How have you been getting your name out there?

Ask most doctors in private practices if they market themselves and you will get a derisive laugh, followed by comments like “I don’t have the time”, “I don’t know how” or I don’t find it becoming for a professional.

Yet, since marketing is essentially telling the public where you are located and what services you provide, I ask have you been getting your name out there?

Can you imagine telling people where your office is located but they have to guess what services you provide?   What about telling people what you do but then saying they have to guess where the office is located?  Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

It used to be that patients relied on recommendations from family or friends to choose a doctor. Now they just look up doctor’s information online. Studies show that as many as 8 out of 10 people will search for their physicians online before ever making an appointment.

To market is to survive in business If you don’t, how will you help your patients to survive?

Some health professionals use their knowledge and expertise to inform their patients and their communities about medical problems and the latest treatments.  They are incorporating social media strategies into their marketing to inform and engage prospective patients.

              Which tactics make sense for you?

It’s tough to know that you can’t see your patients in the office due to the current health crisis and mandated isolation. It’s even tougher to know that your patients need help and if you can’t help them they are going elsewhere.

It’s tough to see your once-thriving practice lose a flood of patients. And it’s tough to see your revenue stream plummeting and not being able to keep your current staff.

                           But it doesn’t have to be this way!

For me, the pivotal moment came when I found mentors to help create a system that doesn’t steal time from the office or home, attracts ideal patients, and provides fulfillment.

As an active physician in private practice, I’ve worked in the trenches like you. I know what works in terms of medical promotions and how to grow a practice. I went from no patients to over 10,000 active patients in my practice.

Now I empower physicians with the tools and strategies they need to excel in private practice, avoiding obstacles and attracting ideal patients to grow their business. Patients need to see caring doctors who have their messages to get out. When patients most need to see their doctors, they should be available to them. My mission is to help these doctors succeed with my system. “Patients On Demand”.

 

                         3 Tips and Mistakes to Avoid

For now, I would like to touch upon 3 tips that you can implement right away and mistakes to avoid.

  1. Your Website: Don’t have a website? Then you don’t exist!

Websites aren’t just nice to have, it’s a crucial strategy to educate patients and attract prospective patients. Simply having a website isn’t enough. You need to stand out.

Okay, maybe you’re saying that with insurance participation lists, you are busy enough!

The thing is, having an effective website actually saves you a lot of time.

Do you find yourself answering the same questions with many of your patients each day?  Add a FAQ sheet to your online content. Post what makes a good candidate for your services, indications, and contraindications for procedures. Postoperative instructions. Videos on medical devices and techniques. The list is endless. So, let’s make your website effective.

Mistake to avoid- Not optimizing your website

Consider what people use when searching the net to find you- these are your keywords. Having them on your site helps define your services and lets search engines know what you are all about. Good rankings =page one. Poor= obscurity

According to research from Vistaprint Digital, consumers say the biggest mistake a small business can make with its website is to include outdated contact information.

Other major mistakes include failing to post an address and hours (41.5% say this leaves a bad impression), not including product information (34.3%), and having an unprofessional design (26.2%).

Some 28.9% of consumers surveyed consider a small business website outdated if it has not been updated in more than six months; 24.8% say a website is outdated if it has not been updated in more than one month.

Purpose

Have clear messages as to what your services are. When people come to your site, let them see right away what you’re all about. Write to your audience and provide solutions to the problems they are struggling with.

Mistake- Not having a blog

Patients want to connect with and trust their doctors.  Patients want to get to know you, the health professional as a person. A blog reflects the real, personable side of your practice and should offer original added content. It’s a great way to connect with your patients.

A blog permits you to

  • Create fresh content, which is great for your patients but also for SEO
  • Become established as an authority and thought leader
  • Drive more traffic to your website
  • Engage and inform your patients

Mistake-Making your website and its content static instead of dynamic.

Static websites are boring; they’re just not relevant to today’s Internet culture. They represent the bare minimum of what a website should be. They’re very basic and plain, maybe with a few Flash graphics and a campaign—not much to get excited about. On top of that, their content isn’t shareable, so it doesn’t go very far. These days, websites should integrate search, social media, content, and blogging. They should be multifaceted and create a positive and interactive user experience. The user should be able to do more, not less than they were expecting to on your website. And since users want to be educated, you need to add variety and interest to the information you present to them. Traffic from blogs, social media, and organic and paid search results end up being converted into leads or sales on your main website, which is why having a dynamic website is so crucial.

Have 5 Tabs on your site including the Homepage, About page, Products or Services, Blog Page, and Contact page.

Marketing isn’t just about trying to promote your services to patients; it’s also about managing your reputation and building relationships. Now with the help of websites like Yelp, Vitals, and Healthgrades, patients have access to reviews and information about a doctor or medical practice. It helps patients to find doctors in their location, and filter by price, neighborhood, ranking, and more. With review sites and medical websites becoming highly relevant, doctors and medical practices need to build a strong online presence for their survival. By having an active website of your own, You Have Greater Control Over Your Image

Doctors and medical practices with a poor online presence could be at a serious disadvantage.

2. Networking: think of which professionals need to refer patients for services that you provide.  While it may seem old-school, here is where you must go in for handshaking.  Introduce yourself to other professionals in your community that would have patients that need you. (Consider this like joint ventures).  You can do this online also but while it is easy to be missed on an email or deleted, it is less likely when you are eyeballs-to-eyeballs. You find them in medical meetings, hospital events, or corridors.  But you need to research all the professionals that can help you and in return that you can help and go to their offices.

A good example is when a radiologist, new to my area, stopped by.  We went for coffee and discussed our patients.  My patients would need X-rays and sonograms and if he found that there was a pelvic mass or pregnancy, he would have to refer his patients to someone… why not me?!

This relationship was beneficial to both of us for many years.  But what if you want to reach out digitally?  Very doable but you need to know what to say and what subject line to use for an open rate since 85% of opens depend on the subject line itself.  This is something that we can tailor to you.

3. Free Publicity: what are you doing that the community would like to know about?  Are you participating in a health fair?  Are you giving a lecture at the local library or local Y? Let the media know about it. Join HARO (help a reporter out)

If you are seeing reimbursements plummet and expenses spiral out of control, all while sacrificing time from home and family then this system is for you. Do you feel that your colleagues get more ideal patients and are better known?

Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to discover how to save time, attract higher quality compliant patients and grow your practice within 8 weeks, all while standing out above your colleagues.

Get a free discovery call by going to https://TheMedicalStrategist.as.me

Are you going to just pull the covers over your head and go back to bed or are you ready for success as we take your practice into the future?

Stay safe and healthy!