Healthcare Digital Marketing in 2024

What Is Healthcare Digital Marketing?

Healthcare digital marketing is a component of marketing that uses the internet and online-based digital technologies like desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote healthcare products and services to potential customers and patients. Digital marketing for medical professionals enables specialists to showcase their expertise, build their professional credibility and increase their online reach.

medical website homepage

Importance of Digital Marketing for Doctors

The Pew Research Center reported that today, 93% of US adults use the Internet, whether through laptops, desktop computers, or smartphones. When it comes to healthcare digital marketing trends, the Center also found that 62% of internet users in the US go online to search for medical help. With most people using Google daily, it’s easy to see why digital medical marketing has gained increased significance in recent years.

Digital marketing for doctors entails promoting your services to a wider online audience, increasing visibility, and attracting leads to gain more patients or customers. Through search engine optimization (SEO), you can increase your Google search ranking, improving the chances of potential patients clicking on your website. The more users visit, the higher you’ll rank. While SEO is incredibly effective, it’s just one tactic that should form part of your overall marketing strategy toolbox.

How to Improve Your Online Presence as a Healthcare Provider?

Healthcare SEO, Pay-per-Click advertising, and E-mail marketing are effective methods to boost your professional services online and reach more patients. Before you delve into any of the above-mentioned, you should set up a user-friendly website that clearly communicates your services with a strong call to action, encouraging visitors to book an appointment or purchase one of your health-related products. Once you’ve decided on your website layout, you’ll want to implement medical SEO into your copy.

SEO for Medical Websites

medical keywords

A successful website showcases your services and helps you win over the patients you want to treat. This is where SEO for medical websites comes into play. You can have a site that’s designed well and clear to understand, but without the right SEO, users won’t find you online.

Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of improving the quality and quantity of organic traffic to your website page from organic searches on Google and other search engines. Utilizing specific keywords in your website copy that users search for increases your ranking in search engine results (SERPs), boosting the number of visitors to your site. Below are a few SEO-friendly tips:

Effective Keywords

Keywords are ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In the context of SEO, they’re words or phrases that users enter into search engines. SEO for doctors would entail using keywords on your page relevant to what your target marketing is searching for. For example, you might discover that people often search for “dermatologist in Chicago,” and so, to rank higher, you’d include that keyword in your website copy. Keywords should also be used in image labels and captions, page titles, blog categories, and general page content.

Fast Site Speed

Your website should not take longer than 1-2 seconds to load. Site speed, also known as page speed, is one of the signals used by Google’s algorithm to rank websites. The longer your website takes to load, the lower it will rank. Users also tend to leave a slow-loading site, which can increase their bounce rate. According to SEO expert Neil Patel, if a website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 80% of users will not return.

medical website speed insights

Mobile Responsiveness

77% of Americans use smartphones, so the content on your website content should be easy to read, and its accompanying visuals must translate well when viewed on a mobile phone. When searching for particular medical practitioners, many will add the words “near me.” If your SEO is strong and your practice is linked to Google Business and Maps, your site should rank high on Google searches within your vicinity.

PPC Tips for Medical Professionals

Pay-per-click is an internet advertising model that drives traffic to websites. The advertiser pays a publisher, like a search engine, a website owner, or a network of websites, only when the ad is clicked. Healthcare PPC marketing can be used to address competitors directly or break into new markets. It should be used in tandem with SEO, content marketing, and a strong social media presence.

Most PPC advertisements appear at the top of search engine result pages and come in text, display, and shopping ads. Using PPC marketing for doctors can provide you with speedier returns on your marketing budget spent, increased visibility, precisely targeted marketing, and useful data from which you can gain valuable behavioral insights about your potential patients or customers.

medical facilities pay per click ads

A study found that 90% of hospital administrators rely on search engines to identify vendor and product options. Using effective Healthcare SEO keywords will help improve your PPC strategy by enabling you to create more relevant, Quality Score-friendly advertisements. To do so, you need to know who you are targeting and what your advertising goals are, as each PPC advertisement needs to be tailored to provide a specific outcome,

E-mail Marketing for Healthcare Providers

E-mail marketing for medical professionals generates one of the highest ROIs. It connects with potential clients and patients in a highly personalized way. There’s no channel with a direct, wider reach than email as most internet users will have at least one email address. As a medical practitioner or related business, you’ll most likely already have an emailing list with past clients/patients that you can start off using.

E-mail healthcare marketing usually works best when an e-mail with a promotional offer or newsletter is sent to a particular segment or target audience. It can help you connect with your intended audience to sell products, share news and improve the awareness of your professional services/products. This is especially important in the health industry, where people may not use your services regularly.

subscribe to our newsletter form

Successful email marketing for doctors entails creating a copy with a personalized message and a strong subject line that immediately elicits a click. E-mail marketing for doctors might include sending out a newsletter with tips to maintain one’s health, a discount on related health products or services, and a strong call to action. In terms of market spend, e-mail has the highest ROI, with an estimated return of $51 for every $1 spent.

How to Use Social Media for Medical Marketing?

Social media marketing uses social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. Healthcare social media marketing involves publishing content on your social media profiles, engaging with followers, gathering data to analyze results, and executing social media advertisements.

YouTube Marketing for Doctors

More than 5 billion videos are watched every day on YouTube. For some, its specialized, niche content has even replaced the need to watch traditional television. Making videos that can be shared and marketed online is a powerful way to connect with potential customers or patients. Whether you’re creating video advertisements or creative vlogging content, the most effective video marketing in the healthcare sector is education-based and offers useful information to its audience.

For example, as a doctor, you might decide to produce a healthcare video marketing campaign with a few short videos answering common questions about Covid-19 health precautions. These videos can be shared directly on your social media platforms’ feeds or form part of a deliberate, paid social media advertising campaign.

Video marketing for doctors is an effective way to promote your practice and professional services and gain credibility. When your videos are produced in a personalized manner, it allows potential patients to meet you before making an appointment. And, what better way to win them over than by speaking to them directly, “face-to-face.”

youtube marketing for doctors

Facebook Healthcare Marketing

Facebook remains one of the biggest social media platforms. Like all social media platforms, the emphasis lies on connecting socially with other users. Smart Facebook healthcare marketing uses the platform to build brand awareness rather than opting for a hard sell. The first step to using Facebook effectively is to set up a Facebook page that lists your business and services.

Facebook allows businesses to share content in a meaningful way, building communities and connecting with different groups in their target market. Posting valuable content that is text, image or video-based, will likely be shared between users and indirectly advertises you without much effort. Of course, you can boost your content with Facebook to reach specific audiences.

Over and above users’ comments, this social media’s built-in analytics tool also provides real-time feedback in the form of valuable data about the types of users who are engaging with your content. Remember, this platform is about community, so it’s important to engage with users’ comments and queries to strengthen credibility and brand awareness.

facebook digital medical marketing

Twitter Medical Marketing

Like Facebook, Twitter can also increase brand awareness and build credibility. The healthcare industry often gets lambasted for its cold and cordial professional approach, but Twitter can help you and your brand become more relatable if used correctly. It is a great place to promote blog posts, public press releases, product updates, and video content.

When you include links in your Tweets to your website and landing pages, you increase traffic to your website and potential leads. Twitter healthcare marketing allows you to set up polls, answer questions directly from users and engage in social listening, i.e., monitor trending conversations that you can create content around.

When it comes to Twitter marketing for doctors, be sure to make your Tweets informative and engage with your audience in a meaningful manner. The KISS principle of keeping it short and simple applies strongly. And remember, provided the user isn’t a troll, if they engage with you directly, it’s important to interact with them to maintain your credibility and build rapport. Everyone likes it when they’re attended to, even if it’s just online.

twitter marketing for doctors

Instagram Marketing for Doctors

Compared to Facebook and Twitter, medical Instagram marketing is strongly driven by visuals that connect with the audience and build community. It’s designed to share video content and images with other users. Using Instagram for healthcare marketing has many benefits, including connecting with a younger target audience ranging between 18-34 years.

Like Twitter and Facebook, you can post videos and images on your feed, linking back to your website, or pay for sponsored posts to boost engagement. Instagram’s algorithm favors consistency, the use of correct hashtags, and when users bookmark posts, i.e., when they save posts instead of just liking them.

In the healthcare profession, there’s a variety of ways to use this visually centered platform creatively. Many facilities will upload images related to patient testimonials or even specific healthcare procedures when using Instagram for medical practices. For example, a prosthetist might share videos or images about a new leg brace, including instructions on putting it on. Using Instagram for doctors could entail posting short video clips answering FAQs, shared through reel or stories. Always remember to make your posts visually striking and use the right hashtags to drive more users to your page and website.

instagram healthcare marketing

Conclusion

If you’re in the healthcare industry and need expert help with digital marketing, contact us at Comrade. As a web design and digital marketing agency, we specialize in helping professionals improve their online presence and reach a greater audience with a range of digital marketing best practices. Call us today at (312) 265-05-80 and speak to one of our experts to find out how we can help improve your digital marketing return on investment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do you operate?

Comrade originates in Chicago, but we worked all around the United States. We can help your business grow and increase revenue whenever you are. We have offices across most major cities in the US. For example, we can offer digital marketing services in Portland or Kansas City. You can even find our internet marketing experts in Chicago! If you want to know more about our San Antonio digital marketing agency or find out how exactly we can help you, contact us via the phone or email.

About the Author
Stan co-founded Comrade Digital Marketing and serves as its marketing strategist and IT expert recruiter.
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Stan Bogdashin

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