#Protip: Marketing your Practice

While this article was written with healthcare practices in mind, the tips in this blog are relevant to any service-based practice or business. Some of these may seem elementary. But remind yourself that every single day someone is seeing, meeting, or choosing us for the first time. It’s often the most basic steps in presenting our business that can be the deciding factor for a new patient or client.

Load time is a split second, first impression you’ll never get again. A home page too weighted down with unnecessary text may leave your audience underwhelmed. Use video and images. Strong headlines and succinct body copy in support of those subjects. Use sections of the site like case studies and blogs for deeper, more academic information. And always, always ensure that vital information like directions, address, phone number and hours can be easily found.

As your most powerful champions, thrilled employees make for amazing brand ambassadors. Treat them like the experts they are. Value their time off. Be at the cutting edge of benefits decisions.

Patients want great communication. Luckily, email is easily personalized, implemented, and economical. Share the latest news on important healthcare changes. Be the expert on important topics to those that trust you to guide their treatment decisions. But most important, if you describe how an experience will feel, a transaction will occur, or how long it will take for a response, live up to your promise.

Your patients are already googling their symptoms. (Did you know that 7% of daily google searches are healthcare related?) Be sure they are finding the good news and expert advice provided by your practice when they are seeking information. Patient reviews are great when suggested as a footer on email communications, too. (See previous)

Your marketing dollars are an investment in lifelong clients. If you share a blog and it’s only read by 30 people, you might be underwhelmed. But what if every one of those 30 people were in your lobby when you opened tomorrow morning? According to PwC, 41% of healthcare customers say that the content they find on social media impacts their choice of treatment center.

Every impression is a first and lasting impression, and your paid marketing channels make those impressions possible. Already marketing successfully? Consider re-evaluating how you talk to and engage your current client base, and your own employees. Your marketing can take many forms.

Content serves more than one purpose. It builds trust by offering more in-depth connections with your new and existing patients. It also gives your employees and clients materials to share when they feel great about what’s been written or captured on the page. But over time it also elevates your position in search results, especially when you’ve included key terminology that your audience might be searching.

The simplest version of a marketing campaign that exists, but the least practiced. If they’re calling, they need something. Answer in three rings. Don’t let your patients get lost in the purgatory of “press three for…”. Valuing their time by making your staff available is the biggest way to winning.