Do doctors and other professionals in the healthcare industry need digital marketing to promote their services? Indeed, they do. After all, getting new patients is quite a challenge for physicians today. Right now, doctors, clinics, hospitals, and other medical professionals and healthcare establishments spend as much money as they can to set up lavish infrastructures and purchase modern equipment. Even after that, they don’t get as many inquiries as they expect. Fortunately, it’s possible to counter this situation with Digital Marketing for Doctors in India. As only 4.3% of all doctors in the subcontinent utilize the power of digital marketing, you can gain a lot from this untapped market.
Tips & Tricks for Digital Marketing for Doctors or Clinic
- A website: So, how should physicians enter the sphere of digital marketing? What’s the first thing they need? The main component of every digital marketing strategy is a website. In fact, every doctor needs one right now. For a medical specialist, a website is like a visiting card. It can facilitate the service provider’s branding-related attempts. It has to be navigable enough to help patients find the information they seek about you online.
- Marketing via email: It’s of the utmost importance for a physician or healthcare establishment to provide value to patients. You have to keep them informed about different health-related subjects, and you can do it via email newsletters. Email marketing has been around for some time, but you can still use it today. Some people may suggest staying away from it, but the providers of the best digital marketing services for clinics won’t. Apart from keeping patients updated, email marketing will allow you to keep track of their reports.
- Social media: Social media isn’t just for making friends, texting, or socializing. It happens to be one of the most effective platforms available to business owners. In fact, you can use it to build your brand without spending an arm and a leg to do so. Social media makes it easy for doctors to indulge in personal branding. As the platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have millions of users, physicians and healthcare establishments can connect with them easily.
- Videos: If you’re going to incorporate digital marketing strategies, you have to use videos to your advantage. The best platform for videos is, of course, YouTube. At least, in India, YouTube is the most widely-used video streaming platform. Videos are crucial because an individual would prefer watching a video on a specific subject rather than going through a long blog post full of textual information. As a doctor, you need to come up with informative, as well as engaging videos to be able to retain the interest of a viewer.
- Reviews and testimonials: Testimonials, reviews, and feedback from patients play a crucial role in building trust. Every doctor must acquire patient reviews and share the same on their social media business channels and websites. Some patients may not agree to it, but others will record video-based testimonials for you. You can put those testimonials on display via YouTube or any social media platform.
- Blogs and articles: While most folks prefer watching videos compared to reading blogs, you mustn’t avoid blogging or writing articles altogether. You should consider writing blogs every day that your patients will read and share over social media. Publishing articles are blogs can help you profoundly in setting up your brand. Blogging is extremely effective, specifically for physicians and healthcare facilities.
- Paid advertisements: As a medical professional, you must consider running paid advertising campaigns for your services on platforms like Facebook and Google to display your ads in front of a wider audience. The best thing about these two platforms is that they allow you to avoid targeting people you don’t need to. You’ll ensure your ads appear in front of individuals in need of a physician’s services. Just remember to go through the terms and conditions of the advertising platform you’re going to use.
- Directories: You already know about social media marketing for doctors. However, if you wish to approach digital marketing in a more all-inclusive manner, you should enlist the details of your healthcare facility on online directories. They’ll help bolster your local SEO. In other words, your medical business will gain more exposure locally. When it comes to using directories, GMB or Google My Business is the most trustworthy platform.
- Local SEO: As an extension of the previous point, you’ll need local SEO because most patients prefer visiting a doctor operating closest to them. Besides, one shouldn’t expect a patient in critical condition to cover a massive distance to see a physician. Naturally, it’s mandatory for physicians and healthcare establishments to run local SEO for their businesses and associated services. To that end, fill up your Google My Business page with your address, contact number, and other pieces of information.
- Event marketing: Doctors often have to attend welfare camps and other similar events. There was a time when doctors didn’t have the means to inform people about these events. Today, with all the various measures of communication available, you can promote the events you attend. In fact, it’s your responsibility to let everyone know about these events. Social media platforms with live streaming features, such as Facebook Live and Instagram Live will allow you to do it.
Importance of digital marketing for Doctors
It’s somewhat difficult to explain the importance of digital marketing for doctors. In today’s day and age, for a physician to succeed in the competitive market of healthcare services, digital marketing can prove to be a lifesaver. Then again, physicians are busy people. They often don’t even get time to sit down and eat something during meal times. If you’re a doctor, or if you run a medical establishment, you should contact a digital marketing agency to take care of all digital marketing chores on your behalf.