Today, patients have a lot more options to choose from because of the abundance of information readily available in the internet. They can now easily and quickly locate hospitals and health care facilities near them any time using their own gadgets. For this reason, it is now crucial to have an effective hospital marketing strategy in place. This helps you connect with both new and recurring patients within your locality every single day.
There’s a change that you may already be contented with the current number of patients you are entertaining. However, you still have the freedom to pursue a strategic hospital marketing campaign to maintain a positive brand. Consider every reason why a person would opt to change hospitals. This could be because of switching to another insurance provider, transfer of residence, displeasure with long queues, or simply a single bad experience. This means there is no guarantee that you will be able to maintain the same number of patients constantly.
A hospital marketing strategy is a financial decision. It’s possible that you’ll be hiring external help and arrange for a bigger budget than before. Ultimately though, it is worth every penny you spend. You will feel more confident and assured of your hospital’s future as your number of patients increase like you have never witnessed in the past. To help you along, here are 3 important things that you should include in your hospital marketing strategy.
Educational and Inspirational Video Content
More and more internet users are relying on video content. As a matter of fact, a third of the entire online activities involves video sharing and viewing. You want to capture your doctors on screen talking about their respective field of specialty. This improves their authority and captures audiences who are searching for what they have to offer.
Seeing a physician on video explaining an illness or treatment can give patients a sense of comfort. This is particularly true if they are schedule to meet a doctor for a medical procedure. Videos allow patients to feel like they are connected with the doctor. They feel more comfortable once they see the doctor’s facial expression, gestures or just hear his or her voice.
Video is also a superb tool in highlighting patient testimonials. It’s even more powerful than the best written testimonials in your blog or website. This is because it allows a patient to see another patient’s experience in action, and hear the physician, patient and relatives relating the experience from start to finish. The emotions captured on video can never be portrayed fully in any written content.
Robust SEO Elements
Even if you have a perfect-looking, highly informative website, blog, email and video, they still won’t be of use if your target audience won’t find them. With search engine optimization (SEO), you’ll be able to improve the number and quality of organic traffic. This can be achieved by focusing your content on the exact keywords that prospective clients type on the search box.
In the event that your hospital is operating with a number of lines, it would be wise to conduct keyword research first. You can make the process more effective and efficient with the use of tools such as SEMrush or the HubSpot. These two will help you find the best keywords to rank on for every page. Focus on keywords that are presently directing traffic towards your site and those of your competitors.
Developing a sound Social Media Strategy
Does your hospital or clinic engage in social media? If it’s not, then you are foregoing an enormous opportunity to reach out to your target clients. Once it is employed effectively, Social media is a powerful tool to promote your brand and business.
As a matter of fact, 6 out of ten social media users are more inclined to believe on social media posts and activities by physicians compared to all other groups. Thus, you want to carefully strategize on every post that you intend to make. Ensure that all your posts are made in advance and that they provide an assortment of content. Your social media activities allows you to better connect with your patients. It also helps establish your brand and develop authority and trustworthiness.