Is Your Practice Visible Enough?
2020 has changed the way people seek and receive healthcare. Effects of this fundamental shift are also seen on dental professionals and extend directly to the world of marketing.
Let me give you an example, did you even think of buying clothes or groceries online 20 years ago? However it’s now so common to order veggies, food and even medicines online. Isn’t it?
The very same way, in the past a reference from friends or family used to be enough for patients to consult a doctor, however that’s not how it works today. Today, despite getting a reference, patients surf the internet and try to find out further information about the doctor. They visit the websites, read testimonials, check reviews and then make the decision.
Of course, this pattern may not work in case of medical emergencies however those who are not in a hurry or looking for treatments like Hair transplant, Lasik surgery, Cosmetic dental treatments etc. definitely take some time to find out what’s right for them?
Do you think there’s anything wrong with this? Even we as a consumer follow the same pattern manier times and it’s absolutely okay to take an informed decision, isn’t it?
You may not be aware of the fact that Millions of searches are being done every day to find the right doctor.
According to a survey conducted in 2021, 5% of total google searches are health related. Over 60% of patients run a search online before scheduling an appointment and the number for dentists is 71%.
Reading a review is the first touch point where patients get a feel/sense of your practice. 84% of patients would trust customer reviews as much as a recommendation. In the coming years you would see millennials relaying much more on the online metrics and making practice switch decisions.
This makes it very important that your practice has enough online visibility so that these patients can find you and get their treatment. Isn’t it?
The 1st thing to do is evaluate the level of Online Visibility you have, and let me show you how to do it?
EVALUATE YOUR BASIC ONLINE PRESENCE
Like we discussed, patients who get your reference by their friends and family members are likely to search & find more information about you. While doing this they will either search by your name or your hospital's name.
Do this exercise yourself and check if your or your hospital’s details are available or not. If you can’t find your details then there are high chances that you are losing a lot of patients and you need to fix it immediately. How? I’ll cover that up at the end.
EVALUATE YOUR EXTENDED ONLINE PRESENCE
There would be many patients who do not know about you or heard about your hospital but are looking for a specialist like you. Such patients usually search with different keywords which include either the medical specialty or the problem they are suffering.
For example: Skin Specialist, Dentist, Eye specialist or Braces treatment, Kidney stone treatment etc.
Now do this second exercise with some of the keywords related to your specialty and treatments you offer and check your visibility. If you find yourself in the 1st page for these keywords then that’s good but if not then what are the chances that these users will become your patients?
As far as the current trend is concerned, it's very important that you have a strong basic and extended online presence. Here are a few things to keep in mind or you need to know to achieve a great marketing strategy.
A. Google Business Profile.
Creating a Google Business listing is FREE and it’s very crucial to have it well maintained. Ensure that your listing is in your control and you can manage it yourself. Do check the address and contact details provided are accurate.
You can watch this video to know 10 Things Google Listing can help you: https://youtu.be/twbGSbI_n30
B. Website & SEO
Having a well designed and optimised website helps you to establish a good extended online presence. You can take help from a marketing agency having experience in Medical Marketing to design a beautiful website and strengthen your SEO.
They say you can hide a dead body on the 2nd page of google. Just kidding! but it's definitely true
C. Reputation Management.
Be subtle while managing your online profile. Doctors are perceived as life savers and marketing healthcare is a sensitive topic. Go easy on selling and show genuine patient care. you can add your closing lines here.
You should keep checking your overall profile and reviews periodically. Respond to positive and negative reviews. Remember only positive reviews give a sense of being the profile fake so let those one or two bad reviews reflect however it’s very crucial to respond to them which does not put your reputation down.
If you need any assistance in any of the above areas then feel free to connect with me, we can have a one to one Zoom call and discuss the solutions.
