In this day and age, everyone goes to the internet for just about everything. Searching for and researching doctors is no exception. Digital marketing drives more people to become patients than any other form of marketing. It improves patient loyalty, increases patient retention, enhances your brand awareness, and online reputation. All of this combined means more growth and profit.
Statistics show that when patients are looking for a doctor, 9 times out of 10, they begin with an online search. And with just over 1 million active physicians in the United States, creating a digital marketing strategy is key to staying ahead of the competition and growing your practice.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing is a form of marketing that utilizes the internet to advertise a service or product. More doctors than ever are realizing the importance of this type of marketing, using it to capture their patients, and grow their practice.
Before we talk about the benefits of digital marketing, we will first investigate the top 4 most popular digital marketing types used by doctors:
1. Search Engine Optimization
A properly planned search engine optimization (SEO) strategy can draw a considerable number of potential patients to your website. The process involves improving the quality of a website and its pages. In return your site moves to a higher position in the search results (SERPs), making you and your practice more visible to prospective patients.
The landing page of a website is most important. With around 70% of visitors clicking on only the first page of your website. It is critical that page grab their attention and they become intrigued to take action (i.e. calling or sending a message).
Using SEO has become a necessity in today’s digital age.
2. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Where SEO is focused on the search results, pay-per-click (PPC) focuses on advertisements that are usually found above or next to the search results. This form of digital marketing is where you pay a small amount each time one of your ads is clicked.
Basically, it’s a way of paying for visitors to your site, versus “earning” those visits.
3. Social Media Marketing
Each day social media networks are becoming increasingly more popular with 4.7 billion people relying on them for information and communication worldwide. It’s probably one of the easiest ways doctors can create awareness about themselves and their practice.
Sharing frequent updates, pictures, videos, and other useful information can quickly build up your following.
4. Email Marketing
Patient email addresses can easily be collected on intake forms and used in many ways other than appointment reminders. You can easily offer special discounts, ask for referrals, make announcements, and relay other useful information to your patients.
This form of marketing is the simplest and most affordable.
Top 5 Digital Marketing Benefits
There are more benefits now using digital marketing than there were for prior advertising methods. You can easily reach more people, you can showcase more information, and easily track your success.
Your website is your foundation for success when it comes to digital marketing. It should be thought of like a business card, but with so much more information.
At minimum your website should offer a variety of ways to contact plus directions to your office, the list of services offered, and some information. Additionally, it can include patient forms, online appointment scheduling, and a blog to post news and information.
1. Increase Visibility
Digital marketing has become an essential tool for doctors to reach out to their target audience and increase visibility.
With digital marketing, doctors can easily create an online presence and make themselves more visible to potential patients. This increased visibility can help them attract new patients, build trust with their existing patients, and even increase referrals.
By leveraging the power of digital platforms such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and email campaigns, doctors can reach a wider audience and gain more exposure. Digital marketing also helps them stay competitive in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape by providing valuable insights into patient behavior and preferences.
2. Patient Engagement
Making use of digital marketing not only gathers new patients, but, also keeps existing patients engaged. It has allowed doctors to reach out to a larger audience and interact with them in a more meaningful way. This increased engagement has led to better patient satisfaction and improved outcomes.
With digital marketing, doctors can now provide personalized care, create educational content, and communicate with patients quickly and easily. All of this leads to improved patient satisfaction and better health outcomes.
3. Reputation Management
Reputation management for doctors is becoming increasingly important in today’s digital world.
As the healthcare industry grows and more people rely on online reviews for information. It is essential for doctors to actively manage their online reputation.
With the help of reputation management tools, doctors can monitor and respond to reviews quickly, address any negative feedback, and ensure that their practice remains visible online. By doing so, they can build trust with potential patients and protect their professional reputations.
4. Cost Effective
Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing allows doctors to target specific audiences and tailor their message according to the needs of the audience. Making it one of the most cost-effective ways to reach out to potential patients and build relationships with them.
It also provides real-time insights into the performance of campaigns, giving doctors more control over their budget and allowing them to make adjustments as needed.
With the right strategy and tools, digital marketing can help doctors maximize their visibility online while keeping costs low.
5. Patient Data Collection
Quite possibly one of the largest benefits of digital marketing is that it can be tracked as your practice grows. This will ensure your strategy is working and what areas should be tweaked to make your marketing strategy even more successful. By leveraging website analytics and social media analytics, doctors can gain valuable insights into patient behavior and preferences that will help them provide better care.
Tools such as Google Analytics allow doctors to track user activity on their websites. With this tracking, you can follow the steps viewers are taking through your website. Thus providing you with an accurate view of trends and what is actually driving viewers to your practice.
They also enable doctors to track engagement on social media platforms, allowing them to better understand how patients are responding to their content and what kind of content resonates best with them.
By utilizing these digital marketing tools, doctors can gain a deeper understanding of their patients and provide more personalized care.
Digital Marketing For Doctors
Whether you’re just starting a medical practice or have been practicing for years, more people than ever want to find a doctor as quick as possible. They want to quickly see the services offered, read reviews, and make an appointment.
The healthcare industry is competitive and having a proper digital marketing strategy is the key to move you to the top.