Top 5 Questions About Healthcare Practice Marketing

Marketing is the business process for creating, communicating and delivering products and services that add value for customers and organizations.

A marketing consultant or marketing company offers services that include: market research, market segmentation, as well as creating a marketing strategy for pricing, promotion and distribution. A marketing management company may offer one or more of these services, based on their resources and expertise.

Advertising is a form of marketing communication that uses a paid sponsored message to promote a product or service. The presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement, advert or ad.

Traditional advertising includes newspapers, magazines, television, radio, direct mail, billboards, sponsoring events, etc. Digital advertising includes search engines, social media, websites, blog articles, text messages, etc.

Practice marketing utilizes the concepts of marketing to promote a health and wellness practice.

Traditionally, marketing and advertising were simply seen as creative arts. However, the academic study of marketing from various fields of study, such as social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology, neuroscience, and even physics, allows it to be globally recognized as a scientific field of study. There are many universities now offering graduate level programs in marketing.

Practice marketing of a healthcare practice requires different expertise than marketing a retail store or consumer product. Understanding the psychology of the patient is fundamental for creating practice marketing that resonates with patients. Furthermore, understanding the healthcare services offered is essential for promoting them effectively while remaining compliant with all regulators.

Medical marketing or medical advertising can work, if implemented effectively. Otherwise, it may be a waste of a healthcare practice’s budget, may damage their reputation and may even result in penalties from regulators.

Digital marketing has changed every business industry, including the health and wellness industries. Traditional marketing and advertising are being replaced by powerful digital tools with robust analytics to optimize your practice performance.

"As more people go online to interact with their banks and make purchases, they want to do this with their doctors, health plans, and condition and disease management as well."
Laura Clapper, MD, OneRecovery, 2012

The majority of your patients are looking to learn about their health and wellness conditions online:

"80% of Internet users have searched for a health-related topic online."
Pew Research Centre, 2018

Furthermore, many are looking for communities to interact with and learn from, creating opportunities for your practice to be seen as a health expert:

"42% of people have used social media to access health-related reviews, 30% have supported a health cause, 25% have posted about their health experience, and 20% have joined a health forum or community."
PWC, Health Research Institute, 2012

An effective healthcare marketing plan can grow your health and wellness practice with new patients. Even if you receive a patient referral, they will still go online to explore your website and learn about your practice.

97% of consumers go online prior to making a purchase to research products and services locally.
BIA/Kelsey, 2015

If your patients want to learn more about their health condition, they often look for information on a search engine. What they find are blog articles, electronic books (eBooks), helpful guides, and other forms of digital content.

If your patients find your blog article or eBook, which educates them on their health condition and provides helpful answers to their questions, they start to trust you as a health expert.

Healthcare practices that educate their audience take on a special status in the eyes of their students. When your medical practice produces practical and educational material in your area of expertise, the people who read it begin to trust and rely on you. When they’re ready to find a new healthcare provider, they think of you first.

The Business Clinic is a marketing and advertising company that specializes in supporting the health and wellness industry in Alberta. As a result, we understand the industry, your business model, your unique health products and services, your patients’ needs and the regulatory environment through extensive research and experience.