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.
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Showing posts with label medical practice marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical practice marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
How to Incorporate Social Media into Your Medical Marketing Campaign
Social media is the way that word-of-mouth happens in the 21st century, and it is growing at record rate. For example, the popular social networking site, Facebook, has over 200 million active users. Chances are that your employees and patients are already using Facebook, among other social media websites. Rather than letting your patients and prospects have conversations about your practice, ensure that they can have conversations with your medical practice via social media. Social media isn’t going away anytime soon, and most likely, it is going to continue to grow exponentially over the next several years. Rather than waiting until the last minute to incorporate social media into your medical marketing campaign, it’s better to learn how to use social media now and become fluent in social media marketing.
When determining whether or not it would make sense for your medical practice to join the social media revolution, you must first determine what it is you hope to accomplish and if those goals are realistic. If your patients are very happy with your practice, it is a good idea to jump on the social media bandwagon because you can amplify all of the positive conversations about your practice that are taking place in order to promote your medical practice. However, if you are having problems with employees or your patients are unhappy with something, it would be best for you to resolve those issues first before attempting to build your social media presence. Otherwise, you could end up being sucked into a reputation management nightmare.
Getting Started
In order to get started with social media marketing for medical marketing purposes, join free social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You will find plenty of relevant communities already established on those sites. After tinkering around on these sites for a while, you can determine whether or not it would be worthwhile to establish your own community.
Rather than relying so heavily on a strategy that’s set in stone when launching a social media campaign for medical marketing, use different methods of low-cost experimentation to determine what works and what doesn’t. Time spent planning and theorizing could be spent learning through doing. Just outline your goals and do your best to meet those goals based on the tools and resources you have available.
Proving ROI
Many traditional PR and marketing folks have difficulty embracing social media marketing because they can’t see a clear ROI. In medical marketing or any field for that matter, the ROI of social media marketing is infinite because the cost using social media is so low. Social media marketing can easily be integrated into various marketing and communications efforts in a medical marketing campaign. It isn’t very hard to demonstrate the ROI of running a social media campaign because the overhead costs are miniscule. For example, publishing a blog that allows comments is a very cost-effective way to reach out to patients, potential patients, and media looking for newsworthy stories to cover. You can install an analytics program to determine how many people visit your blog, what they click on, etc., to improve your blog as well as the ROI of your campaign.
Hiring a Consultant
If you’re new to social media and would like to incorporate it into your overall medical marketing campaign, your best bet is to start small and train your current employees that are already working on marketing and communication tasks to integrate social media marketing strategies into their work. Your best bet is to hire a social media marketing consultant to train your employees. If you ever launch a major project and don’t have sufficient internal resources to pull it off, you can always partner up with a social media marketing agency.
Major Social Media Networks
Some major social media websites that anyone interested in medical marketing should be a part of include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and SlideShare.net. SlideShare.net allows you to share your ideas in the form of Power Point presentations. You can easily embed the slide presentations in your blog to engage your blog readers in your presentations.
On Facebook, medical practices can create fan pages, enabling their patients and potential patients to become “fans.” Anyone who becomes your fan on Facebook will be notified of all of the updates you post. Furthermore, the fact that a user is your fan will be visible to all of their Facebook friends.
Twitter allows you to connect with like-minded people and broaden the scope of your interactions. Two hastags on Twitter that are related to medical marketing include #hcsm and #hcsmktg. Do a search for these hashtags to find out who else in the Twitterverse is talking about medical marketing. You can also find out what kind of conversations are taking place about your medical practice by searching for the name of your medical practice on Twitter. Twitter is a great brand monitoring and reputation management tool. Some companies have gone as far as to use Twitter to address customer service issues.
So there you have it. There’s no better time than now to dive into the world of social media. The effectiveness of your medical marketing campaign can increase significantly with the promotional and networking power of social media. Rather than waiting until you develop an intricate strategy, dive into it now so you can learn the ropes and start connecting with patients and potential patients immediately.
When determining whether or not it would make sense for your medical practice to join the social media revolution, you must first determine what it is you hope to accomplish and if those goals are realistic. If your patients are very happy with your practice, it is a good idea to jump on the social media bandwagon because you can amplify all of the positive conversations about your practice that are taking place in order to promote your medical practice. However, if you are having problems with employees or your patients are unhappy with something, it would be best for you to resolve those issues first before attempting to build your social media presence. Otherwise, you could end up being sucked into a reputation management nightmare.
Getting Started
In order to get started with social media marketing for medical marketing purposes, join free social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You will find plenty of relevant communities already established on those sites. After tinkering around on these sites for a while, you can determine whether or not it would be worthwhile to establish your own community.
Rather than relying so heavily on a strategy that’s set in stone when launching a social media campaign for medical marketing, use different methods of low-cost experimentation to determine what works and what doesn’t. Time spent planning and theorizing could be spent learning through doing. Just outline your goals and do your best to meet those goals based on the tools and resources you have available.
Proving ROI
Many traditional PR and marketing folks have difficulty embracing social media marketing because they can’t see a clear ROI. In medical marketing or any field for that matter, the ROI of social media marketing is infinite because the cost using social media is so low. Social media marketing can easily be integrated into various marketing and communications efforts in a medical marketing campaign. It isn’t very hard to demonstrate the ROI of running a social media campaign because the overhead costs are miniscule. For example, publishing a blog that allows comments is a very cost-effective way to reach out to patients, potential patients, and media looking for newsworthy stories to cover. You can install an analytics program to determine how many people visit your blog, what they click on, etc., to improve your blog as well as the ROI of your campaign.
Hiring a Consultant
If you’re new to social media and would like to incorporate it into your overall medical marketing campaign, your best bet is to start small and train your current employees that are already working on marketing and communication tasks to integrate social media marketing strategies into their work. Your best bet is to hire a social media marketing consultant to train your employees. If you ever launch a major project and don’t have sufficient internal resources to pull it off, you can always partner up with a social media marketing agency.
Major Social Media Networks
Some major social media websites that anyone interested in medical marketing should be a part of include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and SlideShare.net. SlideShare.net allows you to share your ideas in the form of Power Point presentations. You can easily embed the slide presentations in your blog to engage your blog readers in your presentations.
On Facebook, medical practices can create fan pages, enabling their patients and potential patients to become “fans.” Anyone who becomes your fan on Facebook will be notified of all of the updates you post. Furthermore, the fact that a user is your fan will be visible to all of their Facebook friends.
Twitter allows you to connect with like-minded people and broaden the scope of your interactions. Two hastags on Twitter that are related to medical marketing include #hcsm and #hcsmktg. Do a search for these hashtags to find out who else in the Twitterverse is talking about medical marketing. You can also find out what kind of conversations are taking place about your medical practice by searching for the name of your medical practice on Twitter. Twitter is a great brand monitoring and reputation management tool. Some companies have gone as far as to use Twitter to address customer service issues.
So there you have it. There’s no better time than now to dive into the world of social media. The effectiveness of your medical marketing campaign can increase significantly with the promotional and networking power of social media. Rather than waiting until you develop an intricate strategy, dive into it now so you can learn the ropes and start connecting with patients and potential patients immediately.
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, July 23, 2009
Important Services in Medical Marketing
No matter how great of a doctor you are, you won’t be able to make much of a difference and find lots of new patients unless people can find you easily. This is where medical marketing comes in. Medical marketing involves building your brand, coming up with a strategic plan, and standing out from the crowd. Here are several important services that you may want to consider when planning your medical marketing campaign.
Branding
The key to success in marketing your medical practice is through establishing and building a brand. In order to develop your own brand as a doctor, you must deliver a healthcare experience that is unique. It can be helpful to consult a company that specializes in medical marketing in order to identify what your brand image will consist of. From there, you have to implement strategies that allow you to communicate and manage your brand’s message to prospects.
After you have established and defined your brand, you must position it. Positioning involves getting the right message out to your target market at the appropriate time. You must ensure that the message of your brand is properly communicated to patients and prospects.
Strategic Planning
Identify your goals and plot your path to success. You must craft measurable objectives and combine them with creative strategies in order to achieve your goals. It is ideal to create a marketing plan that is easy to update and reference. It is essential to use practical tools to measure your progress so you can avoid having to go through stacks of papers that will probably just sit on your shelf most of the time anyway.
Media and Community Relations
Whether you are offering a new service/product/procedure or you have some other interesting news to share, using media outlets is a great way to get your name out there and garner some attention. You can target local and national media outlets in your medical marketing campaign in order to maximize your exposure and position yourself as an authority in your medical field.
Thanks to mass media, it is also possible to make a name for yourself in the local community. Community relations are incredibly important to medical practices because they position you as an authority in your field as well as a friend of the community, where most of your patients will be coming from. Getting involved in community relations can be a very cost-effective marketing strategy that enables you to build a very positive reputation for your practice.
Creative Advertising Campaigns
In order to attract attention and stand out from the crowd, it is essential to hire a professional marketing team to help you build an advertising campaign. Whether you want to reach your audience via print media, television, internet, or radio, it is essential to devise creative, enticing ads that maximize your advertising dollar. Powerful messages and compelling visuals are important. Hire a professional team that can help you craft an advertising campaign that increases your bottom line.
Addressing Your Patients’ Needs
Healthcare today revolves more and more around patient satisfaction. It is vital to provide your patients with the most pleasant experience possible in your practice. The four A’s of customer service in medicine are accommodation, access, availability, and accountability. Address these four areas and you are sure to provide a positive patient experience. You can use marketing audits, patient surveys, and organizational assessments to evaluate your progress and ensure that you are addressing your patients’ needs.
Communications
Some important aspects of building a well-connected and communicative practice are having an online presence, staying in touch with patients and prospects via mail, providing patients with brochures and education materials, and establishing a referral network. A referral network consists of other doctors who refer their patients to you for the procedures and expertise you provide. Have a medical marketing specialist assist you in building your referral network.
Stay connected to your patients and referral sources by sending out newsletters. Newsletters give you an opportunity to keep everyone in your network informed about what’s new at your practice. You can also send out direct mail letters and post cards to prospects or current patients to advertise new procedures or increase awareness about the services you already provide.
A medical practice without a website in this day and age is a lot less likely to be found by new patients. Most of your patients are probably tech-savvy so you have to build an attractive website that features cutting-edge design and compelling copy in order to increase clientele. Whether you need to revamp your old website or build a new one from scratch, hire a marketing company with experience designing and writing websites for medical practices to assist you.
Creating brochures and patient education materials is a good idea because it strengthens the relationship between you and your patients. Ensure that any brochures and education materials you create reflect your brand image and communicate your message. Most importantly, make sure that any materials you create meet your patients’ needs and provide them with ultimate value.
Branding
The key to success in marketing your medical practice is through establishing and building a brand. In order to develop your own brand as a doctor, you must deliver a healthcare experience that is unique. It can be helpful to consult a company that specializes in medical marketing in order to identify what your brand image will consist of. From there, you have to implement strategies that allow you to communicate and manage your brand’s message to prospects.
After you have established and defined your brand, you must position it. Positioning involves getting the right message out to your target market at the appropriate time. You must ensure that the message of your brand is properly communicated to patients and prospects.
Strategic Planning
Identify your goals and plot your path to success. You must craft measurable objectives and combine them with creative strategies in order to achieve your goals. It is ideal to create a marketing plan that is easy to update and reference. It is essential to use practical tools to measure your progress so you can avoid having to go through stacks of papers that will probably just sit on your shelf most of the time anyway.
Media and Community Relations
Whether you are offering a new service/product/procedure or you have some other interesting news to share, using media outlets is a great way to get your name out there and garner some attention. You can target local and national media outlets in your medical marketing campaign in order to maximize your exposure and position yourself as an authority in your medical field.
Thanks to mass media, it is also possible to make a name for yourself in the local community. Community relations are incredibly important to medical practices because they position you as an authority in your field as well as a friend of the community, where most of your patients will be coming from. Getting involved in community relations can be a very cost-effective marketing strategy that enables you to build a very positive reputation for your practice.
Creative Advertising Campaigns
In order to attract attention and stand out from the crowd, it is essential to hire a professional marketing team to help you build an advertising campaign. Whether you want to reach your audience via print media, television, internet, or radio, it is essential to devise creative, enticing ads that maximize your advertising dollar. Powerful messages and compelling visuals are important. Hire a professional team that can help you craft an advertising campaign that increases your bottom line.
Addressing Your Patients’ Needs
Healthcare today revolves more and more around patient satisfaction. It is vital to provide your patients with the most pleasant experience possible in your practice. The four A’s of customer service in medicine are accommodation, access, availability, and accountability. Address these four areas and you are sure to provide a positive patient experience. You can use marketing audits, patient surveys, and organizational assessments to evaluate your progress and ensure that you are addressing your patients’ needs.
Communications
Some important aspects of building a well-connected and communicative practice are having an online presence, staying in touch with patients and prospects via mail, providing patients with brochures and education materials, and establishing a referral network. A referral network consists of other doctors who refer their patients to you for the procedures and expertise you provide. Have a medical marketing specialist assist you in building your referral network.
Stay connected to your patients and referral sources by sending out newsletters. Newsletters give you an opportunity to keep everyone in your network informed about what’s new at your practice. You can also send out direct mail letters and post cards to prospects or current patients to advertise new procedures or increase awareness about the services you already provide.
A medical practice without a website in this day and age is a lot less likely to be found by new patients. Most of your patients are probably tech-savvy so you have to build an attractive website that features cutting-edge design and compelling copy in order to increase clientele. Whether you need to revamp your old website or build a new one from scratch, hire a marketing company with experience designing and writing websites for medical practices to assist you.
Creating brochures and patient education materials is a good idea because it strengthens the relationship between you and your patients. Ensure that any brochures and education materials you create reflect your brand image and communicate your message. Most importantly, make sure that any materials you create meet your patients’ needs and provide them with ultimate value.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Medical Marketing 101 – How to Get More Patients and Increase Profits
Perhaps you became a doctor because you love to help people or because you have a passion for medicine. No matter what brought you to become a doctor, you have to face the fact that patients equal profits. Many doctors are reluctant about marketing their practice but it is essential if you want to grow your practice and attract new patients.
Many doctors mistakenly believe that if you are busy as a doctor, it is because you are a good at what you do. That may be the case sometimes but the majority of doctors who maintain busy schedules also have an effective marketing plan. There is a stigma attached to medical marketing but if you want to stay busy and avoid the dreaded famines that follow feasts, you need to get more patients through marketing your practice.
Why All Doctors Should Market
All doctors should market and promote their practice because no matter how great of a doctor you are, no one will know you exist unless you promote yourself. Contrary to popular belief, medical marketing is not always about having a huge advertising budget and placing expensive ads. There are several low-cost methods of marketing that doctors can use to match their practice with their patients’ needs.
Medical Marketing Basics
Many times doctors forge personal connections with their patients and thus attract new patients based on word-of-mouth. Current patients are an important resource when it comes to marketing your practice. Your patients already have trust in you so you can ask them for referrals, follow up with them, and encourage them to spread the word about your practice. Ensuring that you give each and every one of your patients a great experience is important if you want to cultivate strong relationships with them and increase patient loyalty.
Many doctors feel uncomfortable about asking their patients for referrals but it is necessary if you want to increase your clientele. Patients often tend to think that a doctor is too busy to take new patients and doesn’t really think of referring their doctor to friends and family in most instances. In order to encourage people to make referrals, take the time to provide them with the best service possible. Treat them as individuals, not numbers. Smile at them, make the billing process easier for them, and do whatever you can to make them have a great experience in your practice. This type of medical marketing is known as “internal marketing.” Essentially, every time a patient comes into contact with your practice, you are marketing.
Points in Your Practice to Review
In order to determine in which areas your practice needs work when it comes to marketing, here are some points to review.
Find Your Identity – How would you describe your practice in five adjectives? What kinds of services does your practice offer? How does your practice stand out from the pack? Answer these questions and then meet with your staff to ensure that you are living up to your proposed identity. If you want to come across as a friendly practice, you need to be sure that your staff members are smiley and friendly with patients.
Improve Your Workspace – Take a look at your practice as if you were a patient. Is it easy to navigate? Is the atmosphere pleasant? Does it take long to get in and out? Make sure the experience of being in your practice is as pleasant as possible and work on areas that need improvement.
Live Up to Your Price Tag – How much do you charge for your services in comparison to other doctors in the local area? Make sure your prices are appropriate for the services you offer and the market you are targeting. Don’t go too high or too low.
Market Consistently – Whether you rely solely on internal marketing or you are doing external marketing in addition, make sure your marketing efforts are consistent and professional. Even a little effort can make a huge difference down the line, whether you are ready to embrace traditional marketing methods or not.
Good Promotion, Good Product
The key to success in medical marketing is consistently providing quality medical service and promoting it well by sending out leaflets and brochures to potential patients and follow-up notes welcoming new patients to the practice. Brochures and leaflets can describe the treatments you offer to educate potential patients and inform them of the services you provide. You can also provide current patients with information packets detailing the treatments and procedures they are undergoing to improve the level of customer service you provide. To give your practice an efficient and organized image, have your staff call patients for appointment reminders. Another good way to promote your practice and build your reputation as a caring, compassionate doctor is through getting involved in community events.
Volunteering and attending community events can also lead to positive media coverage.If you are a doctor and want to stay ahead of your game, you need to start planning your medical marketing strategy now. As the market becomes increasingly competitive, it is more important than ever to boost your marketing strategy so you can stand out from the crowd.
Many doctors mistakenly believe that if you are busy as a doctor, it is because you are a good at what you do. That may be the case sometimes but the majority of doctors who maintain busy schedules also have an effective marketing plan. There is a stigma attached to medical marketing but if you want to stay busy and avoid the dreaded famines that follow feasts, you need to get more patients through marketing your practice.
Why All Doctors Should Market
All doctors should market and promote their practice because no matter how great of a doctor you are, no one will know you exist unless you promote yourself. Contrary to popular belief, medical marketing is not always about having a huge advertising budget and placing expensive ads. There are several low-cost methods of marketing that doctors can use to match their practice with their patients’ needs.
Medical Marketing Basics
Many times doctors forge personal connections with their patients and thus attract new patients based on word-of-mouth. Current patients are an important resource when it comes to marketing your practice. Your patients already have trust in you so you can ask them for referrals, follow up with them, and encourage them to spread the word about your practice. Ensuring that you give each and every one of your patients a great experience is important if you want to cultivate strong relationships with them and increase patient loyalty.
Many doctors feel uncomfortable about asking their patients for referrals but it is necessary if you want to increase your clientele. Patients often tend to think that a doctor is too busy to take new patients and doesn’t really think of referring their doctor to friends and family in most instances. In order to encourage people to make referrals, take the time to provide them with the best service possible. Treat them as individuals, not numbers. Smile at them, make the billing process easier for them, and do whatever you can to make them have a great experience in your practice. This type of medical marketing is known as “internal marketing.” Essentially, every time a patient comes into contact with your practice, you are marketing.
Points in Your Practice to Review
In order to determine in which areas your practice needs work when it comes to marketing, here are some points to review.
Find Your Identity – How would you describe your practice in five adjectives? What kinds of services does your practice offer? How does your practice stand out from the pack? Answer these questions and then meet with your staff to ensure that you are living up to your proposed identity. If you want to come across as a friendly practice, you need to be sure that your staff members are smiley and friendly with patients.
Improve Your Workspace – Take a look at your practice as if you were a patient. Is it easy to navigate? Is the atmosphere pleasant? Does it take long to get in and out? Make sure the experience of being in your practice is as pleasant as possible and work on areas that need improvement.
Live Up to Your Price Tag – How much do you charge for your services in comparison to other doctors in the local area? Make sure your prices are appropriate for the services you offer and the market you are targeting. Don’t go too high or too low.
Market Consistently – Whether you rely solely on internal marketing or you are doing external marketing in addition, make sure your marketing efforts are consistent and professional. Even a little effort can make a huge difference down the line, whether you are ready to embrace traditional marketing methods or not.
Good Promotion, Good Product
The key to success in medical marketing is consistently providing quality medical service and promoting it well by sending out leaflets and brochures to potential patients and follow-up notes welcoming new patients to the practice. Brochures and leaflets can describe the treatments you offer to educate potential patients and inform them of the services you provide. You can also provide current patients with information packets detailing the treatments and procedures they are undergoing to improve the level of customer service you provide. To give your practice an efficient and organized image, have your staff call patients for appointment reminders. Another good way to promote your practice and build your reputation as a caring, compassionate doctor is through getting involved in community events.
Volunteering and attending community events can also lead to positive media coverage.If you are a doctor and want to stay ahead of your game, you need to start planning your medical marketing strategy now. As the market becomes increasingly competitive, it is more important than ever to boost your marketing strategy so you can stand out from the crowd.
Monday, July 13, 2009
How to Expand Your Online Presence through Online Medical Marketing
Marketing your medical practice is no longer just about putting an ad in the phone book or local newspaper. The internet has become an incredibly important marketing tool in medicine because it allows you to reach your target audience easily. However, competition is fierce in online medical marketing so having a great website alone is not sufficient in attracting a steady flow of new clients to your practice.
Google indexes over a trillion pages of content so the chances of your patients finding your practice’s website via search engines is slim to none. Having an effective, appealing website to share your contact information as well as more information about your practice is a great start. But unless you take the necessary action to optimize your website and apply online medical marketing strategies, your website will sink into oblivion.
How to Make Your Website Stand Out
The first step you must take in order to boost your online presence is to optimize your website for the search engines. Search engine optimization involves on-site and off-site strategies. By optimizing your website through search marketing, you will be able to attract a steady flow of traffic from the search engines. Ideally you would target search terms for your geographical area. The goal is to have it so that your website comes up on the top page of search results when people are searching for the medical services you offer.
The next step you must take is to spread good information about your practice around the internet and build a strong online reputation. The best way to do this is through encouraging satisfied patients to write positive reviews detailing their experiences at your practice and then posting them on your website. You should also create separate websites that feature positive reviews of your practice. Most potential patients are craving to read firsthand reviews from past patients to get a better idea of what to expect at your practice. Don’t encourage your patients to write reviews on sites like Citysearch or Yelp because by doing so, you are bound to receive the occasional negative review on those sites and taint your reputation.
Tips for Using Attraction Marketing
Another way you can attract attention to your website and build awareness of your practice online is through attraction marketing techniques. Attraction marketing involves the use of websites, blogs, and social media websites to build awareness of your “brand” as a medical practitioner. Doctors obviously have very busy schedules so it’s best to outsource this work to an experienced marketing company. Writing blogs and website content that establishes you as an authority in your medical field can be helpful in building trust with potential clients and spreading your name around the web.
Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are an effective way to network with current customers and potential clients. For example, on Twitter, you can share information about the latest happenings in your practice and post tweets that include links to relevant articles. When people search for your name on the internet and come across these tweets and blog posts you have written, you become an expert in their eyes and they come to trust you more.
Doctors who have their own websites featuring Q&A about their medical field and other advice tend to do very well because people look up to them as experts in their field. Giving away free information is a very effective way to build authority and boost your online presence because as they say, “teaching sells.” People feel more eager to become the patients of a doctor whom they trust. You can build that trust by syndicating articles about your medical field, answering frequently asked questions, and networking with your patients online.
One of your goals should be to dominate the top ten search engine results for your name with your blogs, social media profiles, and websites. That way when people search for your name, they will only find positive reviews and information about your business. If you do occasionally find a negative review in the search results for your name, don’t retaliate. Simply work hard to market the content on your websites and blogs. You can also hire someone to participate in relevant forums to talk favorably about your practice. As long as you remain persistent, the negative reviews will eventually get bumped off the first page of search results.
Build your online presence strategically for the best results. The most effective way to manage your medical marketing campaign is with the assistance of an online marketing company that has a proven track record in this field. The more widespread your online presence is the better. If you have blogs, social media profiles, forum posting accounts, and review sites all pointing back to your main website, it will help you achieve a higher search engine ranking as well as attract a steady flow of traffic from a variety of sources.
Google indexes over a trillion pages of content so the chances of your patients finding your practice’s website via search engines is slim to none. Having an effective, appealing website to share your contact information as well as more information about your practice is a great start. But unless you take the necessary action to optimize your website and apply online medical marketing strategies, your website will sink into oblivion.
How to Make Your Website Stand Out
The first step you must take in order to boost your online presence is to optimize your website for the search engines. Search engine optimization involves on-site and off-site strategies. By optimizing your website through search marketing, you will be able to attract a steady flow of traffic from the search engines. Ideally you would target search terms for your geographical area. The goal is to have it so that your website comes up on the top page of search results when people are searching for the medical services you offer.
The next step you must take is to spread good information about your practice around the internet and build a strong online reputation. The best way to do this is through encouraging satisfied patients to write positive reviews detailing their experiences at your practice and then posting them on your website. You should also create separate websites that feature positive reviews of your practice. Most potential patients are craving to read firsthand reviews from past patients to get a better idea of what to expect at your practice. Don’t encourage your patients to write reviews on sites like Citysearch or Yelp because by doing so, you are bound to receive the occasional negative review on those sites and taint your reputation.
Tips for Using Attraction Marketing
Another way you can attract attention to your website and build awareness of your practice online is through attraction marketing techniques. Attraction marketing involves the use of websites, blogs, and social media websites to build awareness of your “brand” as a medical practitioner. Doctors obviously have very busy schedules so it’s best to outsource this work to an experienced marketing company. Writing blogs and website content that establishes you as an authority in your medical field can be helpful in building trust with potential clients and spreading your name around the web.
Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are an effective way to network with current customers and potential clients. For example, on Twitter, you can share information about the latest happenings in your practice and post tweets that include links to relevant articles. When people search for your name on the internet and come across these tweets and blog posts you have written, you become an expert in their eyes and they come to trust you more.
Doctors who have their own websites featuring Q&A about their medical field and other advice tend to do very well because people look up to them as experts in their field. Giving away free information is a very effective way to build authority and boost your online presence because as they say, “teaching sells.” People feel more eager to become the patients of a doctor whom they trust. You can build that trust by syndicating articles about your medical field, answering frequently asked questions, and networking with your patients online.
One of your goals should be to dominate the top ten search engine results for your name with your blogs, social media profiles, and websites. That way when people search for your name, they will only find positive reviews and information about your business. If you do occasionally find a negative review in the search results for your name, don’t retaliate. Simply work hard to market the content on your websites and blogs. You can also hire someone to participate in relevant forums to talk favorably about your practice. As long as you remain persistent, the negative reviews will eventually get bumped off the first page of search results.
Build your online presence strategically for the best results. The most effective way to manage your medical marketing campaign is with the assistance of an online marketing company that has a proven track record in this field. The more widespread your online presence is the better. If you have blogs, social media profiles, forum posting accounts, and review sites all pointing back to your main website, it will help you achieve a higher search engine ranking as well as attract a steady flow of traffic from a variety of sources.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Medical Marketing: A Powerful Way to Promote Your Practice
Contrary to popular belief, doctors are not exempt from the necessity of advertising and marketing. Doctors these days have a lot of competition and more and more medical professionals are recognizing the need for medical marketing in order to stay ahead. It’s an area that not a lot of practices are familiar with but actively promoting your business can really boost the number of patients coming in.
Back when each area only had one doctor, marketing just wasn’t necessary. Now, however, it’s not uncommon to find three to four doctors, even in the smallest towns, competing for the same patients. By increasing the visibility of your practice, you will find that no matter where you are located, competition won’t be a big issue and you will have a steady stream of new patients coming in. for more
Why Promotion is Valuable
Gone are the days when word of mouth was the chosen method of finding a doctor to suit the patient’s needs. As a medical practitioner, you must actively bring in client leads on a regular basis to keep your business running smoothly. It’s normal for your patient base to be in a state of flux – some patients may only come in once a year or less while others who schedule appointments on a regular basis may leave the area or choose another practitioner. While no one wants to lose a loyal patient, the only way to keep the appointment book full is to continue to bring in new ones.
For those medical practices looking to expand, it’s necessary to find enough clients to make it worthwhile to bring another doctor on board and medical marketing is the ideal way to do this. Good publicity and making your practice easy to find will lead to new patients flocking to your door.
Another benefit of attracting more clients is increasing the mix of patient types. Nearly every practice has some wealthier patients, while others have only patients with company insurance. Patients from a wider range of economic backgrounds means more money earned – something that is always advantageous because it enables the practice to continue treating those with less money.
How to Market Your Practice
There are a number of ways to get your practice in front of potential clients, but perhaps the best method is the Internet. When patients are fed up with their current GP or have just moved to the area, the vast majority turn to online research to help them choose a professional to see. If you aren’t online and visible, then your chances of being found by these potential patients are virtually nil.
With a number of websites and directories available to list your medical practice, it’s important to choose the right ones. Spend your advertising dollars on campaigns that will give you results. That means looking for directories that allow you to keep your listing in front of patients over a long-term period and that also provide space for vital information such as which insurance companies are accepted, as well as basic contact info.
Of course, there are other methods of increasing public visibility of your practice, though the Internet offers the lowest cost with the highest return. Other options include the following:
Television: While it can be expensive, a television spot on a local channel can really boost public awareness of your practice in particular. Ads aren’t the only way to go, however – providing news or an interview to the local news channel or morning show can also be a great way to get some publicity.
Print: The more traditional method of medical practice marketing is through print media, but you have a lot of options in this area. Many newspapers these days are online so when you place an ad, it usually appears both in the print version and the online version, giving you more bang for the buck. The Yellow Pages are another print medium that every doctor should use, as well as any local directories such as phones, service booklets or Welcome Wagon listings. Even in this digital era, there are quite a few opportunities to have your listing in print just as long as you know where to look.
Interacting: This is an area that many practices no longer engage in, but if you have the time, it’s a great trust builder. Simply connecting to the people in your community, whether or not they are patients can be invaluable. While there are a number of ways to do this, just getting out and meeting people is an excellent method of reaching the community. When people feel that they know you, they will be more likely to trust you with their health.
Medical marketing is valuable and necessary for doctors who want to continue growing and improving their business. Whether through online promotion, print media or another means, it’s important to continue bringing in new patients on a regular basis to keep your practice earning.
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