How to Attract New Patients with Marketing

The healthcare industry is a highly competitive market. Everyone has healthcare needs that you can fulfill, and simply reaching these people is the biggest hurdle to positioning your healthcare organization as an industry leader.

Some of your primary goals as a healthcare business may be:

Reaching a New Customer Base: Because need for healthcare services is always high, you can continually grow your clientele without dips in the market.
Highlighting Your Unique Services: Explaining what makes you different from other healthcare providers allows you to target customers looking for businesses just like yours.
Serving a Wider Range of Communities: There is consistent opportunity for expansion into new locations and service areas in the healthcare industry. Growing your client base gives you the opportunity to make this expansion with little risk.

Attracting new patients is primarily difficult because of the many options available to them. On the patient’s side, it can be overwhelming to make a choice between these seemingly similar healthcare providers. Effective digital marketing strategies can not only get you in front of more eyes but also better communicate the essential services you provide. In this blog, we’ll provide you with actionable healthcare marketing strategies in a variety of service lines, so you can have a comprehensive picture of what your business needs to pull in a new customer base.

Jump to section:

Understanding Your Target Audience

The crucial first step in creating a marketing strategy is developing your patient personas. Also known as customer personas or buyer personas in healthcare, these are detailed and semi-fictional representations of your ideal patients or customers. These are important for reasons such as:

Focused Targeting: By understanding the specific characteristics, behaviors, needs, and preferences of your ideal patients, you can tailor your messaging, content, and strategies to resonate with them.
Personalized Communication: Patient personas enable you to craft personalized messages that address the unique concerns and pain points of different patient groups. This can lead to more meaningful interactions and better patient engagement.
Improved Patient Experience: When you understand your patients’ needs and preferences, you can align with their preferences, which leads to higher patient satisfaction and loyalty.
Better Content Creation: You can create educational materials, blog posts, videos, and other content that directly addresses the questions and challenges your ideal patients have. This establishes your authority and helps patients make informed decisions.
Enhanced Decision-Making: Whether it’s advertising channels, marketing campaigns, or new service offerings, you can prioritize initiatives that are most likely to resonate with your target patients.
Reduced Marketing Waste: Targeting a broad and undefined audience can lead to wasted marketing efforts and resources.
Adaptation to Trends: As trends and patient behaviors evolve, personas can be updated to reflect these changes, allowing you to remain agile and responsive to shifts in patient preferences.
Stronger Brand Identity: When your messaging is aligned with the needs and values of your patient personas, you establish a stronger and more relatable brand identity. Patients are more likely to connect with a healthcare organization that understands and caters to their unique needs.
Data-Driven Insights: Developing patient personas involves industry research and SEO data analysis. This data-driven approach ensures that your strategies are based on real insights rather than assumptions, leading to more effective decision-making.

For example, a patient persona for a dentist might be as follows:

A middle-aged married woman in a high-income household is professional, health-conscious, and active on social media. Her demanding job leaves her with limited free time, so she needs a flexible and convenient practice that can provide teeth whitening and cosmetic dentistry.
You’ll probably best reach this patient on platforms like Facebook or through internet searches about the health benefits of cosmetic dentistry. Other ways to acquire her include having a robust, updated website with online scheduling options, blog posts and information about cosmetic dentistry, and an email newsletter about your offerings.

For an assisted living facility, a patient persona will look a little different.

A retired widow with two adult children enjoys gardening, painting, and participating in community events with friends. She’s having increased trouble maintaining her home and health but wants to maintain her vibrant lifestyle.
For some patients, you may want to prioritize communicating with adult children caring for their parents, but in this case, highlighting your facility’s comprehensive, personalized offerings on a website, email campaign, and paid advertisements will best reach her.

Overall, patient personas empower healthcare marketers and providers to understand their patients on a deeper level and create strategies that resonate with them. By putting the patient at the center of your marketing efforts, you can build stronger relationships and drive better outcomes for both patients and your healthcare organization.

Website Optimization

A user-friendly website is often a priority for healthcare providers, especially those who are local. Potential patients will research you on the web first, which is why having a website with plenty of information and a positive, updated Google Business Profile will set your healthcare business up for success.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) puts your name in front of prospective customers

SEO marketing services primarily focus on the inclusion of keywords and commonly-searched topics in your website content. This ensures your pages will show up in results when users are searching for terms relevant to your business’s services.

Having a user-friendly website also increases your SEO in a technical sense. When focusing on the backend of your website, consider implementing security measures, indexing and mapping pages, and formatting the mobile display of your website. Google prioritizes websites that give users a seamless experience.

Having a website that’s easy to navigate and provides plenty of essential information regarding popular subjects isn’t just an SEO practice, either. In general, users will spend more time on your site if it provides those benefits to them, and will keep them engaged as they peruse your content. Ultimately, they’ll be more inclined to contact you or set up an appointment if your website helps answer their questions in a simple, streamlined manner.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) helps curious users become customers

Conversion Rate Optimization or CRO is the practice of optimizing your website so that users “convert,” or complete a certain goal, like signing up for an email newsletter or contacting you to set up a consultation. These are some ways that CRO helps do that:

Building Trust: Trust is paramount in the healthcare industry, as you’re dealing with patients’ personal and difficult health struggles. A polished and optimized website appears more professional and trustworthy to visitors, making them more motivated to choose your healthcare services over competitors.
Effective Calls to Action: Strategically placed calls to action (CTAs) are a key part of website optimization, as they guide visitors toward desired actions, such as scheduling appointments or contacting your practice for services. Clear and compelling CTAs can significantly increase your conversion rates, translating visitors into patients.
Continuous Improvement: A/B testing, an integral part of the optimization process, enables you to polish up various elements of your website over time. Switching up headlines, images, and CTAs to better capture users consistently enhances your site’s performance and conversion rates.

In a competitive industry like healthcare, a well-optimized website can provide a significant advantage. It demonstrates your commitment to a strong online presence and your dedication to offering valuable healthcare information and services to your patients. Your website is not merely a digital presence; it serves as a robust tool that can drive success for your healthcare practice. Through effective website optimization, you can enhance your SEO, increase your visibility to potential patients, and refine your CRO, transforming website visitors into loyal patients. This combination of factors will not only enable you to thrive in a competitive industry but also attract more patients to your valuable healthcare services.

Local SEO and Google Business Profile

Whether you’re trying to expand into a new service area or you’re still getting your healthcare business off the ground, local SEO is the primary way you’ll reach people within a specific location, starting with your Google Business Profile listing. These listings are essential because:

When individuals search for healthcare services near them, your business will be prominently featured, ensuring visibility among those seeking local healthcare solutions
A comprehensive and meticulously maintained profile provides vital information, including your address, phone number, and reviews, fostering trust with potential customers
Customers can directly communicate with you, pose inquiries, and schedule appointments through your profile, enhancing conversation rates and engagement
Positive reviews and ratings on your profile bolster your reputation and significantly influence potential customers’ decisions when looking for a trustworthy healthcare provider
You can present your work, introduce your team, and showcase your services using images and videos, offering potential customers a clear understanding of what you provide
Google Business Profiles are optimized for mobile users, catering to the increasing number of individuals searching for services on their smartphones
Maintaining a well-optimized profile significantly contributes to your local SEO efforts, boosting your chances of ranking higher in local search results

Having a Google Business Profile is an essential tool in today’s digital landscape, especially for highly-competitive industries like healthcare where customers are looking for the most trustworthy and helpful providers. Your profile can reach the right audience, showcase your positive reputation, and highlight the expertise you’ve utilized to provide essential healthcare services to many other customers. There are certain methods for optimizing your listing that will best reflect each of these factors.

Check Your Ownership and Verification: If you haven’t already done so, claim your business on Google My Business and complete the verification process. This step ensures that you maintain control over your business listing.
Fill Out Your Profile Information: Provide all pertinent details, including your business name, address, contact number, website, operational hours, and a brief business description.
Encourage Customer Reviews: Positive reviews enhance your credibility, a critical part of growing the name recognition and reputation of your healthcare business. Encourage satisfied clients to leave feedback, and make sure to respond promptly to both positive and negative reviews.
Enable Direct Messaging: Allow customers to message you directly through your listing and be prompt in responding to inquiries. This may lead to greater scheduled appointments.
Highlight Unique Features: If your business offers specialized services like a certain type of treatment or medication, emphasize these valuable features in your listing.
Strategic Website Linking: Link your listing to specific landing pages on your website that are relevant to the services you provide, enhancing user experience and engagement.
Manage Q&A Section: Address user queries on your listing promptly and accurately, demonstrating your attentiveness to customer needs.

Above all, Google Reviews are essential to building up your business. Continue to encourage Google Reviews from happy customers and respond professionally and positively to both positive and negative feedback. Maintaining a professional tone can bolster your brand reputation and foster lasting relationships with your local community, who will come to know you as one of the most trustworthy and helpful healthcare providers.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is an essential tool that can get your name in front of customers right now while you build up your website optimization and online reputation. Paid advertising on platforms like Facebook allows you to create and reach a targeted audience, while paid search ads through Google can reach a wide market and automatically test which headlines and descriptions most motivate people to click through to your website. These tools are highly personalizable and even allow for retargeting strategies, so you can motivate users to rediscover your services through:

Engagement Retargeting: Target users who engaged with your content but didn’t convert.
Social Media Engagement Retargeting: Retarget users who have engaged with your social media content, such as liking, sharing, or commenting.
Geographic Retargeting: Highlight local events, promotions, or new store locations relevant to the user’s area.
Segmentation: Divide your retargeting audience based on various criteria such as behavior, demographics, or interests for a more personalized approach.
Testing and Optimization: Continuously test different ad creatives, messages, and placements to identify what resonates best with your retargeting audience.

Effective retargeting strategies help you re-engage potential customers, remind them of their interests, and guide them toward conversion. Retargeting is especially valuable for healthcare providers who are considered “non-essential.” For example, a customer considering Invisalign may decide against acting now but return to your business in the future to make that commitment. By using paid advertising tactics strategically, you can maximize impact and drive better results.

Content Marketing Strategies

Content marketing is all about providing value to your patients. Adding blogs, videos, and infographics to your website is a simple way to do this. Sharing credible, expansive information about services patients may view as risky, new offerings, seasonal considerations, and more will be viewed and appreciated by people in your area looking for those details.

Content is created with the goal of showcasing your expertise, industry knowledge, and commitment to honestly and accurately communicating with your patients. It can:

Establishing Authority and Trust: Informative content positions your healthcare business as an industry expert. Offering valuable information about different conditions and treatments builds trust with potential clients, a critical factor in their decision-making process.
Building Brand Awareness: Content marketing boosts brand visibility. When people encounter your content during research on health situations they may be facing, it fosters brand familiarity, making your company top-of-mind when they need care.
Engaging with Your Audience: Regular content publication encourages audience interaction. Customers can comment, ask questions, and share your content, creating a sense of community. Engaging potential clients builds relationships and loyalty.
Improving SEO and Visibility: Quality content with relevant keywords elevates your website’s search ranking, attracting organic traffic from potential clients actively seeking healthcare.
Targeting Specific Audiences: Tailored content addresses diverse audience segments like adult children of parents with dementia, parents of children with allergies, and other types of patients. This targeted approach addresses unique needs, increasing conversion potential.
Fostering Long-Term Relationships: Content nurtures existing client relationships, keeping your brand in their minds. Regular content sharing encourages return business and referrals.

Content marketing is invaluable for healthcare businesses because it educates clients, builds trust, enhances brand awareness, and improves online visibility. Delivering valuable content positions your business as a trusted industry expert, attracting and retaining clients effectively.

Another method of establishing brand trust is through social media marketing. Social media and public relations likely won’t drive anyone to schedule an appointment with your business, but it’s fantastic for creating a brand identity and communicating with existing patients. Choose the platforms that your patient demographics typically use and will engage with you on. Facebook is more often than not the right choice for healthcare businesses, as it allows you to post links to informative content, share videos, and connect with your community. Other platforms, like YouTube and Instagram, can also help you showcase your brand identity and the services you provide.

There are some best practices to keep in mind for using social media effectively in the healthcare industry:

Know Your Audience: Tailor your content to address the specific concerns and interests of your patients or healthcare stakeholders.
Adhere to Regulations and Privacy: Avoid sharing personal patient information or any content that could compromise patient privacy.
Educational and Informative Content: Share accurate and reliable healthcare information, including tips, preventive measures, and treatment options.
Engage and Interact: Engage in meaningful conversations through comments, messages, and discussions to build trust and establish your healthcare organization as a reliable source of information.
Visual Content: Use visual content like images and videos to make your posts more engaging and shareable.
Storytelling: Humanize your brand by highlighting the people behind the scenes, such as doctors, nurses, and staff members.
Promote Health and Wellness: Share content that promotes healthy lifestyles, wellness tips, and preventive care. Highlight the importance of regular check-ups, vaccinations, and screenings.
Collaborate and Network: Contribute to discussions with other healthcare professionals and organizations to expand your reach and credibility.
Consistent Posting Schedule: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and informed.
Monitor and Analyze: Keep track of what types of content resonate the most with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Professional Tone: Maintain a professional and respectful tone in all interactions and posts, but also avoid using medical jargon that might confuse or alienate your audience.

Remember that social media is a powerful tool for building relationships and fostering trust in the healthcare industry. By providing valuable information, engaging with your audience, and demonstrating your expertise, you can establish a strong online presence that benefits both your healthcare organization and your patients.

Email Marketing

Building an email marketing list will be beneficial to you for many years to come. Set up a prompt on your website for users to submit their emails to establish an interested, wide-ranging customer base to market to with newsletters, discounts, and other email content.

Some ideas for engaging with your email audience while providing them with valuable information include:

Simple and practical health tips related to nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep
Informative articles, infographics, or videos about medical conditions, treatments, and procedures
Reminders for regular check-ups, screenings, vaccinations, and other preventive care measures
Q&A sessions with your medical professionals to answer common health-related questions
Introductions for new medical treatments, services, or technology your healthcare facility is offering
Resources and events related to health awareness months (e.g., Breast Cancer Awareness Month)
Tips for managing stress, anxiety, and mental health
Promotion of health-related workshops, seminars, webinars, or community health fairs

Remember to personalize your emails by addressing recipients by their names, segmenting your audience based on their interests or healthcare needs, and providing clear calls to action. Still, always be sure to comply with healthcare regulations. Never share information about your patients, especially without consent, or encroach on the receiver’s own privacy. Email marketing is meant to provide valuable and relevant content that can help build trust, engage your audience, and position your healthcare organization as a reliable source of information and care, so always be sure to prioritize that trust.

Reputation Management

For local providers, reputation is everything. Having a satisfied, knowledgeable, and returning customer base is essential to building your brand in your community. However, building this reputation online is just as important. A new customer who stumbles across a negative review on your Google Business Profile will certainly be less inclined to schedule an appointment with you.

If and when you receive a negative review, the first thing you should do is check if there are grounds for reporting the review. For example, if the review looks like spam or the name doesn’t match any of your patient records, you can flag it to Google. However, sometimes patients simply have bad experiences, and you should always reply to the reviews professionally, apologizing for the situation and declaring your intention to constantly improve your services.

But negative reviews aren’t the only part of reputation management. Encourage your happy customers to leave positive reviews, and possibly even offer them incentives to do so. Soon, you’ll grow to have a pristine, successful online reputation.

Measuring Success

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable metrics used to measure the success and performance of your marketing strategies. KPIs help your healthcare organization track progress toward your goals, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.

Conversion Rate: The percentage of leads or website visitors that convert into customers
Return on Investment (ROI): The ratio of net profit generated from a campaign to the cost of that campaign.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The ratio of users who click on a link to the number of total users who view a page, email, or advertisement.
Pageviews: The total number of pages viewed on a website.
Average Session Duration: The average amount of time users spend on a website.

It’s important to regularly review KPIs, as well as adjust them as business priorities change or new objectives arise. Luckily, there are several tools available for tracking KPIs across various domains. Here are some tools that can help you monitor and measure performance effectively:

Google Analytics

Tracks website traffic, user behavior, conversions, and more
Provides insights into audience demographics, referral sources, and popular content

Google Search Console

Monitors your website’s presence in Google’s search results
Offers data on search queries, clicks, impressions, and indexing issues

HubSpot

All-in-one marketing, sales, and customer service platform
Tracks website analytics, email marketing performance, lead generation, and customer interactions

SEMrush

Provides insights into organic and paid search performance
Offers competitive analysis, keyword tracking, backlink monitoring, and site audit tools

Ahrefs

Focuses on SEO and backlink analysis
Tracks keyword rankings, competitor analysis, site audits, and more

Moz

Offers tools for tracking and improving search engine rankings
Provides site audits, keyword research, link analysis, and on-page optimization

Hootsuite

Social media management and scheduling tool
Tracks social media metrics, monitors conversations, and manages multiple social profiles

Salesforce

Customer relationship management (CRM) platform
Tracks sales performance, customer interactions, leads, and opportunities

Remember, the choice of tools will depend on your specific goals, industry, and the type of data you need to track. When selecting tools, consider their features, ease of use, integration capabilities, and pricing. It’s also important to align the tools you choose with the specific KPIs you want to monitor to ensure accurate and meaningful performance measurement.

Why Choose Epic Notion for Your Healthcare Marketing

Epic Notion is your healthcare marketing expert in Charlotte, NC. We understand the needs of local providers, senior living facilities, oncology practices, and more. Our marketing case studies highlight our success in campaigns with clients of all sizes and reaches.

At the end of the day, a comprehensive, strategic marketing plan is what will be most effective for your business. Consider your audience, budget, and goals for your campaign, or allow Epic Notion to do so for you.

We create customized marketing strategies that fit your healthcare organization. To work with us, contact Epic Notion by calling 704-817-3765 or filling out this form.

Marketing for the Healthcare Industry: How to Attract New Patients