Healthcare Success

We’ve written about branding over the years, everything from strategy and concepts to tactics and execution.  This time I’d like to focus on what happens when your strategy is said and done. You can now create great content, right? Well, not exactly.  You need a brand style guide that communicates your strategy in a guidebook. […]

A successful health system, hospital, practice, or healthcare organization website facilitates patient communication and helps you win more patients you want.  But this doesn’t mean much if patients can’t find your website. To get on page #1 for an organic search, you need a strong healthcare marketing SEO company, a solid website, an even stronger […]

Building a multilocation healthcare business expands your reach, patient base, and profit margin.  But, these benefits come with several unique marketing challenges.  The good news? They also come with remarkable marketing opportunities.  In this article, I identify several common challenges and how to overcome them with effective marketing strategies.  12 Marketing Challenges Unique to Multilocation […]

At Healthcare Success, we have been sharing marketing knowledge, tips, and tricks since our agency’s founding in 2006.  Here, you’ll find a few of our most timely and popular blogs conveniently organized by marketing topic.  Start With Some Classics Whether you’re a new marketer or a seasoned professional, take a deep dive into essential topics […]

You might remember writing style guides from college. Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press, Modern Language Association? Instead of using a generic style guide for content, today’s leading healthcare brands are creating their own, also known as content style guides. A content style guide is a companion to your brand style guide and helps writers […]

Do paid search terms have you scratching your head? If so, don’t sweat it. There are about a hundred million trillion of them, and they can get confusing. But don’t worry, we’re here to help you get a base-level understanding of the most commonly used terms that we share with our clients.  We hope you […]

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerhouse for long-term revenue generation. It should never be an afterthought in your marketing strategy.  Businesses across every industry must capture relevant, organic traffic opportunities to stay competitive and grow. Focusing on value over cost is crucial when researching the best SEO agency or consulting firm for your business, […]

Humans have an evolutionary instinct to be lazy. We will always choose the path of least resistance. Take the remote control, for example. Years ago, people had to get up from the sofa and walk to the TV to change the channel.  Thanks to the remote control, people can stay nestled comfortably in their favorite […]

Google has added an extra “E” to its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (SQEG), changing the well-known acronym from E-A-T to E-E-A-T.  The new E stands for “experience,” and here’s what this means for your business: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust (E-E-A-T)  Google defines experience as “first-hand or life experience for the topic.” “Many types of […]

Your paid search landing page is a stand-alone web page typically separate from your website.  It’s the first page visitors see after clicking your paid search ad, making it solely responsible for high-quality lead conversions and performance. Getting it right is essential. The effectiveness of its design, message, page load speed, lead capture form, and […]

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that can have human-like conversations, translate, and provide users with information.  It can also write good content. Like, really good.  And now that Google has openly stated, “Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines,” it begs the question: Should we use it to produce healthcare […]

Content comes in levels or tiers, and your healthcare website requires the highest level.  Why? Writing high-quality content for healthcare that ranks high on Google and drives consumer action is hard.  What’s more, it requires the ability to make the right judgment call when faced with conflicting objectives and deep knowledge of several disciplines, including: […]

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- […]

It’s not your imagination. People really are ruder to each other these days.  The pandemic, economy, political unrest, war, and continued uncertainty have taken—and continue to take—a toll on people’s mental health. These all contribute to stress, anxiety, frustration, and anger. And according to Harvard Business Review, frontline workers are taking the brunt of this […]

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 […]

Google despises black hat SEO techniques. Whether performed intentionally or unintentionally, black hat techniques involve tricking users and search engines to gain rankings. If any site incorporates these practices, Google eventually finds out and penalizes the site accordingly.  These penalties can be as minor as gaining a lower SERP position or as severe as being […]

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 […]

Over the next seven years, the medical device market will nearly double in size (from USD 495.46 billion in 2022 to 964.90 billion in 2030). There are three main reasons for this: The United States has a large aging population and a long history of chronic disease. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of […]

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 […]

Google Search is always updating its algorithm, especially when it comes to content. As an agency, we keep track of these updates and make sure our clients’ websites comply with the latest search engine standards. On August 25 of this year, the search giant rolled out yet another update, this time dubbed the “helpful content […]

Philadelphia retailer John Wanamaker once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.”  And truthfully, it’s probably more for many businesses.  Years ago, it was common for healthcare providers to ask, “How did you hear about us?” when you called to schedule an appointment or […]

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 […]

10 Ways To Deal With Angry Patients and Why You Definitely Should By Stewart Gandolf, Chief Executive Officer When patients take their grievances out on their healthcare provider, it can be frustrating—not only for the provider but also for the administration. More than ever before, healthcare organizations have to worry about the threat of legal […]

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 […]