Stay in Touch With Your Patient Using Medical Practice Newsletters

Source: Practice Builders

One of the best ways to stay in touch with your patient base is the newsletter. But not one of those canned “off the shelf” medical, dental or physical therapy newsletters you simply just place your logo on.

We’re talking about a real custom newsletter freshly written from the patient’s point of view 4-6 times each year. We’re talking about real news, too. And articles that are more about your patients than about your specialty.

The kind of newsletter we’re talking about is experiencing a resurgence of popularity in some markets. Smart medical, dental practitioners and other healthcare practitioners have learned to speak the language of their most influential patients – women, wives and mothers.

Women are generally the healthcare decision-makers and drivers in their households. Women are the ones who make sure their loved ones get the care they need. And women are the ones who are more likely to read articles about the social aspects of your practice than the clinical aspects (too bad most canned newsletters focus mainly on the clinical).

Has someone on your staff won an award, gotten married or given birth? Has one of your patients done something outstanding for the community or graduated from college or earned a big promotion at work? Is one of your patients famous? Do you know what your patients like to do in their spare time? Or what their hobbies and interests are?

Those are the things your newsletter should be about. Of course, every issue should have one article with something interesting about your specialty. But the rest… lighten up and have some fun with it!

Newsletters that are emailed to your patient base (or eNewsletters) are a very cost effective way to stay in touch with your patient base and do internal marketing for your practice.

Medical Practice Marketing Tip of the Month August - 2013

Source:  Practice Builders

Phone Answering Skills Critical for Medical Practices

First impressions are vital for any business, and your practice is no different. Your office staff is the first impression and the first point of contact for new and prospective patients, and that initial interaction can either make or break your practice.

Many consumers judge the quality of healthcare by how your staff treats them from the first phone call to their most recent appointments. In fact, some studies suggest that the typical healthcare practice loses approximately $50,000 in revenue annually from poor telephone management skills alone. For large group and multi specialty practices, the losses can be significantly higher.

The knowledge required for your staff to contribute to practice growth may not be intuitive, but it is teachable. You can empower your staff to help boost your ROI by training them in simple and efficient ways to provide customer service that enhances their patient experiences. These five steps will help you get there:

Five Steps to Better Phone Answering and Patient Engagement

1. Ensure that you have the right person answering the phone. Is he/she a good communicator, a “people person”, enthusiastic? Having the right personality type is crucial.

2. Ensure that the team member handling the phones is not the same one who greets patients or works with insurance companies and pharmacies. Think of your office phone as your “bat phone.” Don’t put an incoming patient or inquiry on hold while dealing with an insurance company or helping an onsite patient who also deserves your undivided attention.

3. Is your phone team fully trained on your services and practitioners? Ensure that their messaging is always value-based. For example, “I’m so glad you called today! Dr. Jones is one of the few local doctors who is trained in xxx. She’s also a great listener and communicator, so I’m sure you’ll feel like you are in great hands once you meet her.”

4. Ensure that your staff understands the mindset of the caller. Callers are often alarmed, stressed or simply concerned and need an empathetic, helpful person on the other end. Staff should be reminded that they work in the caring industry and a little empathy can go a long way if they know how to listen, affirm and engage each caller in helpful conversation.

5. Close every call. Too many phone staffers never even try to book an appointment. Too many give out pricing information but leave the caller to think about next steps. Consider incenting your team members for each appointment they book.

Whether it is role-playing, phone skills training or individual counseling, by giving your staff the skills to do their jobs more effectively, you can build a better practice and ensure that your employees feel like active, fully engaged members of the team.

Need more strategies for capturing your share of new patients and revenue? Call us at 800.679.1200 or email us at info@practicebuilders.com to speak to a seasoned program consultant.

Why It Is Essential For Doctors to Market Their Practice

In the yester years, we hardly saw doctors marketing their practice. Thanks to the strong referral system, there was no need to advertise or promote a medical practice. Medical professionals hardly knew what marketing was in those times. The competition was less and a positive word of mouth was enough for prospective patients to get an idea of the respective practice. 

A famous quote, “Time never stays the same” is perfect for describing the current state of the healthcare industry. A lot has changed from the old times. Nowadays, doctors need to learn the art of marketing. The scenario is such that if they do not, their practice will be doomed!

One of the critical factors as to why every doctor should market his practice is the way people are approaching to find information on medical practices. Preferences have changed immensely. Earlier print advertising was the dominant form. Now, it has paved way to a more accomplished, cost-effective and reliable internet. The fundamentals of today’s medical marketing involve a website design, quality SEO, an active social media profile, and blogging among others. 

It is not easy to take time off the schedule to indulge in marketing agenda being a medical professional. A big question always looms over every doctor or physician. How am I supposed to manage work and at the same time market my services? This part has been clear to physicians who have regularly marketed their services that successful marketing requires time investment. 

Those in the initial segment of marketing may find it hard to battle against time. However, one good and supposedly quintessential thing about medical marketing is that it can easily be outsourced. Medical marketing agencies can perform the task of echoing your services to a larger audience in their hands so that you can completely focus on your profession. And believe me, these agencies are damn good patient pullers. They may charge you the extra buck, but provide guaranteed results.

It really does not matter whether you are new to the healthcare industry or have been practicing for a long time. You stand no chance of competing without marketing. These days, medical practitioners have an eye for snatching each other’s patients. No matter how much experience and knowledge you possess in your area, you still need to learn the basics of marketing. If you cannot, then give it to somebody else. They can do it on your behalf.

The single most important point of this above discussion is to make doctors aware why marketing is essential for their practices. Your competitors might already have swung into action and by the time you realize this, you would have lost many patients. So why wait for things to happen later, when you can do them right now!

Internet Marketing Trends In 2013

For the past few years, internet marketing has been the mainstay of about every company’s marketing mix. Few options possess the ability to match the efficiency of internet marketing. As a medical practitioner, you would want your practice to prosper and reach newer heights. Internet is the perfect ladder for you to acquire new patients and reach a wider audience comprehensively.

For practitioners who have not yet come to the terms of internet marketing, here are some strategies you can employ as part of your medical marketing plan. Following these will not only strengthen your practice but also provide endurance to withstand serious competition from fellow counterparts.

Focus on the website design

Yes, design matters because it sells. An attractive medical website design can appeal to any prospective patient seeking your services. Actually, if your design can outclass your competitor’s website, it’s a win-win situation for you. For this to happen, employ the services of professional website designers. Unless the design looks professional, you don’t stand a chance of appealing a prospective client.

Content quality

The content you put on your website must be genuine, fresh and relevant. Content has its own significance because after the design, the client moves on to reading whom you are and what you offer. Including keywords that prospective patients use to find your services in your website content is an additional benefit. It also helps in Search Engine Optimization. More the keywords the better will be for your website rank in Google, Yahoo and Bing. Additionally, initiate blogging. It will help clients
know your practice deeply.

Thinking beyond design and content

Recently, YouTube has been in the thick of news for crossing a billion viewers per month. Needless to say, what a short, professional and introductory video on the most prolific search engine can do for your practice. It gives you an edge over your fellow practitioners. Additionally, an online video is foolproof way to connect with patients.

Mobile strategy

The number of smartphones has increased twofold in the past year. People are tuned 24/7 thanks to better internet connectivity. You surely do not want to miss this golden opportunity. Alongside a PC compatible website, create a mobile-friendly website too. Patients will love this, as you will be connected on the go. Don’t let this chance go begging as your competitors might well already have a mobile website.

The Significance of Online Patient Reviews

In the healthcare industry, patient reviews possess a significant importance. It is requisite for instituting brand identity, online reputation and the augmentation of your SEO marketing strategy. By instigating patients to give their unprejudiced feedback about their experience at your practice, you are looking at multiple things to expand your practice.

What are the benefits of online patient reviews?

Brand recognition: This is quite simple. The more your brand appears online, the more exposure people will have to your practice. Those individuals who are familiar with your practice will become patients themselves or refer their friends or relatives in the need of your services.

Flourishing prominence: In the medical industry, large portions of new patients arrive based on referrals from other satisfied clients and that is true when your services are termed excellent. Several review sites like Yelp, RateMDs and Google Places provide supplementary avenues to share their experiences and reach a greater audience than they would by word of mouth alone. Automatically, your credibility will grow when people see that you have a positive track record of satisfying your patients. When potential patients have ready information about your reputation, they are likelier to make a decision without hesitation to visit your practice.

Improving search engine rankings: Online directories, especially Google Places are great sources for potential patients looking for medical practice in their area. Positive reviews attached to these listings will help achieve higher ranks in Google’s search engine results. High rankings lead to increased visibility and can draw more patients. Furthermore, these directories also provide links to your website.

Satisfied patients are less likely to share their views online as compared to those who have had bad experiences. Encourage your satisfied patients to share their feedback about your services. Tell them how their views can help grow your practice. Click here! if you are looking to enhance your online reputation.

Marketing Strategies for Hospitals

The United States is witnessing an era where new hospitals are coming up at a rapid pace. There are slew of challenges that these hospitals are facing. An off-putting task that every hospital is facing today is of marketing itself. It is astonishing to know that many doctors are unaware of any existing marketing strategy. What’s even more bewildering that millions are spent structuring a hospital and nothing is done when it comes to promoting it. For those of you who are unclear about how hospitals are marketed or how to market a hospital in a professional and ethical way, here is a sneak peek:

Ever heard of Segregation or USP (unique selling proposition)? What makes your hospital different from private clinics? Be legitimate and different at the same time. Never duplicate what others are doing. Ask yourself, who will prefer an outdated imitation when the genuine is already available? You could be the most reliable or the most experienced, but your hospital will not be able to sustain serious competition if compromised on originality.

It’s a proven fact that Customer Relationship Management is a pioneer tool to retain old customers and ensure the publicizing of positive word of mouth. It is a widely known reality that if we retain our current clients and they are loyal to us, we can easily increase our business roughly by 20%. Moreover, we get additional benefits for retaining old clients. They are likelier to recommend your services to others.

Stick to your specialty. However, it is wise to expand but sticking to what you do the best is much more result-oriented. If you are widely acclaimed for your cardiology services then let it be. Don’t fall into the trap of augmenting dermatology or orthopedics. Playing with your brand identity can backfire and may cause harm to your reputation.

In the end, one needs to have patience. Marketing strategies won’t bring you results overnight. However, you can always explore other options like website designing, content marketing, SEO, Social Media marketing and so on for your hospital to reach a wider audience.

Where Video Can Help Your Practice?

In the world of online medical marketing, videos are much more conversant and favorable than most medical practitioners would think. Incorporating a video to your site is not just a strategy; it’s a way to generate more leads to your website and attract new patients to your practice. Diverse functionalities of an online video can take your practice to the next level. In fact, medical websites with videos are far more easier to locate on search engines. Here, we look at three major benefits you can get with online videos:

1. Brand Recognition – Branding is not just for profit making corporations offering a product or service. Just like any other organization, your medical practice is offering a service and must be branded. Do not restrict to just “catchy slogans” or imposing “one liners.” Branding is all about creating an image of your practice in your patient’s minds and nothing beats an online video when it comes to encouraging them to think of you first when they need medical care. A simple introduction in the video format goes a long way in making an impact. Relish this golden opportunity to highlight what’s great about your practice.
2. Links To Your Site – Videos are an easy way for patients to link to your website and talk about your medical practice. If posted correctly, a video can bring a huge number of crucial leads to your website. Furthermore, it helps you place links to your practice’s website all over the internet. All you need is to create a professional video, which prospective patients would like to link. A great way to begin an informative video is to give a brief description about your practice and services.
3. Your SEO campaign – A video can give a boost to your SEO campaign by improving search engine ranking results and ultimately increasing web traffic. Inducting a well-made video into your website can be a great way to generate large number of back links. These back links will help push the website up in the search engine rankings.

Looking for a professional to create an online video for your practice? Click here!

Patients Are Seeking Mobile Technology-Is Your Practice Ready?

In-depth research and latest surveys indicate an astounding number of patients using the mobile technology to find physicians of their liking. Can the same be interpreted about your practice? Mobile technology is now widely acknowledged by the patients primarily due to the increase in smartphone makers and users. Whether the healthcare industry is up to it or not only time will tell. However, both emerging and developed markets will not waste this diamond opportunity to woo the patients. Your practice forms an integral part of the healthcare industry. So is your practice ready to adopt the changing scenario of reaching new patients?

When it comes to offering distinguish services, patients have expectations. And those expectations depend according to the market. In an under-developed economy, patients apprehend medical mobile websites as a way to increase access to a practice. On the contrary, people living in developed countries understand it as a way to improve the quality of the practice. Accentuating the importance of mobile websites, technological solutions are also gearing up for rapid implementation.

So if the patients are equipped with the latest mobile technology and potential benefits of medical mobile marketing are foreseen, what’s stopping the healthcare industry in adopting this newest trend? Dr. David Levy, MD, from the Global Healthcare Leader, says it is the ingrained defiance to change. He further quotes, “Mobile marketing is the future of healthcare industry purely on the basis of in-depth integration, speed, affordability and patient-targeted solutions.”

No matter how exciting possibilities mobile marketing may offer, doctors around the world fear that it will make patients too independent. That’s largely because of few proven business models that work in practice. To overcome the healthcare industry’s defiance to change, medical marketing gurus need to churn out patient-targeted solutions that add value for health organizations and patient quality of life.

Which Online Marketing Strategy Suits Your Practice?

With more patients taking help of the internet to find dentists, psychologists, cardiologists, dermatologists, it’s time to take a note of your online presence. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to choose those online marketing strategies that best portray your practice. You may get bewildered with the response that patients give to online marketing and wonder which avenue is best suited to convey the message. To simplify your task, we have listed some of the prominent internet marketing strategies:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Sans Search Engine Optimization, your website is a mere spectator in the World Wide Web. Think beyond developing a practice website. Research extensively on how your patients are searching Google and other search engines to find your competitors. SEO does more than helping you out with the relevant keywords. It refurbishes your content, adds meta tags and titles to your website and lot more.

PPC (pay-per-click) campaign – Google AdWords is one of the best ways to gain practice visibility. Consider launching a PPC campaign of same sorts. A PPC campaign refers to a “type of online marketing” that advertises websites through paid advertisements. There is a higher possibility of generating more patients through various PPC campaigns.

Social Media Marketing – Ever since the advent of social media, the world has bowed to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. One of the perennial reasons is the cost effectiveness. Earlier it used to be only friends and relatives who wanted to stay connected. Now, doctors and patients both want to get in touch via social media. The most beneficial attribute of social media marketing is more you indulge in it; the better it gets for your practice.

Blogging – One of the great ways to acquire patients looking for your services is by blogging about what you offer. With constant blogging, you are not only providing patients with answers to their question but also prospering your website and strengthening your website’s ranking in search engines.

By embracing internet-marketing strategies, you solidify your online presence and visibility to prospective patients. When a potential patients notice you in the search results, read reviews about your practice, they will get a clear vision of who you are and what others think of your practice. Combine these aforesaid marketing strategies to stamp an authority in your practice area.

Why Doctors Need Mobile Websites

Smartphones, iPhones, iPads and tablets have bombarded the market significantly minimizing the use of laptops and desktops. Undoubtedly, mobile phones have become an everyday need for people around the world. A doctor, artist, businessman and every other professional needs exposure to hold up against strenuous competition. That exposure comes from marketing services and mobile marketing is one of the newest ways and quickly becoming the necessity.

If you are a healthcare professional seeking visibility for your practice then you should contemplate having a mobile friendly website. Your mobile web page must have the following features:

• Complete office address
• Contact number along with active email address
• A brief description about the practice and services
• A simple and attractive layout

The ease with which people can access internet outside their home makes mobile marketing even more intriguing. Your mobile website will be prolific particularly in case of an emergency. With mobile access, patients can contact you in quick time. This will enhance your reputation and you will be able to reach a bigger audience.

Learn to master the concept of mobile marketing and you will have simple, affordable way to reach caregivers and potential patients. As a physician, you cannot fall behind and make a dreadful mistake of not investing in mobile marketing. Every doctor must set aside a certain amount in developing his mobile website for well being of his practice. To make your task simpler, many mobile website developers would provide your objective with their skills. As the use of mobile technology soars, you will ride this wave and truly be where your patients are. You will virtually close the gap allowing patients to gather information from a medium they are far more comfortable with.

Practice Builders- a leading medical marketing agency in California, U.S. has been serving the needs of doctors for the past 30 years. The professionals are into designing some of the best mobile website designs for better connectivity. Click here for more information!

E-Video Is the New Age Online Medical Marketing

Online medical marketing is something that many physicians are slowly adopting to give their respective practices more exposure. Medical practitioners of all specialties realize the impact internet has on modern advertising and promotion.

Medical marketing is probably the unexplored arena for some physicians. The blend of marketing and the internet makes it even more convoluted. Primarily, this is why many physicians have not put a step forward in marketing. However, in recent times, internet marketing is making to the marketing plan of many doctors.

Now, more doctors have websites. A medical practice with a website was once considered outstanding. However, times have radically changed, and for better. It’s not enough to have a website with quality content. Exploring different forms of media and communication is highly beneficial. It is essential for physicians seeking maximum exposure.

Online medical marketing is a newbie for healthcare professionals. An e-video is an authoritative tool in medical marketing. Medical professionals must use video on their websites for the following reasons:

1. Physicians who are in touch with web developers know the importance of quality content. Search engines index content based upon the text on a website’s page. Video article is a great way for site owners who want to re-publish content without getting clichéd by the search engines. Video articles convey the right message across targeted audience without affecting the website’s rankings. 


2. Benefits are unending when it comes to e-video. Videos are more engaging than text. They remain in a visitor’s mind longer. To solidify their practice, physicians can share e-videos on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. This way, the probability of an e-video being shared by thousands of profiles on social networking sites increases.


3. Video has the tendency to create an emotional connection with viewers that text cannot. Often, this emotional connection converts a visitor into a loyal patient. An e-video can be published on leading video publishing sites, such as YouTube, which ultimately provides crucial back links to the website. 

Today, videos are a part of medical marketing plan. If you are planning to launch an e-video for your practice, click here.

Why Mobile Website Is the Need of the Hour

In today’s technologically advanced world, professionals pertaining to multiple fields need to market themselves if they want to taste success. Executives, engineers, physicians, creative individuals, all need to promote themselves and ensure that their websites are just not restricted to PC advertising. In this highly competitive marketplace, they need to promote their businesses on mobile platform as well. Consider the fact that “9 out of 10 adults use internet on their smartphones with round the clock connectivity.”

Undoubtedly, all professionals need to have website. However, it is highly unacceptable of all professionals to hire website designers just to be visibly on computers. Having a mobile friendly website adds much more to the marketing repertoire.

If you are a physician wanting to expand your current patient base, you would need more than just a brochure, flyer, newsletter, or business card. Your user-friendly website must have all the medical information along with the location and operational hours of your office.

Mobile website has added value to how a potential patient searches a medical website and consecutively fixes an appointment. Adding some information on your area of expertise in the form of articles or blog posts will definitely showcase your depth of knowledge. This will further enhance your credibility. A mobile website is particularly handy in a medical emergency where the user can quickly contact you for assistance.

Owning a mobile website has become a critical factor of any medical practice. It shows that you are in-line with the latest marketing trends. By the end of this year, smartphone carriers will surpass PC owners.

As a medical practitioner, you cannot afford to fall behind. Every physician must set aside a certain amount for a professional mobile website. Remember: the more comfortable you make it for the patients, more faith they will show in your practice.

Click here if you want a bespoke mobile website for your practice.

Marketing Ideas for ObGyn Practice

Irrespective of whether an ObGyn practice is new or has been operating for years, marketing holds pivotal place in its operations. Marketing helps in attaining professional goals, acquiring new patients and retaining existing ones and creating a flamboyant patient service environment at the practice. 

It comes as no bombshell that every medical practitioner must consider his/her marketing strategies periodically. Successful marketing strategies involve a broad perspective of what you are seeking to accomplish through your marketing efforts. Healthcare professionals often make the mistake of focusing too much action steps without knowing the foundation of those steps. Marketing ideas need to be based on your overall practice objectives.

A key point in every marketing strategy is to find the right target audience. In an ObGyn practice, the task of identifying the target audience is somewhat simpler as compared to other practices. However, understanding the needs of your target patients is a paramount factor in determining how successful your practice will be in future.

Marketing Ideas for ObGyn Practice:

• Recognition in the local community is very important. There is no reason to open an ObGyn practice in your locality if women residing in do not know of your existence. Hence, develop a branding strategy, which should be more than just a logo. Distribute pamphlets, brochures, business cards; attend community events and more. These strategies will help in creating a brand identity.

• Become a recognizable practice by sponsoring charitable events, giving lectures on women health issues and advertising in local newspaper. Discussing women health issues at community health fairs and events will appeal to women, especially expecting mothers.

• Consider improving your practice’s website with few additions like patient testimonials, subscription for a weekly newsletter and so on. In addition, build a rapport with other physicians to increase referrals and ask patients to refer their friends, colleagues and relatives.

• Possibly your relationship with current patients is not what you have liked. Consider staff training programs for all professionals and supporting staff. Another way to improve patient relations is by empowering them to schedule appointments, complete forms and pay bills online.

If you need further assistance regarding ObGyn marketing, visit http://www.practicebuilders.com/obgyn/.

Social Media Marketing For Dentists

Dental practitioners cannot restrict themselves to being just professional service providers. They need to have substantial knowledge of marketing their practices, be it orthodontics, periodontics or cosmetic dentistry. Today, patients are wise to turn to internet search engines to find a relevant dentist. Ensuring that your practice is among the top results is crucial. Most potential patients are uninterested in page 2.

Top rankings are something that can be achieved through hardcore Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a critical form of “Inbound Marketing” which depends heavily on quality content. Online content creation and SEO may not be difficult, but they are no child games either. Thankfully, there are numerous ways to expand online presence for your practice. Undoubtedly, social media is one of the fastest-growing frontiers on the web.

Social media might be the most influential marketing tool available to businesses today. That holds true for small businesses, big businesses and for dentists. Most dental practitioners face challenges like competition from other dentists, community people who might be unaware of their existence and individuals not willing to visit a dentist because of widespread anxiety. Social media can help dentists overcome these challenges. The prowess of social media cannot be undermined. It makes dental practices look genuine.

If you still think internet does not matter to potential patients, think again! While you are serving patients in the office, your potential clients are online. Not only the younger generation, but also older people are continuously making good use of the internet to find dentists. There is a very good chance of you losing out if they find your practice unprofessional.

If the content rules then perhaps, social media is the most important avenue to channelize it. It boosts website traffic and generates important leads. Facebook has been by far the dominant force in social media. An attractive profile comprising a profile picture, information about the services and day-to-day activities and a link to your website goes a long way in winning a potential patient’s trust.

Undoubtedly, if you are a dentist, you need to be proactive in social media marketing. You can make a fortune out of it. Fortunately, it is economical and enormously customizable.

How to Increase Patient Volume in a Physical Therapy Practice

Running a physical therapy practice successfully requires careful thought. The practice has not yet been able to attract many patients. People still prefer popping up pills after an injury or accident to minimize pain. Hence, physical therapists face a difficult task of enticing patients to their clinic.

Physical therapy practice needs to be operated like any other business. Therapists focus too much on the therapeutic side of their practice rather than concentrating on the business side. It’s useless to have a practice without patients. And patients will come when you start a marketing campaign.

Thanks to the internet, more people are now searching for physical therapists online. In the past 2 years, numbers have skyrocketed. That is because physical therapists have taken marketing seriously. They are exploring marketing avenues that were never explored earlier. According to your local community, you can adopt various strategies. Some of them are listed below:

An attractive website: A physical therapy website is a mirror image of what the practice offers. A combination of creative layout, graphics, appropriate colors and quality content will induce patients to call your office. Back up your website with quality SEO. These days, people use search engines to find information on physical therapy. If your website is in the top draw, you have more chances of being contacted.

Start writing: Give your physical therapy practice an edge over the competitors by informing patients about different ailments and injuries that you can help cure in the form of blog posts and articles. Patients need to be informed about multiple physical therapy procedures periodically. Additionally, blogging helps in generating crucial back links for improving website ranking.

Be a part of social media buzz: If your practice is not on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you are surely losing patients. Social media has created a buzz- a buzz that connects families, friends and relatives around the world. If you want to increase your patient volume, create a professional profile on social networking sites. This will help your practice in the longer run.

Click here if you want more help on how to increase patient volume in a physical therapy practice.

Best Ways to Market Physical Therapy

Discovering new physical therapy marketing ideas is more challenging today because marketing approaches are regularly adapting latest technologies. Conventional forms of marketing are not enough to fight competition. Additionally, your practice will become vulnerable to patients loss. There are multiple tasks involved in running a physical therapy practice and sometimes marketing can become an afterthought to daily operations. However, you have to think and work like a marketing professional, otherwise your practice will not grow. There are various marketing avenues available and determining which approaches to execute for your practice can be bewildering. Proven physical therapy marketing ways can lead to success even in this declining economy. 

Here are some ethical physical therapy marketing tips that are in vision with 21st century:

• Executing a marketing strategy requires considerable planning. Fabricating marketing tools like newsletters, flyers, postcards and a website can generate more patients, but without a target audience, you might be wasting your resources. Pen down your marketing efforts that addresses who you are, whom you want to target, how are you going to achieve targets, etc.

• An online presence is essential if you want to reach a wider audience. A professional website is the perfect way to create an internet presence. Hire industry’s best medical website designers who will make it user friendly. Churn out ideas and execute them effectively to drive traffic to your site. Furthermore, monitor your results constantly. You can also make significant use of social media platforms to connect with patients.

• Build a relationship with patients and other specialist physicians. When patients feel connected with their therapist, they are likelier to show their trust and loyalty in him/her. Grooming relationship with other physicians will increase your referrals and improve the overall care for patients.

• Market your practice through Yellow Page listings. Offering free consultation will definitely catch patients’ attraction and eventually increase your practice’s visibility. If your locality do not have an access to the internet, Yellow Page listings becomes significant. 

Best Ways to Market a Pain Management Practice

Pain management is a fast growing medical discipline that takes multiple approaches in reducing chronic pain. A pain management team primarily consist medical practitioners, physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists and more.

As a pain management specialist, the numbers show a positive sign. Americans are spending nearly $40 million per year. In addition, over 50 million chronic-pain sufferers are likely to receive treatment. Anticipating growth in pain management has led to competitors targeting your patients as a fresh source of revenue. You need an explicit pain management-marketing plan to keep your existing patients, attract new patients and withstand extreme competition.

Here are some of the best ways to market a pain management practice:

The foremost thing any pain management specialist must do is identify the right target audience. Get a market research done to find your target patients. Doing it all by yourself can prove to be daunting task. Hire marketing experts who will do it for you at affordable prices.

Word-of-mouth marketing may be a conventional form, but never has got out of style. It’s no secret that pain management practitioners do require a certain amount of word-of-mouth buzz to promote their practice. Your marketing strategy must include mechanisms that encourage good word about your practice.

Develop an attractive website. You can portray various images so that patients can get a feel of your practice. A solicitous look to your website can entice a potential patient to call your office. Additionally, back up your website with good search engine optimization. Top most ranking in leading search engines is a necessity to improve business.

Emailing is today’s most cost effective marketing idea with 100% deliverability. Emailing can help you get your message to your target patients swiftly, expediently and at low-cost. Blend it with conventional direct mail program and you will start seeing positive results right from the go.

We cannot leave social media behind when we talk about marketing. It allows us to connect with people globally. As a pain management practitioner, you can create a professional profile on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with your current patients. Let them know you are socially active. This will have a positive impact.

Helpful Marketing Ideas for Veterinarians

Pet owners are increasingly becoming health conscious and if you manage a veterinary clinic, you have to operate your practice in a way that matches new standards. If you focus on marketing your Veterinarians practice, not only can you maximize your audience reach but also help your current patients through a carefully structured marketing campaign.

A successful marketing campaign depends on how well you can master the art of attracting more patients. You can build up your practice rapidly through countless ways. Here is a quick look at them:

• Placing advertisements in Yellow Pages may be conventional, but it’s worth spending a few bucks to be listed under Veterinarians. To get a listing under multiple headings like Animal Hospitals, Animal Emergency Clinics is significantly helpful. This will maximize your visibility.  
• An ad in the leading local newspaper is a great way to introduce your practice and staff to pet owners. This will attract pet owners who follow a vaccination schedule for their pets. They will also be interested in other animal wellness supplies. Make sure you have enough stock of high demand products ranging from eye ointments to worming meds.
• Including a coupon as part of your advertisement is an alluring way to broaden your reach. Instead of calling you for information, patients are likelier to bring their pets and provide the ability to broadcast your skills. To please first time customers, try offering a reduced rate for your services. A discount on ear check for mites is a great way to attract new customers.
• Never forget to handover business cards to patients. Distribute them when you go out to promote in community events. It is helpful to print images of animals so that individuals can understand what your business is.
• Be creative in printing your flyers as it can benefit your practice at community events. This powerful marketing tool can do wonders for your veterinary practice if offered at local pet supply stores.
• For exceptional and result-oriented veterinary marketing services, check out Practice builders!

Plastic Surgery Marketing

Plastic surgery is undergoing massive changeover. A comprehensive range of developments in plastic surgery industry is driving individuals to go flat out for cosmetic procedures. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, plastic surgery procedures rose 10% in the last five years. This shows how people, especially celebrities and industrialists are taking up plastic surgery.

This interest has increased competition among cosmetic surgeons. They are after each other’s patients. If you can actively convince your target audience to choose your practice, then you can withstand any amount of competition. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the ethical plastic surgery marketing ideas:

• When a patient walks up a clinic, first thing he/she encounters is the office staff. A warm welcome goes a long way in making the good first impression. Staff’s behavior plays a pivotal role in attracting new patients and retaining the existing ones. Encourage your staff to join training sessions that improves patient handling skills.

• For most plastic surgeons, referrals bring big business. But how can you increase referrals from your current patients? The best way to do so is by taking good care of their needs. By providing the looks they desire, you are able to make a positive impact on their psyche. In addition, offering them discount coupons is not a bad idea.

• It is a fact that consumers flock information about cosmetic procedures from the internet. Why not take your practice online and give thousands of potential patients what they truly desire? Be the first in your community to develop a practice website. Offer relevant and educational content so that potential patients do not have to look beyond to learn about the procedures.

• You can also provide information through blog posts and articles. Blogging is an influential way to engage with patients and inform them of your recent developments. Moreover, it shows how well versed you are with cosmetic surgery.

• If you are busy with your practice, consider hiring a reputed medical marketing agency. Professionals working in the agency will take care of the marketing aspect even when you are asleep.

Powerful Tips to Creating Striking Content for Your Practice

Creating an influential online content for your medical practice is significant part of marketing plan. It helps you build a relationship with your patients, increase website traffic, and turn potential patients into regular ones. The importance of panning out quality content depends on how you put forward. This does not mean reposting good content, but actually generating content all by you so that your potential clients can turn to you when they seek information, need to solve a problem, or a question answered.  It’s always intriguing to write informative content, but it’s not that easy. Here are some brainstorming ideas to keep you on track with unique medical content:

• The key to writing heart winning content so that your prospects will read is staying abreast with the recent developments in the medical industry. In this age of internet, content posted a week ago is termed outdated. It’s crucial to follow knowledgeable individuals in your practice area to stay current on the latest trends.

• Surprisingly, many practices lose big time by not listening to what their target audience is saying. Don’t miss the opportunity of peeking into what your patients have in mind about your practice. Social media connects you instantly with your target audience and allows you to communicate effectively with them.

• Planning is necessary and can help you a long way. Patients don’t really care about how your day went; they are inclined towards knowing what’s new in the healthcare industry and what you can offer. However enticing a blog post maybe, it will not generate web traffic unless that post contains some decisive information.

• Back up your content with extensive research on what topics you want to cover. An attractive title can really spark up a user to visit your medical website. In addition, if you are writing articles and blogs, make sure to submit them to reputed directories to generate maximum back links.

• Not everyone is adept at writing. It can easily be outsourced to someone who has a flair for writing medical content, preferably an experienced copywriter. If you need assistance in writing aesthetically pleasing content, you can outsource your content creation to a medical marketing agency in California.

Why Online Video is Important for Healthcare Industry

For many medical practitioners whether they run private practice or operate in a hospital, online video marketing is still an unexplored avenue. Those physicians who have seen the potential benefits of video marketing are repeatedly overwhelmed by the concept and are unsure of where to begin. 

As with any marketing endeavor, there are numerous doubts lurking around that need to be clarified. Video is no exemption. Following are some important questions to ask yourself before incorporating online videos into your practice marketing plan.

A. Why do I need video?

Video creates a connection with a potential patient allowing him/her to get the initial insight of a physician and the practice. To create this kind of perception, you need the right tools. Your website’s layout, graphics and content all contribute to how a patient perceives your practice. This is precisely the reason why video is the best marketing tool for encouraging patients to visit your practice.

B. Why video is more engaging than text?

Video explains a complicated medical issue in a simple and convenient manner. Consider this, people remember 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and amazingly 70% of what they see and hear. Detailed, lengthy and complex content can be irritating. For an average patient looking for quick information, such type of text can bring curtains to your website. However, with an e-video you can easily convey your message and in the right manner.

C. What should be included in the videos?

A practice introduction along with patient testimonials should be a part of online videos. Patients sharing their practice experience in the videos can have a thumping effect on a potential patient’s perspective about the practice. Moreover, face-to-face communication creates a bond of faith with a prospective patient.

D. What impact does an online video has on website traffic?

There are countless benefits of online videos, especially from SEO point of view. Video content is likelier to appear more on top pages of Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, etc. In addition, viewer response notches up to 7 times as compared to plain text. Therefore, when your video appears more in search engine listings, your website traffic will surely increase.

An Encouraging Call-To-Action Is What Your Practice Needs

According to internet and social media experts, call-to-action (CTA) should be integrated in every online medical marketing strategy. By call to action, we understand the response you want patients to complete. But how can your medical profession utilize adequate CTA instigating patients to choose your practice? 

First we go deep into understanding what exactly call-to-action is? CTA can be graphic, text, banner, button or text on a website meant to convince a prospective patient to click it. It’s a crucial part of inbound marketing that attempts to convert a user into lead and then into patient.

A CTA targets clicks and its success can be monitored through a conversion rate formula that calculates how many times the CTA was seen over the amount of clicks.

What Are The Ingredients Of A Perfect Call-To-Action?

• Expert writers believe powerful, action oriented words in a CTA are more result-driven than other type of text. It’s all about user engagement. Words like download now, explore, discover encourage users to click. Focus on making your CTA wording precise and to the point.

• Posts containing “Like” or “Comment” are likelier to receive more hits than posts without the words included, according to a recent social media study. By being genuine, chances are users will engage in what you are trying to inform. Restrict the number of distinct actions in your CTA for it may become confusing for prospective patients.

• Make your CTA outstanding by using fonts and attractive color combinations. Blend of different colors draw attention improving the chances of users seeing your CTA. Use appropriate background to enhance the copy’s visibility.   

• Conspicuously, the size of your CTA matters. Your CTA should be large enough catch the attention of the user; it should not be so large that it appears fraudulent. However, avoid designing your CTA too small.

• While investing in your CTA, remember to give appropriate response when a potential patient tries to engage. You will get more patients if you are ready to foster and covert potential patients into loyal ones.

Earn the Loyalty of Your Patients

It’s obvious that to generate a new line of patients, you should first focus on gaining the trust of those who are availing your services. After all, patients have an option to choose your competitor. An inevitable question is asked repeatedly: How unique is your practice from others? What is that you offer different? Investment of time will help in earning their loyalty and they’ll be your patients for long time.

So, what drives patients to your clinic and how can you win their trust on the internet? If you follow these tips, am sure there will be a steady stream of patients who believe in your credentials to deliver outstanding dental care.

PROFESSIONALISM

Ask yourself! If your dental practice lacks professionalism, then how you will gain deference as an established dentist from new patients? Make sure your website, which is the mirror image of your practice is developed on the ground of reflecting your quality services and care. A beautiful design, attractive layout, clear message, easy to navigate along with quality content is the recipe of a prefect dental website. Don’t make the mistake of sending the wrong impression that your website is not up to the latest dental norms.

ACCESSIBILITY

In today’s multimedia era, patients expect their trusted services to be readily available as and when they are required. As personal computers pave way for mobiles, it’s now mandatory that your practice has a mobile website if you want reach patients on the go. It will be easier for patients to call you, locate your clinic, schedule appointments and learn about your services. Patients will commend your availability, especially when they have to ask questions relating dental hygiene.

EDUCATION

One of the best ways to earn respect of patients is to show them your knowledge base of the dental practice. Demonstrate your in-depth knowledge in the field by highlighting groundbreaking achievements, breakthrough cases on your website. Include patient testimonials also. Furthermore, you can help patients make informed decisions through your blog posts. 

By embracing these tips into your online marketing plan, you can turn your patients into loyal patients. Click here, if you want to know more about patient loyalty.

How Patients Use Mobile Connectivity to Reach Your Practice

A recent survey conducted by eMarketer caught every physician’s eye. It revealed over 100 million Americans used smartphones in 2012, a substantial increase from 93 million in 2011. If Google prediction is any indicator, there will be more people accessing the web via their mobile phones than a personal computer.

Today, it’s not god enough to have a website for your practice; you now need a website that runs on all mobile devices including leading tablets and smartphones such as the iPad, iPhone and Android.

Here’s a sneak peek into how patients use their smartphones to connect with your practice and why you need a mobile ready website in order to communicate with on the go patients.

SEARCH

When patients are on the move, they use their phones just like a laptop or a PC to search the internet and procure information they are looking for. According to Google, more than 75% of mobile users surf the internet on their devices. A patient may find it difficult to navigate your website on his/her smartphone if your website is not optimized for mobile. If a patient confronts such a situation, consider him lost to another physician offering more user-friendly mobile experience.

CONNECT

First thing, patients notice when they visit your website is the content. Make sure you provide enough information to clarify their issues, induce them to learn more about your practice and direct them to contact your office.

The attributes of an ideal mobile website includes:

• Office location and address.
• Contact number.
• Operational hours (Emergency hours if any)
• Special offers or discount coupons.
• Online appointment booking facility.
• Patient feedback and augmented social sharing.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social networking leads the pack when it comes to connectivity using mobile devices. Patients value those practices, which enable them to connect with their respective physicians. Make sure they can access your social networking profiles from their mobile devices too. 

Mobile connectivity is only going to increase in the coming years, making it mandatory feature of your online medical marketing plan to attract patients. So are you ready?