Healthcare Success

The conversion is the ultimate goal for any website or landing page.  It’s when a user makes a purchase, calls your organization, or makes an appointment. And if you’re like most of our clients, you want to increase your conversion rates.  One of the niche marketing disciplines that helps you do just that is called […]

Paid search (aka pay-per-click or PPC) often yields the highest ROI of any digital advertising medium. Our agency, therefore, manages Google Ads for dozens of our clients.  Google Ads (and its much smaller competitor Microsoft) work so well because they target people actively searching for healthcare solutions. Moreover, paid search delivers tremendous advantages and provides […]

Your website is—more often than not—the first experience people have with your brand. So having a solid strategy is crucial. Creating an immersive, branded space for users to experience is vital for effective marketing. When you’re strategic, branding and messaging are clear and cohesive across multiple channels, and your website can better support your short- […]

SEO is a good thing.  It’s the original bridge between Google search crawlers and people; it is the only way search engines better understand and retrieve what consumers are organically searching for online.  But did you know that you can overdo SEO? It’s called over optimization, and it happens all the time.  A common example […]

It’s easy to find detailed guides on how to respond to reviews. However, most aren’t written specifically for healthcare, meaning they don’t consider HIPAA or other compliance issues.  Responding to patient reviews can be tricky.  According to HIPAA, hospitals and doctors aren't allowed to share any protected health information (PHI) about reviewers—including whether they're patients. […]

I’ve noticed that most people tend to focus on only one of four variables when optimizing their digital marketing results. That’s a shame because true optimization requires a more strategic approach that considers each of the following four factors: Let’s take, for example, paid search (e.g., search engine marketing, SEM, pay-per-click, or PPC). Because it […]

We recently received an inquiry from the Marketing Director for a 40-location, single-specialty medical practice in the Midwest. Even though it was after hours, I was available so I took the call. Michelle (not her real name) and I hit it off immediately. She told me about her demanding job and how she felt her […]

Before we launch into a new year filled with new goals, ambitions, and marketing trends, I’d like to pause and reflect on the most helpful expert advice of 2022. I’ve compiled some of our most significant posts here, so you can easily reference them as you move into 2023. All Consuming Consumerism: Major Shifts & […]

Healthcare consumers continue to move swiftly down the paths of least resistance toward quality care. This spells trouble for healthcare organizations that cannot change with the times. It’s time to pay attention to what competitors offer and find ways to remove unnecessary obstacles to care.  In this blog, I share nine healthcare marketing trends you […]

Just like your brick-and-mortar business has to be ADA compliant, your healthcare website must also be accessible to people with disabilities.  The problem? The ADA doesn’t offer clear regulations for a compliant website.  The bigger problem? ADA accessibility lawsuits are on the rise. If your website isn’t accessible to people with disabilities, you could risk […]

Best-in-class healthcare marketers are already planning for next year. They’re researching key trends that will attract new high-intent audiences, increase engagement, drive revenue, and reinforce patient loyalty in 2023.  If you’ve been revamping the same marketing plan for a few years, now is the perfect time to reevaluate everything through the lens of market innovations […]

Google Trends is a powerful but underutilized tool that helps healthcare marketers It also allows marketers to analyze search term popularity over time, explore related keywords, and compare how search terms vary across different geographical areas. In this article, you’ll learn: What is Google Trends? Google Trends is an online search tool that analyzes the […]

What if you could advertise to patients while they are sitting in your competitor’s waiting room? What if you could promote your OBGYN practice to those Bridal Expo attendees down the street? How about offering Indy 500 ticket holders a free consultation at your Low T clinic? Or, providing your specialty services directly to those […]

While many affluent consumers don’t think twice about paying cash (or credit) for luxury retail goods, there is a built-in bias that healthcare products and services should be covered by insurance. Of course, that’s often not the case.  Despite this bias, patients are more than willing to pay out of pocket for the pricey healthcare […]

Help Providers Win New Patients from Large Local Businesses with These Tactics Large or dominant employers in your local communities are excellent targets of opportunity for new patients and cases. Most healthcare providers have local businesses that are (or could be) a source of new business. Whether it’s a company that's conveniently located across the […]

Welcome to step four of our “Marketing to Doctors” blog series. This comprehensive playbook is designed to help people in virtually every sector (e.g., healthcare businesses, device and supply companies, SaaS, etc.) market their products and services directly to doctors, physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals. If you haven’t read steps 1-3, I highly recommend […]

More consumers care about wellness than ever before—but it encompasses more than just fitness and nutrition. Today's wellness consumers actively engage with brands offering holistic products and services that promise to improve their physical and mental health and overall appearance. As consumer interest grows, health and wellness brands have ample opportunity to attract a larger […]

Learn our best practices for healthcare marketing to seniors, including how to create on-target messaging and choose the right distribution channels

Women make over 85 percent of consumer purchases in the U.S. When it comes to the household, they make up to 90 percent of the healthcare decisions.  Ninety four percent of women make their own healthcare decisions, and 59 percent of women make healthcare decisions for others. And yet women’s health marketing isn’t doing a […]

Welcome to part three of our “Marketing to Doctors” blog series. This series is a comprehensive playbook for healthcare businesses, device and supply companies, SaaS, or anyone who wants to market their products and services directly to doctors (physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals). I highly recommend reading this entire blog series. Here they are […]

I have been fascinated with vanity phone numbers for a long time. Early in my career, I came up with 1-800-WORKOUT and 1-800-FITNESS at J. Walter Thompson for our client Health & Tennis Corporation (later Bally Total Fitness). At that time, they owned multiple brands in dozens of markets and required $500,000 a year to […]

The COVID pandemic accelerated a longstanding issue within the healthcare industry: balancing labor shortages with increasing patient volume.  While market disruptors such as Telehealth and other retail clinics provide communities with more care options, they also drive higher staffing demands on an already small pool of candidates. Not only that, but many doctors and nurses […]

While we are very excited to announce our agency just launched our new website featuring a brand-new design, functionality, backend tech, and fresh content, we expect you’ll be more interested in the following three takeaways:  Why we decided to rebuild our site completely, Why you may need to similarly “start anew” with your website, and […]

Google Analytics is an extremely powerful tool for healthcare businesses.  According to BuiltWith, more than 28 million websites use Google Analytics to better understand how users engage with their web properties—including more than 66% of the top 100,000 websites worldwide. The development and subsequent launch of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in October 2020 was spurred […]

Marketing to doctors, physicians, surgeons, and other health care professionals can be extremely challenging, complicated, and expensive. What’s more, most doctors work in a hospital or multilocation medical practice, making it even more challenging to identify key decision-makers. Not only are doctors and decision-makers difficult to reach—and even more difficult to persuade—you have to contend […]

By Stewart Gandolf, MBA (Editor’s Note: I wrote the first version of this blog post back in 2006 when we launched Healthcare Success. While I intentionally wrote it with a quick, playful tone, more than sixteen years later, it remains one of our most popular posts. I recently updated it here for your reading pleasure!) Every time I run […]

Today, healthcare brands have more photography and videography options than ever. For many situations, hiring professionals, such as a professional photographer, a production company, or a videographer, will be best.  In other instances, you and your team can utilize a high-quality smartphone camera, affordable software programs, and inexpensive starter equipment to quickly, cheaply, and easily […]

More companies are making high-quality healthcare easier to access and more affordable by embracing data and technology. While healthcare has historically been among the slowest to accept new technologies, the pandemic has sped adoption. Healthcare businesses must offer leading-edge services and build patient-centric marketing strategies to differentiate themselves from competitors, boost retention and recruitment, and […]

If you’re in business, you have competitors.  Whether you represent a hospital, health system, or multilocation practice, competing healthcare businesses are developing innovative business models—right now—and they’re targeting your market. What’s more, your highest revenue service lines are likely already facing stiff competition from all angles.  Even worse, the marketplace for virtually every type of […]

The pandemic fast-tracked the growing notion of healthcare consumerism, spurring several changes in the healthcare industry. These changes include modernizing business processes and focusing on improvements that positively impact patient wait times and appointment times.  It is well-established that longer patient wait times negatively impact patient satisfaction, specifically regarding patient confidence (in the provider) and […]

Healthcare consumerism has drastically changed the way healthcare professionals need to market and deliver their services. Today’s consumers expect a healthcare experience as innovative and digitally advanced as any other industry. Hospitals, health systems, and medical practices must evolve to meet these changing needs to remain competitive or risk falling behind. As more healthcare professionals provide accessible online […]

We're living through a seismic shift in how physicians deliver medical care in the United States.  Here's a brief timeline: In 2012, 60.1% percent of physicians worked in physician-owned practices. By 2018, that percentage had fallen to 54%. At the end of 2020—for the first time ever—less than half (49.1%) of patient care physicians worked […]

We know that today's healthcare consumers want instant and accessible services.  The QR code allows hospitals and healthcare providers to satisfy this need with immediate physician-patient interaction and engagement – all through smartphones and tablets.  Placed strategically, the QR code does wonders for marketing. And today more than ever, they are considered the green, hygienic, […]

As more businesses favor social media channels for timely business communications, you may think press releases have become outdated or old-fashioned. You might even ask yourself, "Do we even need press releases anymore?"  The answer is an unequivocal "Yes." Consumers and journalists still view press releases as one of the most trustworthy sources of brand-related […]

Programmatic advertising has transformed the way people buy and sell online ads. In 2021, U.S. advertisers spent 41.2% more on programmatic display ads than in 2020—and it’s easy to understand why.  Leveraging automated software and artificial intelligence (AI) to collect real-time data gives key stakeholders complete visibility over where their ads appear. It also highlights […]

Patient reviews can make or break a business in this era of healthcare consumerism and online reputations. And they're here to stay.  More than 94% of healthcare patients use online reviews as the first step in researching physicians and hospitals. They’re also the third most crucial driver in consumers’ decision to select a new healthcare […]

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are searching social media for reliable healthcare news and resources. As expectations for trustworthy, up-to-date information continue to increase, it's not surprising that some of the most followed and engaged accounts are in the healthcare industry: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): 4.2+ million Facebook (FB) followers […]

If you want to dominate organic, paid, and local search results, you've got to study your business from several angles.   Building a deep understanding of your competitors' strengths and weaknesses and what makes your shared audience click improves branding, SEO, paid search, social media, and other general marketing strategies.  However, understanding which marketing tactics you […]

Is your hospital or medical practice website optimized for local searches? If not, you're missing out on a high-intent audience ready to convert.  Why? Because healthcare consumers can’t find your business online if it’s not optimized for local SEO.   Effective local SEO for doctors, hospitals, and health systems requires a complete understanding of the […]

While many businesses long for a return to pre-COVID normal, savvy healthcare organizations and health systems embrace virtual and digital services that champion a patient engagement future that exceeds expectations in our new reality. Has your business embraced virtual and digital patient experience trends, or are you still waiting for things to “get back to […]

Google Ads are about to change more than they have in years—are you ready? The days of creating a set of stand-alone ads, setting your daily advertising budget, and periodically checking your analytics are long gone. Even as I write this, the very idea seems archaic, and I suppose it is when you consider how […]

If you don’t have a local SEO strategy for your hospital or practice, you’re missing out on a large, high-intent audience. The Google business page – Google Business Profile – is one of the best—free—ways to improve your local SEO ranking and attract new consumers.  Google receives more than 2 billion visits every day, making […]

How much of your marketing budget is allocated to paid social media advertising? Are you wondering if it’s worth investing in healthcare Facebook ads? If it’s not something you’re taking seriously in 2022, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to attract new audiences, increase awareness, drive conversions, and improve your bottom line. With approximately […]

Business leaders in every industry understand that morale starts at the top.  When the C-suite is aligned and shares a unified, consistent message throughout the entire organization, it instills loyalty, trust, and confidence in your brand, mission, and goals.  Ideally, marketing relays this message to your consumers.  But since marketing happens in many channels, or […]

The digital advertising industry is constantly evolving.  One major evolution is in the way people buy ads in the first place.  The traditional method was a manual, complicated process.  But recent technological advancements – such as programmatic advertising – have improved and automated the way people buy and sell online ads.   Programmatic digital advertising is […]

Social media is an indisputable knowledge hub for every type of consumer, including the healthcare consumer. In the United States alone, eight in 10 internet users search for health information online and 74% of these people use social media. Consumers are returning to their favorite social media platforms time and again to get the information […]

Targeted advertising is powerful and effective.   It relies on data about who your audience is and what they are looking for.  Up until recently, advertisers had easy access to valuable third-party data and targeting options from giants like Google and Apple. These companies gathered this data through cookies, hence the name, third-party cookies.  But things […]

Are you ignoring Generation X in your healthcare marketing strategy? You shouldn't be, and here's why: Gen Xers have the highest rate of brand loyalty, period. They are partial to the brands they trust and are willing to pay a premium for their products and services.  Not only that, the 65 million Gen Xers are […]

The pendulum has swung dramatically from traditional to digital media marketing in the healthcare marketing industry over recent years. Digital ad spending surpassed traditional media spending in 2019 and is expected to exceed two-thirds of total media spending by 2023.  Healthcare audiences live and communicate in a digital world. Understandably, healthcare organizations and the agencies […]

They are barely 21. They’re the first digital natives. And…they are very stressed.  Gen Z, or Zoomers, are significantly impacted by today’s news, politics, culture, and climate issues. In the latest survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association, Gen Zers reported high stress levels, more than any other group, […]