With each new year, new marketing trends arise in every industry, and the medical profession is no exception. As the public shifts its attention toward new platforms, how can your organization position itself to meet users where they are most active?
Today’s healthcare landscape is more competitive than ever before. With the rise of telemedicine and other advancements in medical technology, organizations are continuously looking for ways to stand out from their competition. In order to stay ahead of the digital marketing game in 2023 and beyond, it is important for medical organizations to leverage effective digital marketing tactics.
Let’s take a deeper look into some of the best practices that can be used by medical organizations as part of their digital marketing strategy in 2023.
TikTok and Instagram
In a report by Forbes, 33% of Gen Zers use TikTok as a trusted source of medical information. Whenever we hear that a social media platform is being frequented for medical insights, it’s easy to cringe at the thought or brush it off as something not worth taking seriously.
Instead, the popularity of video-based platforms like TikTok provides ample opportunities for doctors to share credible, highly specialized medical insights with young people. This can serve to both promote your organization as well as inspire teens and young adults to learn more about their health.
In an environment like the social media ecosphere where anyone can post anything, the need for credible information rises. As a medical professional, sharing accurate and factual information can help to increase medical literacy on platforms where online engagement is at its highest.
Videos that you create on TikTok can also be posted to Instagram in the form of Reels. Reels mimic the format and user features of a TikTok video with some minor differences. You will be able to share the same video across multiple platforms without the labor-intensive process of creating unique creative assets for each one.
YouTube
Long-form video content can help to showcase your organization’s medical expertise and ease patient anxiety about specific treatments or procedures. If you plan to upload a video lasting over one minute in length, place it on your YouTube channel where lengthy videos remain king.
YouTube videos can also be embedded onto your website. Add them to pages with similar information to add more context and offer an alternative way for your visitors to consume the content you’re presenting.
Local SEO
Unlike a nationwide SEO campaign, local SEO involves optimizing your digital presence to rank highly on organic search results within your geographic region. Some key tactics of local SEO include:
Google Business Profile
Formerly known as Google My Business, Google Business Profile allows you to upload all relevant information that search users need to know about your healthcare organization. You can upload photos of your facility, business hours, contact information, address information, and much more. You can also collect reviews from patients through Google and respond to them with your profile.
Accurate business information can also be imported into other useful Google tools for patients to easily find your office. For example, address information can be pulled into Google Maps so that people searching on the app can find your location and instantly receive driving directions.
Local Provider Directories
Keep all of your business information up to date on all relevant provider directories. These can include ones specific to the medical profession, such as insurance network listings as well as general ones like Yelp.
Your Website
If you serve a specific region, use local city, town, and county names in your website copy that potential patients in your area might search for. For example, if you are marketing your urgent care based in St. Louis, Missouri, a keyword to target through your website content could be “Urgent care St. Louis”.
With keywords, it’s important not to shoehorn them in awkward places on your website. Mention local city, town, and county names tastefully throughout your content so that you can add more context for search engine algorithms that are indexing your pages.
Another effective strategy for introducing more local keywords to your website is to set up individual location pages on your website. For example, if you have more than one urgent care location, make a page for each one with their respective business information. If you only operate one location, you can create pages that highlight nearby cities and towns nearby a significant portion of your recent patients live.
Email Marketing
Email marketing has reigned as one of the most effective channels for medical organizations for years. Why? Many aspects of patient relations are already conducted over email, such as appointment confirmations and reminders.
Create a short, easy-to-use email signup form on your website to collect email addresses from visitors. Once you build a list, you can start sending them helpful content focused on health-related topics, retargeting recipients with advertisements, and send updates about your business, such as changes in hours or new locations.
Within each email, include an engaging call-to-action that motivates readers to engage further. This could take the form of a clickable button to schedule an appointment, to visit your blog for more helpful articles, and many other similar destinations.
Update Your Digital Patient Experience
Medicine has become an increasingly more contactless experience. Continuing to innovate these features and capabilities for patients can increase their satisfaction and inspire them to return in the future.
Features like virtual waiting rooms, online check-ins, virtual queuing, and digital patient intake forms all allow people to prepare for their visits in places where they are most comfortable, such as at home or in their cars. In turn, this also reduces time spent in the waiting room and places less strain on your staff, automating many of these recurring tasks.
Develop Your Own Marketing Strategy for 2023
At ER Express, we offer innovative, 100% white-labeled digital solutions to help your urgent care, emergency department, or veterinary practice offer an incredible experience. As part of our commitment to helping you succeed, we also offer free marketing support – including a customized campaign to help generate the results you’re looking for.
To learn more about our solutions for your organization, contact us today to request a demo.
