Attracting new patients to your medical practice/clinic is one of the biggest challenges healthcare professionals are facing. It demands hard work and a solid marketing strategy in order to do so. In order for a practice to grow it needs a steady flow of new patients. While new patient attraction is crucial for growth it’s important not to neglect your old patients. Retaining old patients is another challenge in itself.

Relying on traditional marketing techniques and word of mouth is an unreliable source as you have no control or way to measure the results. We’ve come up with 6 proven ways that can help your medical practice thrive in 2019.

Start Blogging
In the online world of marketing content is king. Content will help boost your website in the search engines and improve your overall SEO thus generating more traffic to your site and generate new patients. Blogging also gives you the ability to develop thought leadership within your given field which will allow you to build trust amongst your audience. You can use your blog to provide wellness tips, announce offers or updates on your business to your audience. Blogging can be promoted on your social media for maximum outreach and increase engagement rates as well.
Be Consistent on Social Media
Aside from blogging, social media is one of the most effective way to generate new business. It’s been proven that businesses that publish consistently on social media platforms generate more business than those who don’t. Posting once every few days isn’t going to cut it. You need to be posting content everyday to stay at the front of mind with your audience. Post valuable content and don’t post pictures of cats. Post should be adding value to your audience. Answer questions you hear often from your patients, talk about your clinic and history, tell your audience about your treatments or even show off your work in before and after pictures. There are countless ways to leverage social media for patient generation but it takes time and effort to make it work effectively.
Email Marketing
In marketing data is your best friend and if used correctly it can produce great results. Through the use of email you can keeping in touch with existing patients reminding them of their new appointment, latest promotions you having going on or industry related news. Email marketing is still a great way to get some quick wins as you already have the data and target audience. It’s just a matter of putting a plan in place and executing it to help drive more appointments.
Invest in SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine optimisation and it’s what Google uses to determine where your website ranks in their search engine. SEO can be a tricky subject to get your head around so it’s advised to hire an expert to do this. SEO consists of crawling your entire website and optimising it for relevant keywords that your potential audience will be searching for (Eg “Dermatologist in Dublin”) to ensure that when they search for that specific keyword your website pops up. There are many types of SEO and you should start with local SEO which will help you to attract local patients within the area you are operating in.
Invest in Google and Facebook Ads
Google Adwords and Facebook Ads can be great ways to gain exposure for your business. Through Google you can bid on specific keywords that your target audience is searching which will then place your website at the top of the ranks when searched for. Facebook ads can also be very effective allowing you to target people who have already visited your website through Facebooks retargeting ads.
Encourage Testimonials, Case Studies and Reviews
Try get as many reviews on Google, get testimonials off your happy patients and build up your website with positive case studies. These will all greatly increase new patient generation and help your website rank higher in the search engines. Posting case studies on social media is a great way to increase traffic and engagement amongst your audience. Offer some form of incentive to your patients through email marketing to encourage them to leave a review about their experience in your practice/clinic. Not only will it help with maintaining patient relationships but will also help build your creditability in your field and get your name out there.

If you’re looking to grow your medical practice but are unsure on how to do some of the above we’d be more than happy to have a chat. Feel free to reach out to use via email - info@mofadigital.com for a no obligation chat