Imagine there are two clinics on the same street. Both have qualified doctors and have similar pricing. One has plenty of people in their waiting room by 10am and the other has a receptionist sitting behind the door.
9 times out of 10 it will be down to a healthcare marketing strategy. One will have a marketing strategy in place and one will be relying on word-of-mouth.
If you are wondering why some doctors have more patients than others, this is the guide for you. We will give you a simple framework to get your marketing strategy going.
Why Most Clinics Struggle to Be Seen
Most doctors build their practice based on their skills and reputation. However, patients now begin their search with a call. They will look up symptoms online, compare doctors, read reviews and then make a call.
If you aren’t visible then they will go elsewhere. Having a solid healthcare marketing strategy will ensure you are visible, trusted and chosen.
How to Create a Healthcare Marketing Strategy
Many people will ask how to create a healthcare marketing strategy on a low budget. Let’s break it down.
Know Your Patient
Who are you targeting? A young couple looking for a gynaecologist will think and search completely differently than a 60-year-old looking for a knee specialist. Note down their age, concerns, questions and online activity.
Clear Objective
Try to be specific with your objective. Instead of saying ‘more patients’ try to say ‘20 new appointment bookings per month for Orthopaedic consultations’. This will help identify what actions you need to take and how you know you are succeeding.
Choose Channels
You don’t need to be on every channel. Choose 2-3 channels where your patient will be.
Monitor & Optimize
Monitor your stats monthly and remove anything that isn’t working.
Healthcare Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan doesn’t need to be 40 pages long. It just needs to answer 5 questions. Who are we talking to, what are we offering, where will we be visible, how much will we spend and how will we know it has worked?
This works for a solo doctor practice or a large hospital. The same logic applies to healthcare marketing strategies for hospitals and clinics. The only difference is hospitals have more departments, audiences and therefore more budget to manage.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Healthcare
Most healthcare digital marketing strategies will have 3 main pillars. Search, Social Media & Content.
Search
You want to be on the first page when someone searches for “best gastroenterologist near me,”. This is done using SEO. A great healthcare SEO strategy will start with simple steps. Fast loading website, clear pages for treatment options and honest information.
Social Media
A healthcare social media strategy will focus on creating a human brand. Creating content around educating patients, short videos for doctors and health awareness days will create familiarity. Doctors who are familiar will be contacted first. Avoid generic imagery and instead use real images from your team.
Paid Advertising
Setting up Google & Facebook ads will help generate instant enquiries. This is great for new clinics who haven’t built up any organic visibility. Medical advertising has some rules to follow however ensure your adverts are honest and compliant.
As a solo practitioner, the digital marketing strategy for doctors & small clinics will be the same. Just on a smaller scale. Start with a good Google Business profile, simple website and 1 social media platform. As you grow, you can increase.
Content Marketing Strategy for Healthcare
A little secret, patients will trust you more if you can explain things well. Content will help you do this.
Using a content marketing strategy for healthcare will mean creating blogs, short videos and guides. These will answer common questions your patients have. ‘Is my knee pain at night serious?’ ‘What should I eat before my scan?’ Answering these questions will make patients feel like they know you.
Keep it simple, speak in how you would in the consultation room. Always have a doctor proofread any medical facts. For more ideas view our D-Medva blog.
Local SEO
Most patients will choose a doctor nearby. This means local SEO will be one of the most valuable parts of your healthcare marketing strategy.
Local SEO will help you appear when patients search for doctors or hospitals in your area. This is done by:
- Setting up your Google Business profile and ensuring all your details are correct. Address, phone number, timing, images & services.
- Ensure your name, address & phone number are the same on all online platforms.
- Ask happy patients to leave a Google review. Respond to all reviews politely.
- Include your city & locality in your website. E.g ‘Orthopaedic Surgeon in Anna Nagar, Chennai’.
By doing this consistently you will start appearing in the map results. Many patients will click on these. This one habit often generates more calls than months of social media.
Healthcare Marketing Ideas
Some great healthcare marketing ideas used by clinics and hospitals include:
- Short videos from doctors explaining 1 condition.
- Free health camps or awareness sessions. Share content after.
- Share patient stories (with permission). Show their journey to recovery.
- Send follow-up and health check-up reminders via WhatsApp.
- ‘Meet the doctor’ series to help patients feel comfortable.
Examples of healthcare marketing strategies could include a dental clinic having a ‘myth vs fact’ reel once a week or a maternity hospital publishing a monthly pregnancy guide. These ideas are simple and effective as they are providing useful information and are consistent.
Healthcare Marketing Strategy in India
Healthcare marketing strategies in India are unique. Patients place high importance on trust, opinions from family and word-of-mouth. However, they are online in huge numbers. They will look at reviews and watch videos in their local language.
The best strategies will utilize both. Use content in regional languages where relevant, focus on WhatsApp for all patient communication and treat Google reviews as your word-of-mouth. Medical advertising has strict guidelines so ensure your claims are honest.
Patient Acquisition Strategy
This is the complete journey of taking a patient from never knowing you to booking an appointment. Usually this will involve a patient finding you through search/social media, landing on a clear page, trusting the content and contacting you easily.
Most clinics will lose patients in the middle. Their website may be slow to load, their phone number not visible or no one responding to their enquiry within 2 days. Ensure your patient journey is smooth and your best healthcare marketing strategies to attract patients will start working much harder for the same budget.
How to Measure ROI on Your Healthcare Marketing
If you are not measuring your marketing it’s a shot in the dark. To measure your ROI on your healthcare marketing track:
- Cost per enquiry – How much are you spending to get 1 enquiry (call/form/message).
- Enquiry to Appointment Rate – How many of your enquiries turn into appointments.
Once you add in the average value of a patient you will quickly see which channels are paying for themselves. Track these every month and invest more in the ones that are working.
About D-Medva
We know how much goes into planning all of this whilst running your clinic. D-Medva is a healthcare marketing and branding agency based in Chennai. We have been working with doctors, clinics & hospitals since 2017. We have partnered with 30+ hospitals and created & managed over 3000 ads. We truly understand what healthcare brands need.
We provide:
- Go Organic – SEO & content to bring patients to you.
- Infinite 360 – Paid Ads on Google, Facebook & LinkedIn. We work on a commission basis.
- Patient Plus & Automark – Patient engagement & CRM tailored for hospitals & clinics.
- Branding, Video & Design – To make your practice look trustworthy.
We take a personal approach. We take time to understand your specialty, city & patients before suggesting anything. A strategy for a dental clinic will not work for a surgical hospital.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Healthcare Marketing Strategy?
A clear plan on how to attract, engage and retain patients for your hospital, clinic or doctor. Using channels such as SEO, social media, content & ads.
2. How much should I spend on marketing for my clinic?
Depending on your goals and where you are at. New clinics often will spend more initially to build their visibility. Established practices will not need to spend as much. Start on a low budget and measure your results.
3. Is social media useful for doctors?
Yes! It creates familiarity and trust. Short educational videos and patient awareness content tends to work better than promotional content.
4. How long until SEO gives me results?
Local SEO improvements can be seen within a few weeks. Ranking for competitive keywords will generally take a few months of consistent work.
5. Can small clinics compete with large hospitals online?
Yes! Local SEO, great Google reviews & helpful content will help small clinics stand out in their local area.
6. Do I need a website if I have a Google Business profile?
Ideally yes. The Google Business profile will help patients find you but your website will give them all the information they need.
Conclusion
A great healthcare marketing strategy will help patients find, understand and trust you. Know your patient, keep it simple, be visible in search & local, provide useful content and measure your efforts.
Patients can tell when you are honest. Every clear answer, genuine review & polite response will build their trust. This will turn a search into an appointment.
If you are looking for a partner to help you build this, visit D-Medva. Or read more on our blog. The next full waiting room could be yours!
