5 Reasons a Digital Marketing Strategy Is a Must for Healthcare Providers
By Frank Demming - July 2021
The digital transformation in the 21st century has taken everyone by storm and one of the industries that have been greatly impacted by it, is healthcare.
Patients now have unlimited access to the vast information and online counseling services required to keep a check on their health and resolve medical ailments. This is proof enough that the healthcare industry has been forced to adapt to the new digital trend.
According to the latest statistics, almost 90% of people who feel sick go to the internet as their first preference. The current Covid-19 pandemic has further forced the general public and healthcare providers to opt for a digital route, and it turns out people actually prefer it this way.
Doctors and healthcare specialists are now using digital marketing services to demonstrate their expertise to potential customers, to try and expand their professional outreach and improve credibility.
The need to utilize digital marketing services has increased more than ever. Here are five reasons why healthcare practitioners like chiropractors, doctors, and dentists need digital marketing strategies to help them in executing accurate, precise, up-to-date, and customer-oriented services.
1. Approach the target audience
Unlike traditional marketing strategies, digital marketing services can help healthcare providers reach out to their desired target audience at a much faster pace. With the use of SEM, also known as Search Engine Marketing, they can integrate the directed keywords that are most searched by their customers.
For example, if you’re a clinic providing obstetrician services, you would want to target pregnant mothers. To do this, specific keywords searched by pregnant women will have to be integrated into your digital platforms. This way, when someone types in the specific keyword, your clinic will show up and your chances of getting connected to customers will increase.
2. Reduce your CPA and increase ROI
The struggle to maintain a balance between costs and returns can be very crucial, and the healthcare sector is still struggling to maintain a balance between them. According to surveys, the most used media channels that advertise healthcare services are still print media and television. In today’s digital age, this seems to be a shocking fact but it’s the truth. It’s one of the major reasons why the healthcare sector is having a hard time controlling the overall Cost Patient Acquisition (CPA).
Although, with the use of digital marketing techniques, healthcare providers can greatly reduce the overall cost per acquisition and increase the return on investment. With budgeted investments, most customer traffic can be catered to.
3. Boosting your presence
People who look for medical-related information tend to click on the websites that show up on the first few pages of search engine results. Therefore, healthcare providers need to improve their digital search engine optimization (SEO) and show their online platform among the top results. To do this, connecting with a reputable digital marketing agency is one of the most budget-friendly and result-oriented solutions.
Adding a FAQ section to websites can also improve the digital presence of a healthcare facility. This section can feature general questions about specific queries the patients might be looking for an answer to, depending on the assistance they require.
4. Building responsive customer care services
By building a strong online presence, a healthcare provider can cater to the requirements of their customers through online interactions. Answering their queries hand to hand, clearing their doubts, and updating them with the latest trends can help them in staying connected with their audience.
Using social media to communicate with patients and receive feedback from customers is also an effective way to improve services.
Therefore, a strong digital presence will enable a healthcare provider to consistently stay in contact with the patients.
5. Easy evaluation and assessment of performance
According to the reviews and amount of customer traffic, healthcare professionals can assess their performance. With consistent monitoring of the incoming customers on a healthcare provider’s application or webpage, modifications can be made to further improve the services provided.
Several challenges are faced by healthcare professionals as people move towards seeking medical care through digital channels. However, by the integration of strategic and effective digital marketing strategies, healthcare providers can reach out to their potential audience and compete with their competitors. In addition, the integration and utilization of digital marketing can enable a firm to benefit from the wonders of the internet and establish a significant clientele. If you are a healthcare provider seeking digital marketing services, request a strategy session and one of our digital marketing strategists will connect with you.