SHSMD 2018 produced a stellar lineup this year. One of the presentations I was most excited about came from the communications team at VCU Health, a health system that’s doing amazing things with its social media—particularly with Facebook Live. In case you missed the presentation, here’s some good news: I spoke with Anne Dreyfuss, Public […]
Chances are, the majority of your staff has at least one social media page they check fairly often. Members of your staff have written posts and uploaded photos plenty of times before—they know the social media essentials, and they’re happy to post on the company Facebook page. It’s great to have someone on staff willing […]
There are more choices in healthcare than ever before. Since the introduction of Obamacare, a lot more people have access to a wider range of insurance options. From there, there are even more decisions for a patient to make: urgent care or primary care? Direct primary care or concierge medicine? Generic or prescription medicine? Is […]
If a patient on medication for depression started to feel better, should she go off her meds? Should someone experiencing relief from strep throat throw out the remaining antibiotics? Of course not. From time to time, we hear from clients that their current patient volume is just fine. They're ready to stop the marketing and […]
You’ve heard the acronyms floating around: SEO, PPC, CPC, SEM. You might even have a good handle on what some of these things entail. But how do you peace it all together into one cohesive strategy? What tried-and-true facts do the top digital marketing agencies use to help their clients succeed? Related: 3 Simple Ways to […]
You and your team carefully screen all job candidates to make sure they’re a good fit. After a few weeks of medical staff training, your front office staff knows all about your specialty or your primary service lines, and they’re a big advocate for your practice or hospital. But if you think this is the […]
Marketing ethics have been a topic of debate in healthcare for years. Can healthcare organizations, hospitals, and practices really feel good about spending advertising dollars to attract patients? Shouldn’t patients naturally drift towards quality organizations? In today's changing world of healthcare, some form of marketing is almost a requirement. Gone are the days when patients […]
Today, most patients in need of a healthcare provider will begin their search online. Even if your organization is primarily physician referred, people are searching for your website before following through with an appointment. A poor web presence could be a deal breaker. Recently, we’ve written a lot about what kind of websites deliver patients. […]
Marketing for healthcare organizations is changing—fast. But when you're absorbed in the world of healthcare, it's tough to know what's going on in the world of marketing healthcare. Strategies that worked just a few years ago might not work today—but then again, many tried and trued methods continue to be successful for certain medical practices, hospitals, and […]
If you were in pain, would you want to see a surgeon? Or would you rather see a board-certified surgeon specializing in a minimally invasive procedure that gets you back to doing what you love? Words matter, and quality copy helps patients to see their experience in your office will be unlike anything they could […]
Digital marketing might sound easy enough to those with basic knowledge of the web. But it’s about so much more than simply good design or strong copy—and it’s certainly not all about posting on Facebook. To be competitive with digital marketing in healthcare, you need to invest in your brand. And paid search and display […]
Doctor websites can often be insightful and educational. But is that really all you need for your hospital or practice website to be complete? 6 things all doctor websites need Of course, all doctor websites are going to be different. Some are suited for before-and-after photos, while some are primarily focused on showing their compassionate […]
Let’s face it: doctors aren’t web designers. You certainly have a say on what goes into your website—but designers spend years learning about user experience, and cultivating an eye for design. Although you have access to medical stock photos and an advanced camera phone (we're assuming), it can be tough to choose the photography for […]
This week, we want to address some of the myths about healthcare marketing we hear every single day. Some of these get in the way of your marketing in general. Some just make it hard to see any ROI. Either way, these beliefs about healthcare marketing are a form of self-sabotage. Related: Our Healthcare Marketing Agency […]
Private equity deal activity has dropped by about 19% in the last 4 years—but healthcare-specific deals continue to grow at a steady rate year after year. That's because healthcare organizations are a strong investment, with high margins and a product that will always be in demand, whether in biotechnology, medical devices, or private practice. However, […]
Planning a smart marketing strategy means basing your decisions on data. And today, the data shows that 70% of people use social media. It may not be where prospective patients are actively searching for a doctor, but a solid social media strategy can still build trust with your demographic. And, as you'll see in this […]
Wanted: Customer Service SUPERSTAR. It's the first phrase that should come to mind when you're crafting a Medical Scheduler job description. The person who answers the phone for new patients can make or break your organization. This is someone with the power to convert every new patient who calls—or to drive many of them away. […]
You’ve got a decent website. Now, you just need people to find it. Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about changing the content, performance, and user experience of your website in order for it to appear higher in the search engines (such as Google and Bing). This is more important for hospitals and medical practices […]
Many private practices have embraced the rise of healthcare consumerism trends, providing ways to create an experience that puts the patient's needs first. In hospitals, though, changes have been slow-going. This is due in part to longstanding structuring, pricing, and patient care protocols that are tough (and costly) to get around. But these changes are […]
A lot can go wrong in marketing. You might spend too much money advertising in the wrong places to people who have no interest in your organization. Ad copy and imagery may not align with your branding. You could be left completely in the dark as to what's working and what's not. This can happen […]
“Big Tech”—companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple—is taking over healthcare. At least, that’s what the news headlines would have us believe. These companies and more have made huge announcements just within the past 6 months about their plans for transforming the healthcare industry. Some announcements about Big Tech in healthcare, like Amazon’s pursuit of a […]
Once upon a time, a good website could set you apart from your competitors. But today, digital marketing is about a whole lot more than simply having a website. People have to be able to find you online. That requires both an organic marketing plan (like search engine optimization and social media posts) and a […]
Sometimes, a marketing campaign doesn’t work out. It happens, and it stinks. But just because one marketing effort doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean marketing doesn’t work in healthcare. When you begin trying new marketing campaigns, you might be dismayed to find the results aren’t quite what you hoped for or expected. However, that doesn’t mean […]
Marketing your hospital or practice means learning some complex terms and sorting through a lot of jargon. You may have heard that, in healthcare, SEO can help you increase your search engine rankings. But what does that really mean for your bottom line? Will you see new patients? And is it worth the effort? Related: SEO […]
Patient experience is a phrase we’ve all heard countless times—especially over the last few years. But when used in a hospital or practice, the phrase can occasionally elicit eye rolls. Healthcare professionals all wish they could spend more time with patients, and they try their best. But even the little things can make a difference […]
While many other industries are catching on to the needs of the modern Hispanic consumer, healthcare has been slow to catch up. Of all ethnic groups in the United States, Hispanics are the least likely to have a doctor they see regularly or even to have health insurance. About 22% of Hispanic Americans do not […]
A well-run physician liaison referral marketing program can be a game-changer for hospitals, health systems, and multilocation practices. It can draw in consistent revenue and support long-term referral relationships. But what’s at the heart of these programs? A skilled, well-trained, and motivated physician liaison. I’ve met some fantastic physician liaisons over the course of my […]
Would a doctor prescribe medicine without knowing it works? Of course not. So why continue your marketing campaigns without any data to back up their value? If you're doing any marketing at all, it’s vital that you have a system for measuring marketing effectiveness. Data-driven marketing helps to fine-tune your efforts for the best ROI—so […]
In healthcare, we see this all the time. A patient walks into a medical practice looking perfectly fine. But after some blood work, it turns out the healthy-looking patient has a hidden illness. As marketers, we see the same thing happen with websites. A physician or even an amateur web designer may think a website […]
Today, most healthcare organizations have some sort of social media presence. While a couple of doctors and health gurus have cornered the market on major medical celebrity, hospitals and practices simply aim to appeal to a hometown market with their social media posts. Social media and healthcare can be a powerful thing. You can reach out […]
Hospitals and practices across the U.S. face unique challenges in healthcare today. People's attitudes toward healthcare have changed, making it more difficult to reach new patients at the right stage of the decision-making process. However, the biggest issue is that healthcare organizations struggle to adapt to the changing needs of patients Challenges in healthcare today are […]
Millennials have the power to enact change. According to the US Census Bureau, this group (of people born between 1981 and 1996, myself included) now outnumbers baby boomers by about 8 million. And if we have the power to kill off everything from restaurant chains to paper napkins to the diamond industry, then believe me: millennial […]
It costs your hospital or practice about 5 times more to obtain a new patient than to keep an existing patient within your database. That’s why patient retention matters–the overall loss of a patient’s lifetime value is not something you want to give up. So if you’re losing patients, you might be...well...losing patience. The good […]
Medicare influences most of the healthcare decisions of patients 65 and up. Unfortunately, original Medicare can have gaps in coverage that steer people away from making the right decisions for their health. That’s why millions of people choose a private Medicare Advantage plan as their 65th birthday approaches or during the Annual Election Period (also […]
Good doctors alone, no matter how competent or innovative, do not make a hospital or practice successful. Some level of marketing is always required. It may start with word-of-mouth, but eventually, you'll need to expand your reach—and you might start to consider what medical marketing agencies have to offer. The most successful practices and hospitals […]
Mobile is taking over the world. There’s no way around it. When you have a personal assistant in your pocket every day, why would you perform searches primarily on a desktop computer? As user behavior changes, the future of mobile advertising is changing as well. Hospitals and practices must keep up if they want to […]
When Dr. Tim Gray started Mountain View Medical Center in 1990, he was committed to providing first-rate medical care. Patients trusted Dr. Gray and his team to prioritize their health—but patient waiting times were rarely a topic of discussion. Then, Dr. Gray received a compliment that was a bit of a double-edged sword: “Appointments here […]
A solid digital marketing strategy involves several components, but paid digital advertising is the most direct route to your bottom line. I'll put it this way: you can pray for clicks with healthcare search engine optimization (SEO), using the proper keywords and hoping it gets you to the top of Google's results pages--or you can pay for […]
People can say almost whatever they want about your practice online. It may seem like a difficult task, but working to earn more positive online doctor reviews (and counteract the negative) is worth it--if you hope to grow your practice and keep people coming back time and time again. Having positive reviews to showcase online […]
Google may be the number one search engine in the world, but it also owns the second-largest search engine on the web: YouTube. Despite its ever-growing presence and 30 million daily users, few hospitals and practices include YouTube as part of their healthcare advertising strategies. There are two ways to take advantage of YouTube to reach […]
From time to time, I get the opportunity to interview leaders in healthcare from various viewpoints. Recently, I had fun speaking with my old friend Michael Boblitz about his role in shaping the strategic healthcare marketing plan of his organization in two big ways: A philosophy of focusing on a few things at a time, […]
It's official: the number of Google searches coming from mobile devices has exceeded the number of searches coming from desktop. Nearly 60% of search traffic comes from mobile devices, which means more and more prospective patients are viewing your hospital or practice website from a smartphone—not from a home computer. Now, after a year and […]
After 9 years of working at Disneyland, I can honestly say it’s a magical place. The experience you get as a Disneyland Park Guest is truly unique, and it stays with you for life. It's the reason I bought an annual pass on my last day of work—they earned my loyalty from the first day […]
Today, any successful hospital or practice should maintain a website so patients can find your location and learn a little bit about your services. You might think that a great looking site is just a bonus...but from a website marketing perspective, this is far from the truth. You cannot expect to simply put up a […]
Some doctors are social media superstars. We’ve all seen them: they may host television shows or serve as frequent commentators on healthcare matters, making them a go-to source as a social media influencer. Some even use YouTube or Instagram to showcase procedures that fascinate the general public (but we can’t all be Dr. Pimple Popper). […]
Multicultural marketing is too often overlooked. You hope that your marketing message is reaching people of all cultures and ethnicities, but this assumption can lead you to miss out on a huge potential patient base. As the experience of cultures in this country changes and evolves, so too should your marketing message. The state of […]
People usually leave online reviews for one of two reasons: they were either extremely pleased or felt they had a terrible experience. Some people are difficult to please, and negative doctor ratings are, unfortunately, just a part of running a hospital or practice--at least to an extent. With the right reputation management strategies in place, […]
Budgeting for advertising at a hospital or practice is a lot like appraising real estate. When real estate investors value a home, they look at it in 3 ways: the sales comparison approach (finding the market value of comparable properties), the cost approach (what it would cost to replace the building with a similar one), […]
Too many people wait until disaster strikes to make any serious moves in life. You may wait until your car breaks down before you ever think to replace or service it. Your patients wait until symptoms are severe before seeking medical attention. And you might not take the time to market your practice or hospital […]
[INSTALLMENT - A Continuing Series] Every physician and medical administrator that we know is intimately—often, intensely—aware of HIPAA’s privacy and security rules. There isn’t a policy, procedure or process that isn’t carefully scrutinized as HIPAA compliant. This isn't legal advice, but healthcare professionals know that protected health information (PHI) and electronic protected health information (ePHI) […]
