Ajay Prasad is the CEO of GMR Web Group , a full-service healthcare digital marketing agency focused on patient acquisition and retention.
With the prevalence of foot disease on the rise, especially among the elderly, and with the global market for podiatry services expected to reach $6.1 billion by 2033, it is important that podiatry practices have unique marketing strategies. This will improve your online presence and help you find your patients where most of them look for a doctor first: the internet.
The patient journey to choosing a pediatrician
Today, people have access to everything from information to the Internet, and they want convenience and price transparency in every industry, including healthcare. This growing consumerism of health care has allowed patients to become more aware of their health care needs, and pediatric services are no exception. Therefore, as a pediatrician, you need to create a strong online presence while simultaneously promoting your practice as an effective care provider and calling your new and existing patients. So let's take a look at how you can do all this.
Strategies for increasing the patient base
You can attract and retain more patients in your practice with an effective marketing plan that focuses on the following strategies:
Set your goals
The first step is to define clear and measurable goals that you want to achieve with your marketing strategies, such as For example, how many patients you want to buy, how much you want to increase your sales, how much you want to increase customer satisfaction. Among others
Increase your online presence
Although the podiatry market is booming, the quality of your practice and service depends on your online presence in this Internet-driven world. So expand your presence to make it easier for your patients to choose your services.
Here are some ways to do this
• Professionally designed website that is user-friendly and fully compatible with any device.
• Make your website SEO friendly by researching and ranking for keywords relevant to your domain and niche, e.g. For example, "Podiatrists near me" or "Podiatry services in Texas."
• Boost your website URL. Make sure they are well structured, clear but concise and readable so that the user has a good idea of what to expect on the page just by looking at the URL. A good practice is to use hyphens to separate words in URLs. This is an important part of building an online presence because your URLs attract people's attention wherever they appear on the web and are one of the most important parts of on-page SEO.
Education and awareness
With so much information available online, patients research their symptoms and treatments online even before choosing a doctor. By providing a wealth of information and educational content such as blog posts and podcasts, you can help your patients and build trust. Additionally, well-researched and informative content on your practice website improves search rankings and attracts more potential patients.
Create positive reviews online
With 71% of patients using online reviews as the first step in finding a new doctor, creating consistently positive reviews is critical. Genuinely positive reviews from your patients are proof of your expertise and the best part? They don't look like a promotion and give you much-needed independent validation of your pain practice. Therefore, positive online reviews help your business build its credibility and trustworthy reputation online.
Involve your patients
You can engage your patients and build meaningful patient-provider relationships by motivating them to make proactive healthcare decisions. This helps build trust in you, which increases patient loyalty.
Here are some ways to do this
• Promote a healthy lifestyle and preventive health measures such as regular check-ups and examinations.
• Send them automatic appointment reminders.
Collect patient feedback
A strong marketing strategy does not end with a successful treatment; It goes beyond that. Encourage patient feedback through survey forms, emails, and text messages to gain insight into how satisfied or dissatisfied your patients are with your fertility services. This will help you provide better quality care and therefore make your patients happier.
Remember: a satisfied patient is a loyal patient. When a patient is satisfied with your treatment and overall office experience, they are more likely to leave positive reviews, contributing to your strong online presence.
Increase patient retention
Once you have built a solid base of loyal patients, your next priority is to retain them. Retaining patients can add significant value to your practice as these customers trust your expertise and are more willing to explore and accept your offerings.
Increase patient retention by offering things like personalized care plans, managed care, appointment reminders and loyalty programs.
Encourage patient referrals
Happy and satisfied patients can be strong advocates for your practice. They help market your practice through word of mouth and increase your chances of attracting new patients. Therefore, investing in a patient referral program can be one of the most effective marketing strategies.
Here are some ways to implement such a program
• Post referral program signs around your clinic.
• Ask your satisfied patients for recommendations.
• Encourage patient referrals by offering medical benefits, gift cards, etc.
Measure your success and return on investment
Measuring the success and ROI of your marketing plan is just as important as investing in a marketing plan. Take the following steps to analyze your strategies and identify where you need to make adjustments to better meet your patient's needs:
• Trace the source of each patient.
• Analyze your conversion rate.
• Measure your total investment and total income.
• Calculate how much it costs to see each patient.
With this information, you can review and adjust your marketing strategies to achieve better results.
Final thought
Remember, a patient-centered marketing strategy is the foundation of a thriving podiatry practice. So engage and educate your patients, build trust and credibility by making their healthcare seamless, and use patient referral programs as brand ambassadors. These patient-focused marketing strategies will help you expand your practice's patient base and achieve long-term success.
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