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As a medical practice, you may wonder how digital marketing can help you reach new patients and grow your business. After all, traditional marketing methods like print ads and direct mailers have been around for much longer and are working just fine for some demographics. However, with more and more people using the Internet to search for health-related information, it’s becoming increasingly important for medical practices to have a strong online presence.
Why Is Digital Marketing Important for Your Medical Practice?
Digital marketing is currently an essential aspect of any healthcare practice, and it plays a crucial role in attracting new patients, retaining existing ones, and building a strong reputation in the community. Effective digital marketing strategies can help healthcare practitioners to reach out to a wider audience and communicate their services, expertise, and values effectively. It also enables healthcare providers to establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields. With that being said, you should evaluate your practice’s current digital marketing efforts by taking a digital marketing assessment. This will help you make informed decisions on which marketing tactics to use.
Nevertheless, here are five ways your medical practice can use digital marketing to reach new patients and grow your business.
1. Use a Local SEO Strategy
If you want to attract patients who live or work near your medical practice, then you need to use a local SEO strategy. It will help bring in new patients who are looking for the services you provide.
You can optimize your website for local SEO. Ensure your website lists your full address, city, and state. Second, create location pages for each location where you have a medical practice. Include photos and videos on these pages and descriptions of the services offered at each location. Finally, list your medical practice in online directories like Google My Business and Yelp.
2. Use PPC Advertising
PPC stands for pay-per-click, and it’s a type of online advertising where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Google Ads is the most popular form of PPC advertising, but there are other platforms you can also use, like Bing Ads and Facebook Ads.
The great thing about PPC advertising is that you can target potential patients who are already interested in the services you offer. For example, if someone searches Google for “cosmetic surgery near me,” they’re already interested in finding a cosmetic surgeon in their area—which means they’re more likely to click on an ad for a cosmetic surgeon than an ad for something else entirely.
3. Use Retargeting Ads
Have you ever been browsing the Internet, added something to your shopping cart but didn’t purchase it, and then started seeing ads for that same product everywhere you went? That’s retargeting, and it can be an extremely effective way to increase conversions from people who have already shown an interest in your products or services. Retargeting is an excellent way to market your medical practice.
4. Create Helpful Content
Creating helpful content is a great way to attract new patients to your medical practice while establishing yourself as an expert. You can create many different types of content, but some of the most popular include blog posts, infographics, ebooks, and webinars.
What type of content would be most helpful for potential patients? One great way to find out is by researching keywords using a tool like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer. These tools will show you which keywords people are searching for—giving you insight into the type of content they’re looking for online. Once you know what type of content to create, promote it across your social media channels and email list to reach the widest audience possible.
5. Use Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay top-of-mind with current and potential patients alike—and it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.
You can send two main types of email marketing campaigns: newsletters and automated email sequences. Newsletters are typically sent on a monthly or quarterly basis. They contain information about your medical practice, recent blog posts, upcoming events, etc.
At the same time, automated email sequences are triggered by certain actions someone takes (or doesn’t), like signing up for your email list or visiting your website.
Conclusion
Digital marketing offers many opportunities for medical practices to attract new patients and grow their businesses. By using local SEO strategies, PPC advertising, retargeting ads, creating helpful content, and email marketing campaigns, you can reach new patients, build trust with potential patients, establish yourself as an expert in your field, increase conversions, and grow your medical practice.
