Marketing is vital for businesses and brands in the medical industry, but unfortunately, it’s not as easy as promoting a sale or buying ad space.
Executing the wrong strategy could lead to an epic business failure. Marketing in the medical field must follow a different set of rules for a practice to gain its patients’ awareness and trust.
Read on for essential dos and don’ts in the world of medical marketing.
Have a vision and strategy.
While it sounds obvious, most medical practices’ marketing plans fail because of a lack of a strategy and vision. A clear marketing strategy and vision will target your audience in a more authentic and personalized manner.
The four main ways to define your target audience are demographics, geography, psychographics, and interests. The more specific your target audience is, the better you can tailor your marketing campaigns. Next, answer a few reflective questions such as:
- Where do you envision your practice in five years?
- Who will be on the marketing team? What will their roles be?
- What form of marketing will help you reach your goals?
- What is your budget?
A good strategic marketing plan will help you evaluate your prospects, weaknesses, strengths, and risks. It should not only focus on implementing specific strategies but also track the data and results.
Do identify your target.
After nailing your vision and strategy, it’s time to focus on your target. It is essential with any marketing plan to identify your demographic according to your services. Invest your time planning and creating good strategies with your objective in mind.
Target marketing with a well-defined goal allows you to shrink your budget and attract the audience you really want. Once you have your demographic and objective, focus on educating your audience instead of just talking about practice.
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Do send a clear brand message.
Like clearly identifying your audience, you need to send a clear message to your patients. The message should be convincing. It needs to make current and potential customers feel confident and comfortable with your practice.
Your marketing brand message needs to encourage and convince them that your services are what they need.
Do create a personalized website.
Ensure your digital space is informative, professional, and user-friendly. If you do not have a quality website that meets these criteria, now is the time to invest. These days, most people prefer surfing the web for all services – even medical.
This makes it vital for you to grow your online presence. The first step is an intuitive and appealing website. This personalized website should be well laid out and include contact information, quality images, patient forms, details about your employees, and an engaging blog.
Do make use of marketing materials.
Invest in quality marketing materials. And, quality doesn’t necessarily mean expensive. Brochures, postcards, and other items can be professional without costing too much. All you need is some well-written and informative content and compelling images.
If you already have marketing materials, utilize them, but check them over and make sure they are informative, accurate, and in line with your brand message.
Do utilize social media.
Using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram is an excellent way to connect with your patients and make them feel more comfortable with your practice. While you cannot share personal medical information in a public forum, you can create a business social media page to share general health tips and information about your practice.
Don’t wait for patients to find you.
Use the marketing “do” methods to get out there and bring patients to you. Waiting for customers to find your practice will quickly set your business on the path to failure.
Don’t offer discounts.
While this is unethical, it also sends an unprofessional message about your business. It is good to be proactive and creative with marketing ideas but avoid this route.
Don’t expect too much too soon.
Marketing takes time; don’t expect results overnight. It is normal for results to take a few months.
However, if you aren’t hitting your expectations after three months, it’s time to reevaluate.
Don’t overuse medical jargon.
While sometimes it’s necessary, don’t overwhelm people with big medical terms. Use relatable and easy-to-understand content in your marketing materials and on your website.
These dos and don’ts of medical marketing will help you define some clear goals for the future and prepare your office for the upcoming new year. Use these ideas to help give your medical practice what it needs to surpass your competition while staying on the path to success.
If you have any marketing dos or don’ts, we would love to hear about them on our Facebook page!
Tags: Marketing Dos and Donts, Marketing for Office Managers, Medical Marketing, medical office management, medical offices, national organization of rheumatology managers, NORM, office management Posted by
