What can be solved in 13 to 24 minutes? That’s the average amount of time a doctor spends with a patient. A significant part of a patient’s well-being doesn’t occur in the doctor’s office. Rather, it comes from how vested they are in finding an outcome. That’s why healthcare professionals understand that to grow in healthcare, digital marketing is no longer optional.
Google knows it. People who schedule healthcare appointments run three times more searches than those who do not. Your future patients are using Google for everything in their professional and personal lives, so it only makes sense that they turn to Google when looking for healthcare.
To grow your business today means getting more attuned to what your patients want. They’re checking out competitors, sizing up skills, looking at reputations, and watching website content long before they decide to make a call.
Your healthcare digital marketing strategy should take all that into consideration and more. Ask yourself a few questions:
- What are our short- and long-term goals? If growth is a factor, what are we doing to bring new patients on board?
- How is our marketing enhancing our reputation? Your patients are talking about you. Through digital marketing, you can leverage the conversation to use it to your advantage.
- How are we inspiring referrals? Satisfied customers are your best resource for bringing in new business. Staying current and top of mind will inspire them to take action.
Why Patient Engagement Is Important in Healthcare
Patients who take an active role in their care and treatment are considered engaged patients. They gather information, they look for treatment options, they take advice, and they are empowered to do the work for their own health and wellness.
For you, patient engagement means patients who get better. It:
- Improves customer satisfaction and retention: When patients have a voice in their treatment, they feel heard. They are happier with the services they receive and more likely to remain loyal patients.
- Improves well-being: An engaged patient makes better choices along their journey. They seek guidance early and work hard to remain healthy.
- Reduces overall costs: Building patient care strategies takes time and energy to manage, but they create better outcomes for the patient and a more successful practice for you. You’re dealing with more positive outcomes, which is a win-win for you and the patient.
And this is just the start. Patient engagement and care outcomes are central to today’s healthcare practices. To get there, technology is leading the way.
Digital Strategies That Make Sense in Healthcare
There are so many ways to reach out and engage with your patients digitally. Ready to get started? Here’s what to focus on as you begin:
Website Optimization for Local Search
We hinted at this with the Google statistic above. People who search are more likely to schedule appointments with the resources they find online. They’re engaged, searching, and ready to find answers.
They might read or watch videos on reputable sites with national or even global reach, but ultimately, they want a resource that works for their lifestyles. Local works because it’s in their own backyard. They can start on the website but can just as easily book appointments and find out relevant information for taking the next step.
Local optimization ensures your business is where people are looking. It lets you be clear about treatments and services, provides up-to-date business hours and location information, and helps your patient say yes to more services.
Social Media for Better Awareness
The interactive nature of social media can benefit every level of healthcare. You can share knowledge, provide insight, and help customers become more aware. It can also help you build your authority and a better reputation.
Insights from social media give you immediate feedback on everything you offer, plus new ideas for innovation that can help you build a more loyal customer base. Every platform has its own tools and resources. You can use these to better understand what people want and create more efficiency throughout your practice.
Create a Solid Patient Journey
If you haven’t worked to perfect the customer journey from the moment they think about your services, you’re missing out on a solid patient engagement plan. Connection starts by gaining trust when they’re searching for what you do. It allows you to put them at ease long before their first visit.
A digital marketing strategy looks at every aspect of the journey and asks questions along the way.
- How will they connect with you?
- What information do they need before they enter your office?
- What can they do in the comfort of their own homes?
- What forms and processes can you digitize to reduce duplicate input and potential errors?
- What would make the entire process more effective for the patient? For you?
This is the time to dream. Because every step you make has the potential for refinement, to make it more effective. That’s where working with a digital marketing firm that is experienced in patient engagement helps you make your current system better.
Proactive Reputation Management
Some patients love you. Some don’t. It happens with every practice. Healthcare providers understand that.
But if you aren’t paying attention to your online reputation, you’re missing out on a valuable resource for stronger patient engagement. People look to online reviews as much as they do personal recommendations.
You may appreciate great reviews from your client base, but are you taking a proactive role in what’s being said about you online? Ask your clients to leave reviews. Use review platforms to help build a stellar online reputation. It takes work, but the end result is worth it.
What’s Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
If you’re in healthcare, you can no longer ignore digital marketing. It’s how people find you. How people engage with you. How you create customers for life.
Need help identifying your target audience and crafting an online strategy to help you with patient engagement? We can help. With technology evolving at breakneck speed, it’s time to start building for your future.
