Monday 19 November 2012

Medical Marketing in Yellow Pages

When a doctor decides to step into the world of advertising, he/she often thinks of Yellow Pages as a useful tactic. Generally, the Yellow Pages are considered the second best marketing investment after the internet. A perfectly crafted advertisement in the Yellow Pages may not bring in hoards of patients, but will give your practice enough exposure to ensure a reasonable flow of patients. Let’s say, ROI should be around 3:1 rather than 20:1. That’s exceptional as compared to ROI from other marketing avenues. 

In the current scenario, patients turn to their insurance plan benefit books to find a relevant doctor, but every now and then go through the Yellow Pages as well. The patients who turn to the Yellow Pages to find a physician are new to the community, or new enough to be a first time consumer of medical care. In a society where isolation of the individual and transience of our population leaves many patients without trusted friends, patients are looking for a specialist to whom they can refer themselves.

When a patient opens a Yellow page, we have fair bit of idea, he/she is looking for physician practice, specialty, and services closer home. Patients get attracted to those advertisements, which are characterized by an image, price, working hours, etc. Knowing these factors, we can easily design an ad targeting the specific type of patients we want. Usually, there are three types of ads available:
  • Regular listings: Short and simple. These are small lines that every doctor possesses. Free of cost in general listings and paid in Special listings. In addition, bold, color and extra lines attract more investment.
  • Informational listings: These are the ones in column, highlighted by the boxes with expanded information and some customization available.
  • Display ads: These are the best of the lot with colorful content out of the column.

There are certain things that you need to keep in mind before thinking of advertising in the Yellow Pages. Give a reason for potential patients to believe why you are an expert in your field.


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