Does My Medical Practice Really Need Marketing?
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People often see medical facilities as something that doesn’t need marketing. They understand that these clinics are businesses, but they don’t see them the same way as they see other businesses. How useful could marketing really be? If people living nearby get ill then they’ll come. If they’re not ill, then they won’t. If they’re not nearby, they’ll probably go somewhere else. When you put it like this, it starts to sound like owners of medical practices don’t have much control over failure or success. Everything is just sort of left to luck, outside of actual placement of your business.
It’s true that there are a lot of things about a medical business that sets it way apart from other businesses. But the fact is that these practices often have to engage in things that any other business would have to engage in. And that includes marketing.
Considering online inquiries
Much of the talk of modern marketing these days involves the Internet. Focus tends to be placed on the website of any business. It’s seen as the most valuable marketing tool any company can have. That’s because getting someone to view your website is often the best way of converting them into a customer.
Most medical practices have some form of inquiry system on their website. This allows people to interact with your business online before decided whether or not to make an appointment. It’s one of the best ways of getting people to come to your clinic, even if most people don’t actually come. You need to remember that this is a form of conversion. By getting more people onto your website, you’ll get more inquiries, thus more chances to convert.
The techniques you need to consider
Medical marketing is, in many ways, like marketing in other businesses. The key is getting the word out there as much as possible, often with your website at the center of attention. Website design will be considered, social media will be utilized, branding will be better defined.
Understanding these various techniques is important. You can, of course, outsource these sorts of jobs. But even if you outsource them, it’s still best that you understand them and their related principles. Consider the concept of conversion that I’ve been mentioning. This is a key concept in both SEO and CRO. It’s worth doing a little research so you can ensure you hire a worthy outsourcer.
Marketing is needed because things have changed
People don’t usually think about medical practices doing marketing because it’s relatively new. It’s not just because medical professionals didn’t want to engage in these sorts of sales activities. (Though that was certainly part of it, and is a prevalent attitude to this day.) It was simply because they didn’t really need it.
It used to be that referrals were enough to keep a practice going strong. This was definitely the case if the professional in question was a specialist. But due to increased insurance complications and funding pressures, things have changed. While it’s doing a lot of good, the Affordable Care Act has seen sensitive changes to traditional business models. There’s now no question that marketing is required to help keep a practice going.
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