Consumer-Driven Healthcare Marketing: Have You Met Your Match?

14 Jul Consumer-Driven Healthcare Marketing: Have You Met Your Match?

How’s your healthcare marketing strategy?

As a doctor, surgeon or specialist, you’re excellent at what you do. When it comes to healthcare marketing in the 21st century, however, being great is not necessarily enough. In days past, patients were generally looking for a good doctor. They wanted someone who would listen to them and, most importantly, make them better. Today’s patients are no different than any other consumers, however. As a medical professional, part of your job is to effectively market to patients in a way that will make them want to come and get what you have to offer.

Healthcare Marketing: Are You Giving Your Patients What They Want?

So, what are patients looking for? Here’s a short list:

• Patients are looking for doctors who accept their insurance coverage. The fact is, money talks. With many people paying high premiums for what may or may not be adequate insurance coverage, every dollar matters. (Note that this can be worked around by being transparent about what you charge, by offering different payment options, and by explaining why your charges are different than their insurance company’s UCR.)
• Patients are looking for convenience. If it’s easy to access your office to make an appointment or to ask questions, that raises your attractiveness as a medical provider.
• Patients want bells and whistles. If you serve coffee in your waiting room or offer transportation or other perks, this is something many patients/consumers will appreciate.

Check Your Healthcare Marketing Strategies

In order to let your patients know about the services and products you can offer, you’re going to need to step up your healthcare marketing strategies. Here are a few ideas:

• Go mobile. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Most of your patients are likely using smartphones to access health information. This might not be the case if your services are geared toward those age 65 and over, but if you tend to cater to a younger demographic, it is essential to make sure that a good portion of your healthcare marketing dollars are going toward mobile marketing! The cold, hard truth is that if you do not have a website that is easy to access via a smartphone or other mobile device, some of your potential patients are simply going to go elsewhere.
• Use a variety of marketing strategies. Not every strategy will appeal to every patient. This is why it’s important to diversify your efforts. Open up social media accounts (and keep them updated!). Start a blog. Create incentives to get your patients to leave you reviews on medical review sites. Write an e-book. Send out email newsletters. Put an ad on the radio. Invest in billboard advertising. Send postcards and other mailers. The more your potential patients hear about you, the more likely they are to call when they have a health problem that you can solve.
• Get involved with your community. Remember, patients are consumers. And like most consumers, they want to give their money to professionals who they feel some bond with. Whether you’re volunteering at the local animal rescue, running in a 5K to raise money for cancer or giving out bottles of water to the homeless on a hot day, potential patients will sit up and take notice. Sometimes your actions can be excellent advertising.

It has never been more important for today’s doctors and other healthcare providers to keep up with a consumer-driven world. If your healthcare marketing strategy needs anything from a tune-up to a complete overhaul, the marketing experts at Healthcare Marketing Group can get you on track to where you want to be. Give us a call at 800-258-0702 to schedule a free consultation. We want to help you shake things up and reach heights you’ve only dreamed of. Call today!