5 Costly Medical Practice Marketing Mistakes
by Mashum Mollah Health Care Services 26 September 2020
You ought to have a good marketing strategy to compete in any high-paced industry. The healthcare space has evolved rapidly since the start of the century, and that has had something to do with the fluctuations in marketing techniques. Sadly, many marketers in the industry have not been able to keep abreast of these changes, leading to stagnation, or worse, regressive growth relative to the market average. Here are five common marketing mistakes to avoid if you want to expedite your growth in the healthcare industry:
5 Costly Medical Practice Marketing Mistakes:
1. Not having a business strategy
Having a business strategy is vital to your growth. Without a proper strategy, you won’t have a clear objective, something your marketing strategy will likely lack too.
A business plan requires healthcare professionals to define their practice’s strengths, growth path, differentiators, financial forecasts, and ultimate business goals. A proper marketing strategy must factor in all these elements.
2. Failing to study the competition
Understanding your competition is essential to the preparation of a proper business plan and marketing strategy. When we say the competition, we’re not talking about the market leaders; just the practices in your backyard with the same financial muscle as you. Take the time to understand what your competitors are doing and formulate a strategy exploiting their weaknesses. Don’t shy away from analyzing and using their strengths, too.
3. Overlooking search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engines have the most sway on where organic traffic on the internet ends up. If your web pages and blog posts are not optimized, Google’s tools will struggle to make sense of your content, and, consequently, fail to show it in relevant organic searches. Good SEO for medical practices can help promote your healthcare site and increase its ranking on search engine result pages.
4. Failure to get on social media
Social networking platforms may not be a formal way of passing messages to patients and potential clients, but they are effective and incredibly affordable. Surveys show that many people, mainly millennials, start their searches on social media when looking for a product or service. These are opportunities you don’t want to miss out on. Ensure you have an account on each of the top social networking platforms. Post as much relevant content as you can, and make sure to respond to questions and suggestions from your clients and prospects.
5. Taking referrals for granted
Client referral programs have been around for a long time, and are still thriving even in the presence of digital marketing. When a healthcare practice has high-volume referrers, it should do everything to nurture and protect them. Think about it – what if the referrers responsible for a third of your client base chose to partner with another practice? Certainly, they are bound to move out with some of your business. Prevent this by always thanking those who refer you, encouraging them to continue.
Endnote
Mistakes are part of any success story. However, you don’t have to go through the hassle of picking yourself up when you can avoid the mistakes in the first place. Use the above tips to understand what your competitors have gone through so you can streamline your journey to the top.
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