Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Malaysian Medical Facilities – For Medical Tourists and Residents

Malaysia has always been one of the most preferred tourist spots of South East Asia. Now, the country is becoming increasingly popular for another kind of tourism – medical tourism. Every year several thousands of medical travelers come to the state-of-the-art hospitals of Malaysia to be treated for various ailments, and recuperate in calm, scenic natural surroundings including beaches.

The hospitals of Malaysia are highly advanced and boast of the latest technological of the excellence of treatment that they will receive. Moreover, the medical professionals of Malaysia are highly qualified and have extensive international exposure and qualifications. Since the doctors and other healthcare professionals are well versed in English, communication is also not a problem. While the treatment, usage of diagnostic equipment and the cost of facilities and hospital care are quite reasonable as compared to western countries, the standard of medical expertise of Malaysian professionals is ranked among the best in the world.

The country is able to offer excellent medical facilities at such discounted prices mainly because of the government’s involvement in promoting it as a medical tourism destination and of course due to other geographical advantages.

Traveling to Malaysia for Medical Care – The Process

The patient must initiate the process with comprehensive research on the medical facilities and the doctors who are experienced in the medical treatment that they seek. The internet is a treasure trove of information for this level of research; there are tour and travel operators as well as hospitals that have a well established online presence.

Once a hospital and a doctor are finalized, the patients can consult the doctor with his medical history and reports. The doctor will chart out a detailed treatment plan that the patient will have to follow. This is the time for extensive discussions on the treatment suggested, other available options, recovery period, possible complications etc. Once the patient is completely satisfied with the answers given by the doctor as well as the facilities available at the location, he can prepare for travel.

For Second Home Residents

Malaysia is a popular second home for many people who are middle to old aged. These people have a definite advantage over their counterparts in the domestic country on the affordable but high quality medical facilities that are available in Malaysia. Medical conditions that are common in these age groups – such as obesity, knee or hip replacement, ophthalmologic or dental conditions etc. are practiced as specializations by highly qualified doctors in the country.

Treatments such as weight loss may be offered as a package where education on nutrition, therapy for change in behavior, and medical care are provided with or without surgical/drug treatment. If a person is seriously overweight, a clinical program is advisable. For those who live in Malaysia, this may actually be a very effective option because they are under no pressure to travel back at the stipulated time.

Support by the Government

The Malaysian government takes a very active role in promoting medical tourism in the country. It is treated as a strategic industry in the healthcare field. There are several incentives and guidelines that are provided by the government to encourage new and existing entrants and to standardize the facilities. Patient safety is top priority and the government insists on strict compliance to international standards of healthcare.

Malaysia is a safe and affordable alternative to those patients who face problems in getting the right medical treatment due to inordinate delays in the waiting lists or inflated costs back home.

For more log on to medical practice marketing

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Comprehensive Guide to Medical Marketing

You might be an established physician with years of practice behind you. Perhaps you are also completely aware of all the latest developments in your field. But experience and expertise alone simply do not cut it anymore, in the modern world. Marketing and branding of your practice is absolutely important to beat the competition in this day and age.

A good medical marketing campaign can not only help retain your patients, it can also help grow your practice and inspire your staff as well.

Identify Your Goal

The first step towards medical marketing is to identify your goal or mission. You might feel the need to project a certain image to your patients and fellow physicians. The goal of your medical marketing plan is to assist you in achieving this. You must have a long tem goal which is flexible enough to accommodate short term goals as and when needed.

Highlight Strengths and Improve on Weaknesses

Take stock of your strengths and specialties. There must be something that sets you apart from your competitors. Also take the opportunity to survey your competitors. Check out the ones whom you believe to be threats for you. Maybe they are in the same locality or offer similar services. So step up your plan and begin with offering something unique.

Solicit your patients’ help and consider their views about your practice. They will tell you what they find most trustworthy and attractive about you, your clinic and your staff. Also ask them where they would like to see an improvement. If there is any confusion or misinterpretation, clear it pronto. Take adequate steps to address any complaints that your patients may have.

Keep an Eye on the Competition

See how your competitors are marketing their services. Keep a check on yellow pages, TV and radio commercials, newspaper ads and even websites of your competitors. Make the most of what you can afford. Internet marketing is inexpensive and far reaching compared to other forms of marketing, but don’t adopt it as the only marketing medium. Usually a combination of online and offline marketing efforts work best.

Budget and Allocate Resources

Give a thought to your budget, not only in terms of money, but also human capital and the time that you are willing to invest in your marketing campaign. Then you can devise strategies for the campaign. You can first try a promotional activity to educate people about your clinic and its specialties, and then move on to more elaborate activities.

Choose the Right Medium and the Right Team

There are many mediums available for medical marketing and each comes with its own rules and regulations. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks. Evaluate them carefully before you select the medium to showcase your practice. Choose the right mix of print, television and internet exposure.

When your plan is in place, make sure you have a good team which understands you completely and is qualified and efficient enough to carry out your plans successfully.

Go Ahead and Launch

Once you launch your campaign, there are bound to be comparisons with your competitors. Create a unique branding strategy. You can have your letterhead, business card, prescription pad and envelopes specially designed. Go a step further and give similarly designed folders to your patients to store their medical records. These are small things that go a long way in creating a brand.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Medical Marketing Basics

In the competitive world of today, it may not be wise to depend only on word of mouth to keep your medical practice a step ahead of your competitors. You need to promote your clinic or hospital actively to ensure that there is a steady incoming stream of patients. As in any other profession, advertising and marketing have come to play an important role in the success of medical profession as well.

Medical marketing helps boost your visibility, and ensures that competition cannot take your loyal patients away from you. Newer patients are also brought in regularly. It makes for smooth practice and also provides scope for expansion.

You must make sure that the unique offers and exclusive services that you offer are known to patients. Only when people become aware of these services will they approach you for it. With a careful marketing plan, you can get good public exposure - which means more patients, more income and also better reputation.

There are various methods of medical marketing, some of which are expensive while some others are time consuming. You cannot depend on a single marketing method though, a balanced strategy is what is preferable.

First identify your preferred group of patients and then set about making your mark in that niche.

Keep in Touch With Current Patients

It is a good idea to pay more attention to public relations than advertising to build your trust quotient and this needs to be done at a personal level. You should stay in touch with your current patients who will refer you to the people they know. You can maintain a database containing contact information of your patients and intimate them about any specialties you add to the hospital, upcoming events like free checkups or gifts at your clinic.

Build On Your Image

You could also be part of a local charity or fundraising events to add to your image. You should be open to feedback from your patients and be quick to take remedial measures if they find any service or product unsatisfactory; for example they may complain that your billing process is slow or there is not enough room in the waiting area. Little touches like reminding patients of their appointments may go a long way in creating a professional and caring image.

Reach Out to Potential Patients

Consistent efforts are needed to attract new patients. For this there are conventional methods like distributing leaflets and brochures, television, radio and newspaper advertising or the modern internet marketing.

You can circulate brochures containing information about treatments and services that you provide. This is not very expensive but the visibility is usually limited to a certain geographical area. You can even organize a promotional event in your locality where you conduct free examination and provide tips on healthcare. You can promote your product or service at this platform. Your personal interaction will add to the promotion, but the drawback here is again limited visibility.

Television and radio advertising have a wider audience but may be too expensive for a clinic. Having an interview on the local television channel is also a good idea.

Comparatively, internet marketing is cheaper and has a bigger impact. You can get listed on online directories and websites as well as have a website of your own. That is just for starters. Many companies offer internet marketing services for physicians and doctors, within any budget. If you are a doctor, a clinic or a hospital that is looking to get out there and be more visible, you might want to get in touch with a professional medical marketing firm.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

India – A Preferred Medical Tourism Destination

More people around the world are opting to come to India for various healthcare needs, making India one of the most preferred medical tourism destinations in the world. Patients seek medical, surgical as well as dental care in India. Medical tourism in India is a great combination of world class amenities, fast service and a beautiful country with a rich and diverse culture to explore. It makes sense to enjoy a holiday along with health care as India has some of the most beautiful tourist spots in the world.

Indian hospitals provide world class healthcare which comes at a much lesser price than countries like U.S.A. or U.K. These hospitals have the best equipments; they work with the most advanced technologies and have excellent infrastructural facilities. The low cost of surgical treatments does not mean that the quality of health care is below par in any way. In fact, most Indian medical professionals have been educated in some of the best medical institutions in the world and they carry years of experience working in reputed hospitals.

Among the well known hospitals of India, Wockhardt, Apollo, Escorts and All India Institute of Medical Sciences are popular for experienced and trained doctors; these specialists have been providing exceptional healthcare services for many years. The waiting time for critical cases in these hospitals is minimal which makes it all the more worthwhile for overseas patients to chose India.

Specialized dental treatments like dental implants, root canal treatments, porcelain metal bridges and crowns, whitening and even smile designing are available at affordable costs and the quality is at par with international standards.

Orthopedic surgeries like hip surgery have also become India’s specialty. In fact, hip resurfacing procedure carried out here is unique and the trauma caused is less compared to traditional hip replacement surgery. Single hip replacement or even bilateral hip replacement surgery is quite inexpensive in India and the recovery period is enough to ensure that the patients get to do some sight seeing before their visa expires and they need to head home.

Most of the Indians are able to understand and speak English well; this makes it easier for overseas patients to interact with their surgeons and doctors. Affordable living costs also ensure that the patient’s family can stay in a nearby resort or a lodging facility while having a taste of the local culture.

Apart from India, Singapore is also coming up as a favorite medical tourism destination for affordable treatment available at many of the Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals. Malaysia also boasts of a largely English speaking population and has well maintained hospitals. Thailand provides excellent plastic surgery services.

Whether it is cardiac surgery or dental care, organ transplant or cosmetic surgery, gynecology or cancer treatments, ophthalmology or hip replacement surgery, India has secured its place as one of the best medical tourism destinations. There are websites dedicated to finding the best treatment option available for every problem. They inform about cost, treatment procedures, accommodation facilities and airfares all combined together as a single package.

For your next big medical procedure, why not consider India? For more related information, visit, medical marketing

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Enhance Your Practice’s Website with Medical Marketing Videos

Give your medical practice’s web presence a boost with medical marketing videos. The web 2.0 experience is all about interacting with site visitors, and videos help you grab their attention and connect with them on a more personal level. The most successful medical websites include video. Videos can be used to introduce a practice to visitors, play patient testimonials, provide valuable information about treatments you offer, etc. Videos engage visitors and help to build your credibility. Today, videos form an integral part of medical marketing campaigns.
Videos enable your prospects to better understand the treatments and services you offer. Furthermore, videos allow your prospects to see what you, your staff, and your practice look like, which helps to build trust. Video is a highly effective promotional tool, and prospects are more likely to view your marketing message if you use video. On the other hand, if you rely solely on the written word, you are less likely to reach the majority of your target audience. In this day and age, a lot more than just text is required to capture and retain people’s attention.
Video engages the senses more than the written word. You can create videos about your practice using sound, music, and compelling visuals. And thanks to advancements in technology, your prospects can easily view your videos on their laptops, iPods, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Video is far more accessible than it once was. As a result, it is also much easier to promote video. You can post videos to your website, blog, and video sharing sites, such as YouTube. You can post links back to your videos on social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in order to spread the word.
When you consistently create high quality videos, people start to consider you an expert in your field. If you’re having trouble coming up with fresh content for videos, simply repurpose your written content and make a video version. You can appeal to a different type of audience if you create video content because there are people who don’t enjoy reading content and would rather watch it on video. There is also no need to worry about the duplicate content penalty when you repurpose content for video.
The more professional your videos look, the better. In order to create visually appealing videos that look highly professional, consider hiring a medical marketing firm with experience in video production. A qualified medical marketing firm with video production expertise can help you create videos that form an integral part of your medical marketing campaign. It is ideal to work with a medical marketing firm who can spearhead your entire campaign in addition to producing your videos to ensure that your marketing message and branding image remain consistent across all types of media.
Of course you can also opt to purchase an HD cam and produce your own videos, but let’s face it; most doctors don’t have time to meddle in video production. When you hire an experienced medical marketing firm to create videos for you, you can leave the logistics to the experts. The result is professional, quality videos created in a timely manner that will blow your competitors away and position you as an authority in your field.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

SEO Tips for Medical Marketing Campaigns

Even if a medical practice has a great website, it’s pointless if no one can find it. To ensure that your medical website has great search engine visibility, it’s essential to plan a medical marketing campaign that includes an effective SEO strategy. SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, consists of optimizing websites through link building, content creation, and on-site optimization techniques so they rank better on the search engines.
According to statistics, approximately 8 million Americans search for medical information online each day. To ensure that even a small portion of those 8 million people make it to your medical website, you need to increase your site’s search engine visibility with SEO. In order to develop an effective search engine optimization strategy for your medical marketing campaign, work with an internet marketing firm that specializes in the healthcare field. Medical SEO poses unique requirements that only a specialist marketing firm can fulfill.

Keyword Research


SEO primarily starts with keyword research. To start, medical practices can list relevant keywords related to their specialization, treatments, services, geographical area, and diseases and conditions treated. After brainstorming a broad range of relevant terms, you can use web-based keyword research tools to determine specifically what relevant words and phrases your potential patients are actually searching for online. You can target as many keywords as pages that your website has. In general, it’s effective to optimize each page for one to two primary keywords. You can also use several other related terms on each page.

Link building

Another important and effective way to bring traffic to your website is through linkbuilding. Search engines judge the importance, authority, and relevancy of your website based on the number of other websites that link to your site. The more relevant the websites are that link to you, the stronger those links are considered. In the early days of medical SEO, it was not uncommon for SEO companies to buy links and submit websites to various directories in order to generate links. However, as search engines continue to evolve, they increasingly devalue directory links. They have gone as far as to blacklist websites that pay for links.

In order to generate legitimate links for your website, your best bet is to focus on a content marketing strategy. People are attracted to great content, so if you build great content throughout your site and on your blog, you’re bound to attract links eventually. However, content marketing is not a “build it and they will come” strategy. You have to write great content and then market it like crazy in order to spread the word. One great way to build links organically is through social media marketing. So, once you create a blog and website content, you can market your content via social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Another way to accumulate links is through contacting other websites in your field and asking them if they would post your link. You can ask big bloggers and webmasters in your field for links politely by telling them how much your content would benefit their readers. You can also ask bloggers to exchange links with you, but this practice is generally frowned upon in the blogosphere. Another way to get good links is by researching your competitors’ backlinks and finding out if you can get backlinks from the same sites.

It’s important to update your website regularly in order to attract links and traffic. Furthermore, search engines tend to value websites that are updated frequently. Keyword research should also be something that you make a constant effort to do to ensure that your site is optimized for the latest keywords in your niche. Keywords may also change depending on the season, so make sure you create content with seasonal trends in mind.

On-Site Optimization

To ensure that search engines can crawl and index your site properly, you have to use on-site optimization techniques. Some basics of on-site optimization include create a site map, alt tags, header tags, and internal anchor text links that contain target keywords. Another important aspect of on-site optimization is content creation. Your site must be content-rich in order to rank better on search engines. Hire a qualified search engine optimization company to help you optimize your medical practice’s website for target terms. Furthermore, make sure that your site is designed with SEO in mind. For example, avoid creating a site purely with Flash because Flash websites are very difficult to optimize.

An effective medical SEO strategy requires constant care and effort. Hire an experienced medical marketing firm to help you achieve and retain high search engine rankings. Search engine algorithms are constantly shifting, so it’s more important than ever to invest in an ongoing SEO strategy.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

10 Essential Components of a Medical Marketing Campaign

In order to get the word out about your practice and differentiate it from the practices of competing physicians, you need a medical marketing strategy. In this day and age, a lot more than just word of mouth is required if you want to attract new patients and build a strong medical practice. Although many doctors are reluctant to advertise and market their practices, they must do so if they want to survive in today’s marketplace. Here are 10 essential components of an effective medical marketing campaign.
1. Professionally-printed appointment cards
Professionally-printed appointment cards serve as a reminder of appointments for your patients. Make sure that your practice’s appointment cards are branded and consistent with the image of your other marketing materials.
2. Business cards
Business cards should reflect the essence of your entire practice. As such, they must be printed on quality paper and be designed by a professional. Business cards represent your practice and will make a lasting impression on people. Hand them to your patients so they can pass them along to their friends and relatives.
3. Coupons
Branded coupons offering potential customers discounts and specials serve as a great way to attract new patients to your practice. You can feature coupons with advertisements in magazine and brochures or mail them directly to your target market.
4. A logo
A logo is not an absolute necessity, but it is recommended to have one designed for your practice in order to set it apart from those of competitors. Logos form an integral part of a memorable branding campaign. Patients and potential patients are more likely to keep your practice at the forefront of their minds if you use a professional logo to market your practice.
5. Posters
Posters non-intrusively advertise the services you offer to patients in the waiting room of your practice. A well-designed poster in a frame will tell your patients about the range of services you offer so they are aware of them. Many patients end up moving onto a new practice simply because they didn’t realize that their old practice offered the services they sought. To ensure that your patients are fully aware of the broad range of treatments and services you offer, decorate your practice with posters that tastefully advertise your practice’s offerings.
6. Website
A professionally-designed website with professionally-written copy is essential to your success in this day and age. The majority of adults search for medical information online. Furthermore, when people need to go to the doctor, they search online to find a doctor in their area. With a well-designed website coming up in the local search results to represent your practice, you will be far ahead of your competitors.
7. Promotional items
Promotional items that feature your practice’s logo are very effective in spreading the word about your practice. Anytime you attend a community event or trade show, give promotional items away freely to promote your practice. Furthermore, give your patients promotional items so they keep the name of your practice in mind. Encourage your patients to take several promotional items home so they can hand them out to their friends and relatives. Promotional items assist you in promoting your medical practice effortlessly.
8. Postcards
Sending out direct mail postcards to potential patients is a highly effective medical marketing method. Direct mail postcards are often more effective than TV or newspaper ads because they reach a targeted group of recipients. For example, you can select mailing lists for your postcards based on disease, age, and geographical area to ensure that the postcards reach your target audience.
9. Brochures
Use brochures that feature images and graphics to promote your practice and describe the treatments and procedures you offer at your practice to current and potential patients. Brochures help to convince potential patients of the benefits of choosing you over one of your competitors. Brochures provide enough space for you to explain the benefits of the procedures you offer in depth as well as showcase new treatments and equipments you offer.
10. Blog
Static websites that always display the same information won’t help your practice garner much attention online. The most successful medical websites online are constantly updated and provide useful, interesting information to users. If you want to take your web presence to the next level, consider establishing a blog for your medical practice. You can use your blog to discuss industry news, share the latest news about your practice, and provide information about the treatments you offer. If you don’t have time to update a blog on a regular basis, consider hiring a ghostwriter. A blog is a very effective way to attract attention to your practice because it increases your site’s search engine visibility and drives more traffic to your website.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Enhance Your Practice’s Website with Medical Marketing Videos

Give your medical practice’s web presence a boost with medical marketing videos. The web 2.0 experience is all about interacting with site visitors, and videos help you grab their attention and connect with them on a more personal level. The most successful medical websites include video. Videos can be used to introduce a practice to visitors, play patient testimonials, provide valuable information about treatments you offer, etc. Videos engage visitors and help to build your credibility. Today, videos form an integral part of medical marketing campaigns.

Videos enable your prospects to better understand the treatments and services you offer. Furthermore, videos allow your prospects to see what you, your staff, and your practice look like, which helps to build trust. Video is a highly effective promotional tool, and prospects are more likely to view your marketing message if you use video. On the other hand, if you rely solely on the written word, you are less likely to reach the majority of your target audience. In this day and age, a lot more than just text is required to capture and retain people’s attention.
Video engages the senses more than the written word. You can create videos about your practice using sound, music, and compelling visuals. And thanks to advancements in technology, your prospects can easily view your videos on their laptops, iPods, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Video is far more accessible than it once was. As a result, it is also much easier to promote video. You can post videos to your website, blog, and video sharing sites, such as YouTube. You can post links back to your videos on social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in order to spread the word.

When you consistently create high quality videos, people start to consider you an expert in your field. If you’re having trouble coming up with fresh content for videos, simply repurpose your written content and make a video version. You can appeal to a different type of audience if you create video content because there are people who don’t enjoy reading content and would rather watch it on video. There is also no need to worry about the duplicate content penalty when you repurpose content for video.

The more professional your videos look, the better. In order to create visually appealing videos that look highly professional, consider hiring a medical marketing firm with experience in video production. A qualified medical marketing firm with video production expertise can help you create videos that form an integral part of your medical marketing campaign. It is ideal to work with a medical marketing firm who can spearhead your entire campaign in addition to producing your videos to ensure that your marketing message and branding image remain consistent across all types of media.

Of course you can also opt to purchase an HD cam and produce your own videos, but let’s face it; most doctors don’t have time to meddle in video production. When you hire an experienced medical marketing firm to create videos for you, you can leave the logistics to the experts. The result is professional, quality videos created in a timely manner that will blow your competitors away and position you as an authority in your field.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Medical Marketing Tips – How to Use a Blog to Promote Your Medical Practice

If you are a doctor and you’re not blogging, the question is: why not? Blogging is a powerful method of medical marketing that helps you get your name out there, connect with potential patients, and generate more business. You might be wondering why on earth you would take time out of your busy schedule as a physician to write for free. Well, here’s why.
For one, if you’re far too busy to blog yourself, you can always hire a ghostwriter to write your blog posts for you, and then review each blog post to ensure that you approve of its content and request changes if necessary. Secondly, blog posts aren’t difficult to write. Even if you just take 30 minutes out of your day, you can write a pretty decent blog post. Blog posts tend to be shorter than other kinds of online articles, and they are written in a casual tone.
Surely, you already have a website for your medical practice. If not, you absolutely need to get one. In this day and age, in order to attract new patients, it’s essential for a portion of your medical marketing campaign to be conducted online. The majority of adults search for health information online and when they need to go to the doctor, they do a quick online search to find doctors in their area. You need to make sure that you have a search engine-optimized website that people can find when they search online. People are more likely to trust you and choose you as their doctor if you have a presence online. Blogs help you expand that presence and give your practice more credibility.
The main purpose of having a blog is to connect with your patients and potential patients. Now, clearly, you wouldn’t use a blog to talk about what happens in your practice or how your day was. However, you could use a blog to discuss the latest treatments in your field, recent medical breakthroughs, and other general information. When people browse online for medical information and find your site, they are likely to trust you as a good source of information since you are a doctor. This helps you build authority within your medical field as well as online.
Another important benefit of blogging is that you can connect with your readers on a personal level. Your blog readers will comment on blog posts you write that they find interesting, and you can then respond to their comments. As a result of blogging, you can connect with your patients and potential patients. People will think of you as a friendly, approachable doctor rather than one who is too busy to give them the time of day. This personal connection is important because it helps you attract more patients to your practice.
Blogging is also beneficial because it gives your online presence a major boost. People aren’t the only ones who love blogs; search engines do too. Blogs are constantly updated and the search engines like content-rich sites that are fresh and frequently updated. Furthermore, a blog connected to your main website makes it easier for search engine robots to crawl and index your site. And most importantly, content is considered king online. Both people and search engines love great content. Great content attracts links on other relevant sites and blogs, which then leads to a higher search engine ranking. Search engines judge the popularity and relevance of your site based on the number of links back to your site that accumulate on other websites.
Blogging also makes it easier for you to participate in social media because you have something that you can immediately share and use to attract attention to yourself and your practice. By joining a site like Twitter, you can post updates, or “tweets,” each time you write a new blog post. If the blog posts are good, other Twitter users will “re-tweet” them and spread them across the twitterverse. Social media marketing is like word-of-mouth on steroids, and when used properly, it can catapult you to both online and offline fame.
So, what are you waiting for? If your medical marketing plan doesn’t include blogging, consider adding a blog to your current website. The more you update the blog, the better, but you can even update it as little as once or twice per week if you are too busy to dedicate any more time to it than that. There are a number of doctors and hospitals that have used blogging and social media to generate publicity and attract new patients, and you can do the same. Start a blog today if you want to increase awareness about your practice and generate publicity both online and offline.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

10 Surefire Steps to Medical Marketing Success

Do you want to be considered an expert in your medical field and attract new patients to your practice? If so, you need to devise a strong medical marketing campaign. After spending years studying medicine and earning your credentials, you’ve undoubtedly learned that finding new patients takes more than just being a good doctor. You need to develop a sound medical marketing campaign in order to compete with other doctors for patients. Whether you are just getting started or you have been in business for years, the following 10 steps to medical marketing success will enable you to develop a strong brand for your practice, attract tons of new patients, and become an authority in your medical field.
1. Create a unified brand image and message
Don’t hire one person to design your logo, another to write the copy on your site, and a company to design your website. Hire a medical marketing firm with vast experience building successful campaigns for doctors and hospitals to take care of every aspect of your medical marketing campaign and promotional efforts. You don’t want your medical marketing efforts to look DIY and hodgepodge. Make sure that your logo, website, business cards, letterheads, brochures and all other marketing materials have a consistent brand image and message.
2. Write a mission statement
Spend some time thinking about what kind of image and message you would like for your practice to portray. Write a mission statement that outlines your goals as a practice and what you hope to achieve through your medical marketing campaign.
3. Promote a specific procedure or procedures on your website
In order to be considered an expert in your medical field, you must focus on the specific procedure or procedures you are most noted for on your website. What procedure do you perform most frequently? Try focusing on that procedure as your specialty. As a result, you may be asked to speak at conventions and be quoted in the media as an expert. This will help you attract more patients and become an authority in your specific field.
4. Organize your medical marketing campaign and set a budget
Not only must you develop effective messaging for your medical marketing efforts, you must also develop a plan that will help you achieve your marketing goals. Organize your campaign by setting milestones and a budget.
5. Develop strategic partnerships with other practices
In order to take advantage of referrals, try to develop strategic partnerships with other practices. Not only is relying on referrals an economical way to market your practice, it is also highly effective. Before approaching practices to discuss the development of a partnership with them, make sure that it would be a win-win situation for both of you.
6. Make sure that your waiting room is memorable and patient-friendly
If you have many patients with small children, create a small kids corner with toys in your waiting room. Leave free pens that feature your logo, brochures about the procedures you offer, and other promotional materials in your waiting room that people can take home with them or look at while they wait.
7. Optimize your website for the search engines
Make it easier for your patients and potential patients to find you online by optimizing your practice’s website for the search engines. Hire a medical marketing firm that also has search engine optimization (SEO) expertise so they can help you get your website on the first page of Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines. However, if you plan on relying primarily on referrals to attract new patients to your practice, SEO will probably be less of a priority for your site.
8. Determine which marketing strategies you will use
In addition to building a website for your practice, determine what marketing strategies you will primarily use to attract new patients to your practice. For example, if you are targeting companies or patients directly, you can use direct mail, yellow pages advertising, local newspaper advertising, and coupon mailing. If you are targeting referring physicians, you may instead need to focus on scheduling one-on-one meetings or sending marketing materials in the mail. No matter which marketing strategies you decide to use, at the very least, you’ll need a website, brochure, and appointment cards of the highest quality you can afford.
9. Hire a copywriter to author your marketing materials
To get your marketing message across clearly and ensure that you can build trust with patients and referring physicians, hire a professional copywriter to author your marketing materials. Poorly written marketing materials will reflect negatively on your practice and make it difficult for your potential patients to get the information they need. Hire a medical marketing firm with a professional copywriter on staff who can help to differentiate you from your competitors and capture what your practice is about. The more concise the copy, the better it will be because most people don’t have the time or patience to spend a long time reading about your practice.
10. Build a team of courteous, qualified staff
You and your staff members are the most important components of your brand. As a doctor, you probably strive to deliver the highest quality of medical care and service. Additionally, your staff members must offer excellent customer service and billing support. Your staff must act in a way that aligns with your practice’s mission statement and brand image in order for your medical marketing campaign to be successful.