As a hearing practice, you need both new and returning patients. One of the greatest ways to attract new patients is online—using your website, social media pages, and other digital marketing strategies. However, even if you have a website and social media pages for your practice, your online presence might not be optimized for attracting new patients. Furthermore, what works in other industries—retail sales, restaurants, etc.—doesn’t necessarily work in healthcare.
In today’s competitive market, it’s essential that you have a marketing strategy specifically targeted at attracting new patients. The good news is that there are simple steps you can take to create and implement this marketing strategy—and AudiologyPlus is here to help you along the way. Here are five key components of a successful marketing strategy to bring in new patients:
- Build a responsive website.
Responsive websites automatically adjust to fit the user’s screen size, so your website works optimally on any type and size of device (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones). This is not only beneficial to website visitors, but it also helps boost your website rankings; search engines rank responsive websites higher than non-responsive ones. If you already have a responsive website, make sure that the text and images display properly on all types of devices.
- Review your patients’ online experience.
Imagine that you are a potential patient and you have landed on your practice’s website for the first time. After looking at the website for just 5-10 seconds, what is your impression of the office? What can you learn in those first few seconds? Can you easily find contact information? If you were a new patient, would you want to continue learning more about the practice and schedule an appointment? Make sure that your website, especially your homepage, is easy to use and guides a visitor to the information they need.
- Use social media to your advantage.
These days, it isn’t enough to simply start a page on Facebook for your hearing practice. Patients are looking for interaction, so give it to them! Regularly update your social media pages (which might include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) with photos, events, updates, and promotions. You may also want to consider using paid social media ads, which boost your practice’s reach on social media networks.
- Follow up on patient feedback.
As mentioned above, many patients want to interact with their healthcare providers online. If a patient leaves a comment or question on one of your social media pages or a review site, be sure to reply to them. Be polite and helpful. Even if the person leaves negative feedback, respond in a positive way. If the patient makes a fair point about things that could be improved in your practice, act on them, and let the patient know that you take their feedback seriously.
- Gather patient reviews.
More and more, new patients want to learn about other people’s experiences with a healthcare provider before they schedule their own appointment. Ask your satisfied patients to leave a positive review on your website, on Google, or on review websites like Yelp and Healthgrades. Again, if you receive negative reviews, respond to them in a polite manner. Hopefully, the dissatisfied patient will give you a chance to correct any issues and will update their review.
These are only five ways to attract new patients online. At AudiologyPlus, we have many more strategies to help your practice grow. Contact us today to learn more!
