Potential patients search for a reputable physician they can trust. This is one of the reasons why a strong online presence is essential for medical practices. A professional website with high-quality content can help.
What’s the Difference Between a Website and an Online Presence?
A website is a presence online, but it may not have the kind of presence it needs to survive the competition. Simply having a medical site is not likely to generate views, appointments, or income. Online marketing is necessary for that.
Part of online marketing involves user engagement. By having a reviews section with several positive comments, the reputation of a company begins. A practice can successfully build their online presence by keeping up with their patients and making feedback possible.
If a website does not have daily updated content and patient reviews, this can hinder the business. Potential patients may want your services, but if they can’t find the company they won’t know who to call.
Creating an Online Presence
An online presence may look effortless, but it’s not. A strong online presence requires specific timelines for publishing posts and social engagement. This is how a site gains popularity.
Successful sites are optimized for search engines. This is done through a variety of methods including specific keywords and regular content. Written content is especially handy when using SEO, but it can be incorporated through photo descriptions as well.
Linking all social media sites to the company page is another way to gain page views. Once the site itself has attracted potential patients, reviews and engagement are right around the corner.
Publishing Strategies for Medical Practices
Marketing for medical practices is not the same as marketing for other types of businesses. The detail involved is extremely important when explaining certain procedures and striking the right balance between medical information and a common tone can be difficult.
Although they may seem similar, sales and marketing are not the same. Sales is a practice that involves direct transaction. Marketing is about attracting a wider audience that may turn into potential clients. Before most sales occur, a strong marketing strategy must be planned.
Marketing for medical practices involves unique writing. The marketing strategy itself must be tweaked to fit the practice. Strategic publishing helps physicians connect to current, previous, and future patients.
What Does “Publishing” Mean?
The word “publishing” means different things to different people. While it was once considered an industry primarily for books and magazines, online marketing has expanded the definition.
Online publishing for websites includes posting on social media accounts in addition to the site itself. Typically more than one social media platform is used in addition to the main site. Having a social media platform as the sole website is uncommon for medical practices.
Publishing content is not necessarily the same as posting a blog, but it can incorporate that model. Common forms of content include videos, blogs, newsletters, and front page service descriptions. Newsletters are growing in popularity because of its perceived intimacy straight from the physician to the individual.
Regardless of the form, a strong publishing presence involves posting content on a regular basis. This does not necessarily mean a daily basis, but it does mean each piece of content needs to be posted at a specific time and date. Depending on the type of practice, these times can vary due to the particular audience.
A specific publishing strategy is used for each medical practice. This is based on the individual business, industry, and audience. The bulk of online marketing can be executed once the publishing strategy is created.
Building a Strategy That Works
Building an online presence usually takes multiple platforms. Some of these platforms include Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok. Social media is one of the best ways to engage people because of all the outlets available for comments.
Positive reviews are crucial for medical practices. This allows prospective patients to trust the physicians. A strong reputation is the equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing. It is extremely effective.
To reach the top ranks of Google, a website must be kept current. This means content is typically published on a weekly basis. However, publishing content at certain times does not necessarily mean it is created at that time.
Creating posts ahead of time can help keep a publishing strategy running smoothly. Posts, videos, and photos that are “evergreen” may be posted at any time.
Measuring Success
Gaining a patient or receiving a positive email is certainly worth celebrating, but it could just be random luck. Just because a call-to-action has happened does not mean it is because the marketing strategy is working.
To truly understand if a publishing strategy is working it must be measured with real data. This is typically done using several methods.
Measuring site traffic is one way. This does not mean that only interested web viewers are counted. This means that every page view is calculated regardless if the person called to make an appointment.
Social media engagement can also be measured in numbers. Comments, likes, and shares are all ways to assess site engagement. Depending on the social media platform these comments and likes may be separated into demographics to better understand the audience.
Email subscribers do not usually happen in the early stages of a marketing campaign. Once posts are published on a regular basis, potential clients are often more likely to subscribe to a newsletter. This is one way to gain direct access to specific individuals.
After a publishing schedule has been determined the site will be continually monitored for new metrics. Leads generated may take longer to count, but this metric is often the most valuable.
Improving an Online Presence
A strong online presence will improve the reputation of any company. When the company is a practice, its reputation is much more critical. To learn more about publishing strategies for medical practices, contact Tom Seery, the CEO of Surgeons Advisor.
