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 If it is consists of an old, outdated template, what kind of message does it send to potential patients?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 If your website looks outdated, get it redesigned and revamped so it meets up to the medical marketing challenge.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.

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