Medical Digital Marketing: Strategies That Work For Healthcare Professionals

The Australian healthcare industry generates roughly $170 Billion per annum with the average Australian spending $7,199 each year on health services. Around 67% of this annual spend is funded by the government through Medicare.

With numbers like this it’s a safe bet that our Healthcare industry isn’t going anywhere. Outside of the delivery of telehealth services, disruption in this sector seems a distant prospect. If you’re running a small medical practice, or are part of an established health-related organisation, then getting more patients is likely to be one of your top challenges. What’s the most cost effective way to spread the word about your health service? It could be medical digital marketing.

The Marketing Challenge for Medical and Healthcare Professionals

Alongside the mission of helping save lives and building processes to enable quick pivots to deliver telehealth services, medical professionals are beginning to search for better ways to promote their services. Successful healthcare organisations in Australia are now adopting the latest digital marketing best-practices such as mobile-optimised websites, video marketing and social media marketing. However the reality is that most medical professionals don’t have the time or expertise to develop effective marketing strategies and then proactively manage the lead generation process. A more practical solution is to outsource this work to the right medical marketing agency.

What does a ‘Medical Marketing Agency’ do?

Healthcare digital marketing agencies proactively work with medical professionals to expand their online presence and market their services. For small specialist practices that might mean building a new website which becomes a source of inbound enquiry from GPs, who these days regularly search Google to help refer their patients. Or it could mean running a Facebook Ads campaign for a local clinic who are looking for more clients within a 3km radius of their business. A medical marketing agency can make sure any website they build is not just pretty, but is highly visible on Google. These results are achieved from practices like keyword research, developing a digital strategy that is optimised for mobile search and also clever copywriting. But for growth to take place, a healthcare organisation must have the right strategies for online brand awareness, lead generation, patient education, community engagement, and more. So for small clinics, hiring in-house talent that can do all these jobs effectively is usually not an option. The three main areas of healthcare that may benefit from an online medical marketing strategy are: 

Medical Doctors and Surgeons

• General Practitioners (GPs)
• Doctor Specialists
• Physicians
• Medical Centres

Dental Services

• Dentists
• Dental Surgeons
• Orthodontists

Allied Health Services

• Accredited Exercise Physiologists
• Chinese Medicine Practitioners
• Chiropractors
• Medical Radiation Practitioners
• Occupational Therapists
• Optometrists
• Osteopaths
• Pharmacists
• Physiotherapists
• Podiatrists
• Social Workers
• Speech Pathology Specialists

Why is digital marketing important for health and medical professionals?

Healthcare professionals are dealing with enough stress just trying to provide the best care for their patients. Very few doctors have the time to devote to things such as search engine optimisation (SEO) or new patient acquisition. Digital marketing for doctors can be overwhelming, but it can play an important part in sustaining the organisation in the long run. With Australians looking for the best healthcare services and the government subsidising the majority of medical expenditure, the field can be very competitive. That’s why digital marketing is crucial for health and medical professionals to keep their business relevant and accessible. And it all starts with a good medical website design.

Here are the top reasons why health and medical businesses should invest in digital marketing

1. Name Recognition

Earning your medical degree or qualification is surely a proud achievement. But if you really want to achieve an outstanding reputation, you need to get your name out there. Gone are the days where  you can place an ad on local newspapers, and it is not practical for a small clinic to burn  money in expensive TV or radio ads. Nowadays, if a person wants to see a doctor, they will usually go online and look for one or ask for personal referrals. When you have digital marketing working for you, your increased visibility will ensure potential patients are able to find you quickly and easily.

2. Target the Right Set of Patients

Through digital marketing, you can use the power of search engine marketing (SEM) and social media marketing to directly target specific patients. With proper strategy, landing page content and a set of keywords you can more precisely reach the patients who would really benefit from your service. The ability to target your health service to the patients you want to see in your clinic is an invaluable aspect of digital marketing. As is learning and measuring who makes the eventual appointments from your ads and landing pages.

3. Investment to Expand Your Practice & Brand

Investing in a tailor made digital marketing plan is smart. For example, a well-optimised medical website can serve as an online patient acquisition channel. On the other hand, regularly publishing valuable content on your social media profiles can help you to further build your brand reputation, and engage with your community. Digital marketing will further cement your reputation as a trusted and recommended medical professional.

Medical Digital Marketing Case Study: Heart Health and Fitness (Exercise Physiology)

WebBuzz recently worked with Heart Health and Fitness – a leading exercise physiology clinic in Perth. After shopping around digital marketing agencies in Australia, they settled on WebBuzz mainly because of our proven expertise in building a great online presence for similar businesses.

Our first job was to improve the client’s website user experience. It was not mobile-optimised, not optimised for Google search engine and the aesthetics needed work. Here’s what we started with:

After working with Dr. Nicole Gordon to understand her goals, we improved her website to not only make it easier on the eyes of potential patients but also for Google search engine. Aside from website design overhaul, our team improved the clinic’s ability to acquire potential clients and referral partners through a proven lead form strategy.

UPDATE: Heart Health and Fitness recently won a grant as part of the Australian government’s Small Business Digital Marketing Champions program.

Ready to take the next step?

The medical industry is an essential and growing market right now. Leveraging cost effective strategies like digital marketing to promote your practice is key to the ongoing success of your business. Take a look at the results we achieved for a top Sydney surgeon in this case study. Here’s the lift pitch to summarise the reasons why you should invest in a digital marketing for your medical practice: 

• Healthcare profession is a noble endeavor but you need to take care of the business side so you can continue grow and stay profitable 
• Healthcare spending in Australia is in billions and is only expected to grow in the coming years
• There are lots of medical professionals engaged in medical practices, which makes the industry ultra competitive 
• Best digital marketing practices can help you improve your online presence so you can build your reputation and acquire more patients. 

WebBuzz specialises as a medical digital marketing agency with clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and all around Australia.