Healthcare providers often tell us that having their own business is a constant juggle between providing the best possible care and running the practice. In essence, this applies to any other profession on the market—everyone strives to make their products and services more appealing to consumers while dealing with business requirements, such as administration, rules, and improvement strategies.
However, there’s a big difference between healthcare and other businesses in terms of buyer satisfaction—it’s virtually impossible to give back the delivered care. This no-return policy is a result of the nature of medical care rather than your choice. Simply said, patients can’t return a surgery that didn’t go well.
As patients are becoming more and more informed, their standards and expectations when it comes to healthcare become higher. They use digital services to search for different healthcare providers, allowing them to check and compare the information before making a final choice.
To stay competitive under those circumstances, you must employ different healthcare marketing tactics to grow your practice—from ensuring the trust of your patients to maintaining business sustainability.
Healthcare Marketing Tactics to Make Patients Choose You
Today’s patients seeking healthcare will use every piece of information available to determine the quality of care they need. Choosing the right medical service isn’t as simple as buying a shirt, for example. Healthcare decisions are complex, emotional, and involve high stakes. To guide patients through the decision-making process effectively, you need to employ strategic moves.
But, to do that, you must overcome a few obstacles set by the competitive market. The main challenge lies in being persuasive and trustworthy in a marketing environment that might feel aggressive and profit-driven. Plus, you face unique constraints that can limit how you market your services and engage with potential patients, like staying compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These limitations, however, provide a chance for you to differentiate yourself via integrity, transparency, and patient-centered care.
Effective healthcare marketing goes beyond navigating regulatory boundaries. It involves crafting messages that resonate with patients’ needs and values. By focusing on what truly matters to patients—quality care, empathy, and respect—you can cut through the noise and present their services as the preferred choice.
Here are some of the strategies that can help you attract patients’ attention and make sure your practice is seen as the first option for compassionate, high-quality care:
Use PROs to Show Your Success
There are several reasons why you should collect Patient-Oriented Outcomes (PROs) and take advantage of their potential within your healthcare marketing tactics.
PROs are objective patient insights about the treatments you deliver. Unbiased and direct, this information can be used to deliver more precise and reliable messages to your patients, while making data-based improvements to your practice. Turning positive PRO survey results into captivating content that you can distribute across various digital channels drives higher engagement and patient loyalty. If you showcase the same favorable feedback from different patients about the specific treatment you provide, you will undoubtedly catch the attention of those who search for that type of medical care.
Promoting positive PROs as a healthcare marketing tactic gives your messaging credibility, as it comes from patients themselves. It also shows your commitment to patient care and the value of the care you provide. This brings in new patients and builds lasting relationships focused on honesty and patient-centered care.
Don’t Sell – Educate
Your patients are often exposed to suspicious information and fake news in the online world. That can lead to negative consequences for their health, like refusing proven healing methods and turning to alternative medicine, as has proven to be very true in the (post)-pandemic era. That’s why your online presence should include an educational component.
Striking the balance between education and selling is one of the healthcare marketing tactics that makes your patients more aware of the care you provide and more likely to consider you as a trusted option. So, to effectively engage with patients, focus on creating informative content that meets their needs and problems. Provide useful insights, success stories, and practical tips that demonstrate your commitment to their well-being.
Your goal isn’t just to sell and earn, but to empower patients with knowledge that they can use to make informed decisions about their health. By prioritizing education in your marketing efforts, you present yourself as a trusted source of information and care in the eyes of your audience.
Turn Patient Testimonials Into Tactical Advantage
Did you know that over 80% of consumers check online reviews before choosing a doctor? That’s more than enough reason to make patient testimonials one of the leading healthcare marketing tactics.
When potential patients see authentic testimonials from others who have had positive experiences with the care you provide, they are more likely to trust your expertise and choose your practice. Using testimonials this way can differentiate your services in a competitive market and attract new patients effectively.
Get More Patients With the Help of Targeted Ads
When you have educational and authentic content based on rich data derived from PROs and patient testimonials, you need to deliver it to your patients. You can boost your organic efforts with the help of targeted ads, designed to reach desired audiences, such as those in need of specific care or, in other words, high-value patients.
To benefit from targeted ads as one of the healthcare marketing tactics, you must first define your target audience, e.g. patients who need knee replacements and use commercial insurance. This allows you to create highly precise ad campaigns that speak directly to the needs and preferences of different patient groups. You can then send these tailored ads to the people who need that care with the help of predictive analytics, which uses historical data to suggest anticipated future audience outcomes.
Include Reputation Management as A Healthcare Marketing Tactic
Online reviews are one of the key elements of healthcare-related decision making. They serve as a quick and often reliable source of patient-generated information, so not using them as one of the effective healthcare marketing tactics can—and will—easily backfire.
Actively managing online reviews shows that you care about your patients’ opinions and readiness to listen and continuously improve your care. You should respond to all reviews, whether positive or negative. Addressing negative reviews publicly shows transparency and a commitment to patient satisfaction. If you show that the long waiting time, treatment delays, or lack of information about procedures your patients pointed out are no longer an issue, you are more likely to be chosen as a provider.
Responsible reputation management ensures that your practice keeps a positive online presence, influencing patients’ decision-making as a trustworthy, reliable source of care. Make sure to address every review with care and a dose of encouragement for your patients to share their opinions regardless of whether they are good or bad.
Implement A Healthcare Marketing Strategy To Attract More Patients
Using healthcare marketing tactics to simplify your patients’ choices puts you ahead of the competition and positively affects your patient acquisition. A well-rounded approach that combines strategic steps with the latest marketing trends and technologies will help you adapt to the shifting landscape of patient needs, allowing you to always provide more value to your patients and reassure them that they’ll receive quality treatments that don’t come with buyer’s remorse.
If implementing these kinds of tactics remains a challenge for you, we encourage you to use SocialClimb’s comprehensive and HIPAA-compliant marketing platform to effectively apply and monitor each aspect of your healthcare marketing strategy. To further simplify your efforts, you can integrate the platform with your practice management systems in a HIPAA-compliant way. Automating patient surveys and reviews, targeted ads, and marketing campaign tracking will help you meet patients’ needs, boost satisfaction, position yourself as a highly trusted provider, and ultimately expand your healthcare organization.
