis. Your blog must be updated regularly with excellent content in order to be optimally effective. When people search online for information in your area of expertise, they may come across your blog, which will further improve your positioning in your field. Blogs are also beneficial to your website’s search engine ranking because search engines love regularly updated content, which blogs provide.
Launch a Website
In this day and age, a web presence is vital to the success of most doctors. Approximately 50% of adults search the internet for medical information. In fact, searching for health information is one of the most popular online activities after using email and researching products to buy.
If you don’t have a website, the fact is that many potential patients will not even consider you since they will have no idea that your practice exists. One of your medical marketing priorities should be to create a high quality website that contains details about your medical expertise and training, research, publications, testimonials from patients, and contact information. If you don’t already have a website, your first priority should be to get one as soon as possible.
Focus on Your Medical Specialty
When you build a website and create other marketing materials, make sure that you focus on your medical specialty. People will come to associate you with your specialty and look to you for information about it. On your website, narrow your focus to the procedures you offer that set you apart from other physicians in your field.
Outline Your Website Goals
Don’t create a medical website without outlining your goals first. A medical marketing plan with no goals is bound to fail. A doctor’s website is the face of his/her practice. If it is consists of an old, outdated template, what kind of message does it send to potential patients? Make sure your website design enhances and complements your brand, expertise, and image. If your website looks outdated, get it redesigned and revamped so it meets up to the medical marketing challenge.
Promote Your Website
So you’ve had a killer website designed and added some excellent content. Now what? If nobody sees your website, you may as well not have one. Your ultimate goal should be to attract tons of traffic. Website traffic is life in the online world. Find a company that can help you use search engine optimization, social media optimization, and pay per click advertising to bring droves of traffic to your new website.
Publish Articles Featuring Your Research and Findings Both Online and Offline
As a doctor, your aim should be to frequently publish information and research about your area of expertise both online and offline. Webmasters, editors, and other professionals search online and beyond for informative articles about disease diagnosis, research, and medical advancements. If they find your articles and refer to them in their articles, reports, or websites, it brings you further exposure and potential media attention. Furthermore, when you teach people about your area of expertise, you become a recognized authority in your field and your services become more in demand.
Participate in Public Speaking Engagements
When you write informative articles about your area of expertise, and they get published, you will find yourself receiving an increasing number of invitations to participate in public speaking engagements. Speaking in public gives you instant credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field. The majority of people feel highly uncomfortable speaking in front of large groups comfortably. If you can manage to speak in public confidently and articulately, you are bound to boost your reputation dramatically.
Focus on the Patient, Not Your Practice
When creating a website for your practice online, your aim should be to focus on your prospects rather than your practice. Although it’s important to provide details about your educational background, training, and level of expertise, you don’t want that to overpower your entire site. Your prospects need to know what’s in it for them when they visit your website. Hire a competent copywriter to write your website copy so that it really speaks to your potential patients. You want your prospects to feel that there are several reasons why they should choose you over your competitors, and that you will be able to solve their medical issues.
To add depth to your website, make sure to include plenty of testimonials from your current patients. Website visitors love to read patient testimonials because it gives them a better idea of the kind of services you offer.
Start a Blog
Blogging is an essential part of medical marketing because it helps you position yourself as an expert in your medical field and allows you to provide useful information to your patients and prospects on a regular basis. Your blog must be updated regularly with excellent content in order to be optimally effective. When people search online for information in your area of expertise, they may come across your blog, which will further improve your positioning in your field. Blogs are also beneficial to your website’s search engine ranking because search engines love regularly updated content, which blogs provide.
Friday, September 18, 2009
How to Position Yourself as an Expert in Your Field with Medical Marketing
Do you want to position yourself as an expert in your medical field? If so, medical marketing can help you accomplish that feat. In your medical marketing strategy, you must focus on your medical specialty, launch a website with your goals in mind, promote your website, and much more. Here are essential steps to take if you want to use medical marketing to come to be considered an authority in your field of expertise.
Launch a Website
In this day and age, a web presence is vital to the success of most doctors. Approximately 50% of adults search the internet for medical information. In fact, searching for health information is one of the most popular online activities after using email and researching products to buy.
If you don’t have a website, the fact is that many potential patients will not even consider you since they will have no idea that your practice exists. One of your medical marketing priorities should be to create a high quality website that contains details about your medical expertise and training, research, publications, testimonials from patients, and contact information. If you don’t already have a website, your first priority should be to get one as soon as possible.
Focus on Your Medical Specialty
When you build a website and create other marketing materials, make sure that you focus on your medical specialty. People will come to associate you with your specialty and look to you for information about it. On your website, narrow your focus to the procedures you offer that set you apart from other physicians in your field.
Outline Your Website Goals
Don’t create a medical website without outlining your goals first. A medical marketing plan with no goals is bound to fail. A doctor’s website is the face of his/her practice. If it is consists of an old, outdated template, what kind of message does it send to potential patients? Make sure your website design enhances and complements your brand, expertise, and image. If your website looks outdated, get it redesigned and revamped so it meets up to the medical marketing challenge.
Promote Your Website
So you’ve had a killer website designed and added some excellent content. Now what? If nobody sees your website, you may as well not have one. Your ultimate goal should be to attract tons of traffic. Website traffic is life in the online world. Find a company that can help you use search engine optimization, social media optimization, and pay per click advertising to bring droves of traffic to your new website.
Publish Articles Featuring Your Research and Findings Both Online and Offline
As a doctor, your aim should be to frequently publish information and research about your area of expertise both online and offline. Webmasters, editors, and other professionals search online and beyond for informative articles about disease diagnosis, research, and medical advancements. If they find your articles and refer to them in their articles, reports, or websites, it brings you further exposure and potential media attention. Furthermore, when you teach people about your area of expertise, you become a recognized authority in your field and your services become more in demand.
Participate in Public Speaking Engagements
When you write informative articles about your area of expertise, and they get published, you will find yourself receiving an increasing number of invitations to participate in public speaking engagements. Speaking in public gives you instant credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field. The majority of people feel highly uncomfortable speaking in front of large groups comfortably. If you can manage to speak in public confidently and articulately, you are bound to boost your reputation dramatically.
Focus on the Patient, Not Your Practice
When creating a website for your practice online, your aim should be to focus on your prospects rather than your practice. Although it’s important to provide details about your educational background, training, and level of expertise, you don’t want that to overpower your entire site. Your prospects need to know what’s in it for them when they visit your website. Hire a competent copywriter to write your website copy so that it really speaks to your potential patients. You want your prospects to feel that there are several reasons why they should choose you over your competitors, and that you will be able to solve their medical issues.
To add depth to your website, make sure to include plenty of testimonials from your current patients. Website visitors love to read patient testimonials because it gives them a better idea of the kind of services you offer.
Start a Blog
Blogging is an essential part of medical marketing because it helps you position yourself as an expert in your medical field and allows you to provide useful information to your patients and prospects on a regular basis. Your blog must be updated regularly with excellent content in order to be optimally effective. When people search online for information in your area of expertise, they may come across your blog, which will further improve your positioning in your field. Blogs are also beneficial to your website’s search engine ranking because search engines love regularly updated content, which blogs provide.
Launch a Website
In this day and age, a web presence is vital to the success of most doctors. Approximately 50% of adults search the internet for medical information. In fact, searching for health information is one of the most popular online activities after using email and researching products to buy.
If you don’t have a website, the fact is that many potential patients will not even consider you since they will have no idea that your practice exists. One of your medical marketing priorities should be to create a high quality website that contains details about your medical expertise and training, research, publications, testimonials from patients, and contact information. If you don’t already have a website, your first priority should be to get one as soon as possible.
Focus on Your Medical Specialty
When you build a website and create other marketing materials, make sure that you focus on your medical specialty. People will come to associate you with your specialty and look to you for information about it. On your website, narrow your focus to the procedures you offer that set you apart from other physicians in your field.
Outline Your Website Goals
Don’t create a medical website without outlining your goals first. A medical marketing plan with no goals is bound to fail. A doctor’s website is the face of his/her practice. If it is consists of an old, outdated template, what kind of message does it send to potential patients? Make sure your website design enhances and complements your brand, expertise, and image. If your website looks outdated, get it redesigned and revamped so it meets up to the medical marketing challenge.
Promote Your Website
So you’ve had a killer website designed and added some excellent content. Now what? If nobody sees your website, you may as well not have one. Your ultimate goal should be to attract tons of traffic. Website traffic is life in the online world. Find a company that can help you use search engine optimization, social media optimization, and pay per click advertising to bring droves of traffic to your new website.
Publish Articles Featuring Your Research and Findings Both Online and Offline
As a doctor, your aim should be to frequently publish information and research about your area of expertise both online and offline. Webmasters, editors, and other professionals search online and beyond for informative articles about disease diagnosis, research, and medical advancements. If they find your articles and refer to them in their articles, reports, or websites, it brings you further exposure and potential media attention. Furthermore, when you teach people about your area of expertise, you become a recognized authority in your field and your services become more in demand.
Participate in Public Speaking Engagements
When you write informative articles about your area of expertise, and they get published, you will find yourself receiving an increasing number of invitations to participate in public speaking engagements. Speaking in public gives you instant credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field. The majority of people feel highly uncomfortable speaking in front of large groups comfortably. If you can manage to speak in public confidently and articulately, you are bound to boost your reputation dramatically.
Focus on the Patient, Not Your Practice
When creating a website for your practice online, your aim should be to focus on your prospects rather than your practice. Although it’s important to provide details about your educational background, training, and level of expertise, you don’t want that to overpower your entire site. Your prospects need to know what’s in it for them when they visit your website. Hire a competent copywriter to write your website copy so that it really speaks to your potential patients. You want your prospects to feel that there are several reasons why they should choose you over your competitors, and that you will be able to solve their medical issues.
To add depth to your website, make sure to include plenty of testimonials from your current patients. Website visitors love to read patient testimonials because it gives them a better idea of the kind of services you offer.
Start a Blog
Blogging is an essential part of medical marketing because it helps you position yourself as an expert in your medical field and allows you to provide useful information to your patients and prospects on a regular basis. Your blog must be updated regularly with excellent content in order to be optimally effective. When people search online for information in your area of expertise, they may come across your blog, which will further improve your positioning in your field. Blogs are also beneficial to your website’s search engine ranking because search engines love regularly updated content, which blogs provide.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The 5 Ps of Medical Marketing
Nowadays, people choose medical practitioners based on their perceptions rather than relying on endorsements from local authorities and so on. It has become increasingly important for doctors to market their medical practices in order to build their brand, reach out to new patients, and increase business from current patients.
No matter how great of a doctor you are, your skills will mean little if no one knows you are out there. Some doctors are reluctant to embrace marketing strategy because they think that being a great doctor is all you need to do in order to find new patients and keep your current ones. However, the truth is that visibility is incredibly important in this competitive marketplace. The only way to achieve visibility is through launching a medical marketing campaign. Here are the 5 Ps of medical marketing.
1. Product
The product of a medical practice is the service you are offering your patients. For example, if you are a cosmetic surgeon, your product is the cosmetic operations and treatments you offer. The atmosphere of your practice is also important. It is crucial to make a very good first impression so when patients come to your practice, you must ensure that the atmosphere of your practice is relaxing, comforting, and friendly. Make sure that your practice is clean, well-maintained, and well-lit. The colors of your décor and the lighting can make a massive difference in the way patients perceive your practice. Although the most important aspect of your product is providing excellent cosmetic operations and treatments, you have to give the overall impression that your practice is ideal for your target market.
2. Price
The price of your products is not only what you charge for your services – it is also defined by the perceived value of your services. The expectations of your customers will depend on the price you charge. For example, if you go to a five-star restaurant, you expect to receive top level service and food. If you service you receive at the five-star restaurant is comparable to the service you would receive at a fast food restaurant, and the food is mediocre at best, you will be disappointed and feel that you did not receive the perceived value of the product. This will probably lead you to tell everyone you know to avoid the restaurant. Likewise, people will spread the word that your practice should be avoided if you do not live up to the perceived value of your product. On the other hand, when your service matches its price, you will get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals. This provides you with free viral marketing benefits for your practice.
3. Place
The place of your medical practice is where it is located. The location of your practice is essential to your success. Factors such as its visibility and whether or not there is public transport that takes patients there will make a big difference in how many new patients you can attract on a consistent basis. If there are any logistical challenges that get in the way of patients arriving at your practice, try to eliminate them if possible. If your practice is far away and hard to get to for the majority of your target market, you may want to consider relocating, unless you offer such highly specialized services that people would be willing to travel far to receive them.
4. Position
Your position in your market is defined by the competitive advantages you offer. What makes your practice unique and stand out from the rest? You must define your unique position in your market in order to develop an effective marketing plan. Your perception of your practice may be very different from how your patients perceive it. Determine how your patients perceive your medical practice in comparison to competing medical practices by doing surveys and providing them with feedback cards.
5. Promotion
Although many people mistakenly believe that medical marketing is solely about promotion, the truth is that promotion should be the very last step in your marketing campaign. In order to promote your practice successfully, you have to plan extensively. The first 4 Ps are very important and must come first because they help you determine your competitive advantage and which areas of your practice you need to change or improve. Promotion of your medical practice involves a combination of PR, advertising, and direct marketing. Promotion requires a lot of resources so it is very important to plan carefully in order to ensure that you get a high ROI on your medical marketing campaign.
Once you define what the 5 Ps of your medical practice are, you need to find a professional medical marketing firm that can help you put your plan into action and build a highly successful medical marketing campaign. There are several medical marketing firms to choose from so your best bet is to narrow down your choices and compare them based on the results of their previous campaigns. Results must be measurable so you can be sure that the firm will be able to live up to their promises.
No matter how great of a doctor you are, your skills will mean little if no one knows you are out there. Some doctors are reluctant to embrace marketing strategy because they think that being a great doctor is all you need to do in order to find new patients and keep your current ones. However, the truth is that visibility is incredibly important in this competitive marketplace. The only way to achieve visibility is through launching a medical marketing campaign. Here are the 5 Ps of medical marketing.
1. Product
The product of a medical practice is the service you are offering your patients. For example, if you are a cosmetic surgeon, your product is the cosmetic operations and treatments you offer. The atmosphere of your practice is also important. It is crucial to make a very good first impression so when patients come to your practice, you must ensure that the atmosphere of your practice is relaxing, comforting, and friendly. Make sure that your practice is clean, well-maintained, and well-lit. The colors of your décor and the lighting can make a massive difference in the way patients perceive your practice. Although the most important aspect of your product is providing excellent cosmetic operations and treatments, you have to give the overall impression that your practice is ideal for your target market.
2. Price
The price of your products is not only what you charge for your services – it is also defined by the perceived value of your services. The expectations of your customers will depend on the price you charge. For example, if you go to a five-star restaurant, you expect to receive top level service and food. If you service you receive at the five-star restaurant is comparable to the service you would receive at a fast food restaurant, and the food is mediocre at best, you will be disappointed and feel that you did not receive the perceived value of the product. This will probably lead you to tell everyone you know to avoid the restaurant. Likewise, people will spread the word that your practice should be avoided if you do not live up to the perceived value of your product. On the other hand, when your service matches its price, you will get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals. This provides you with free viral marketing benefits for your practice.
3. Place
The place of your medical practice is where it is located. The location of your practice is essential to your success. Factors such as its visibility and whether or not there is public transport that takes patients there will make a big difference in how many new patients you can attract on a consistent basis. If there are any logistical challenges that get in the way of patients arriving at your practice, try to eliminate them if possible. If your practice is far away and hard to get to for the majority of your target market, you may want to consider relocating, unless you offer such highly specialized services that people would be willing to travel far to receive them.
4. Position
Your position in your market is defined by the competitive advantages you offer. What makes your practice unique and stand out from the rest? You must define your unique position in your market in order to develop an effective marketing plan. Your perception of your practice may be very different from how your patients perceive it. Determine how your patients perceive your medical practice in comparison to competing medical practices by doing surveys and providing them with feedback cards.
5. Promotion
Although many people mistakenly believe that medical marketing is solely about promotion, the truth is that promotion should be the very last step in your marketing campaign. In order to promote your practice successfully, you have to plan extensively. The first 4 Ps are very important and must come first because they help you determine your competitive advantage and which areas of your practice you need to change or improve. Promotion of your medical practice involves a combination of PR, advertising, and direct marketing. Promotion requires a lot of resources so it is very important to plan carefully in order to ensure that you get a high ROI on your medical marketing campaign.
Once you define what the 5 Ps of your medical practice are, you need to find a professional medical marketing firm that can help you put your plan into action and build a highly successful medical marketing campaign. There are several medical marketing firms to choose from so your best bet is to narrow down your choices and compare them based on the results of their previous campaigns. Results must be measurable so you can be sure that the firm will be able to live up to their promises.
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