How To Get New Patients For Your Medical Practice – A Detailed Step by Step Guide
As the owner of a medical practice, it is not enough to simply rely on current patients to maintain your business. Without learning how to attract new patients, your business will have no room for growth. Additionally, if any patients were to move away, you will notice a decline in profits without new patients coming in. The good news is that your current patients can actually help you attract new patients by making referrals. You can directly ask them to suggest your practice to a friend or family member, but as long as you provide quality medical care in a prompt and friendly manner, they will usually refer these people without being prompted. While word of mouth is an excellent method of getting new patients, there are other methods of how to get new patients that should be used together with referrals as part of your medical marketing strategy.
Optimize Your Website
By now, all businesses, whether they are medical or retail, know that a good website is key to success as this is the first impression you will make on most potential new clients. Remember, however, that a big part of how to attract patients is ensuring that the website works just as well on mobile devices as on computers. Today the majority of people have smartphones and will use these or tablets to search for a new doctor online. People find their smartphones to be the easiest way to browse online as they will be right there. As such, you need to not only ensure that your page is functional on mobile devices, but that it is designed with them in mind. Be certain that viewers can click on the number appearing on your website and instantly call your clinic, preventing the need to copy and paste the number. As part of our dental website design service we ensure that your website has all of these basic but important features.
Create Weekly Blog Posts
While a quality website can make a large difference in terms of learning how to attract new patients, a blog can be the perfect supplement. Blog posts are your chance to show potential clients your expertise in the area and are a good medical SEO tactic as well. They can also improve your website’s search engine optimization when designed and written correctly with the ideal content. You can even share your blog posts on social media pages to help your social media profile stay active while attracting viewers to your blog. Remember to write about content potential clients will find useful, preferably topics not found elsewhere, and include a spot on each blog post to sign up for emails or a newsletter.
Take Advantage Of Email Marketing
In addition to having a spot to sign up for email newsletters in the blog, have somewhere in your medical office as well and a spot on the general website. The easiest way to do this is to ask for the email address of every new client and have them indicate whether they would like to receive emails. Try to send out an email campaign ever two weeks at a minimum and this should include health tips, promotions, or highlights from recent blog posts.
Use Facebook And Google Ads
Social media networks are becoming increasingly popular so it should come as no surprise that Facebook is a crucial marketing strategy for finding out how to attract new patients. When you set up an ad on Facebook, it will allow you to narrow down your target audience based on location and/or age so you can spend your ad money on only the viewers who have the potential to become clients. Google offers similar methods of targeting your ads as well as analytic tools to help you analyze your website or optimize marketing campaigns.
Market On Social Media
In addition to using Facebook ads, one of the most important aspects of how to get new patients is to effectively take advantage of all social media pages. This means that you need to set up a Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Google+ page. Aim to update each of these networks at least once daily to keep content up to date. Also be sure to use social media to share the various blog posts you create. Include links and information that will be useful to viewers and potential patients, such as health tips and quotes or even tips for staying healthy while traveling. Ensure that instead of simply relying on text in your posts, you also share photos and even the occasional video as these will engage your viewers more. If you have time, consider creating a YouTube channel with videos on the most common or useful topics and tips related to your particular field of medicine. To ensure that clients follow you on social media, offer special promotions only on those networks.
Offers Seasonal Promotions
Another great method to help you attract new clients is to run promotions at specific times of the year. If, for example, you are a pediatrician and therefore tend to be busier during school vacations, offer promotions during the school year to keep clients coming to visit. Something simple like a discount may be enough to bring in new clients and keep your numbers up during the slow months.
Create A Customer Loyalty Program
If you ask anyone how to attract patients, they will probably tell you to create a customer loyalty program. This program will help your business as it will encourage clients to return, but it will also help them stay on track with their routine checkups, such as annual physicals or dental cleanings every six months. Try offering some sort of discount or reward for clients who accumulate a specific number of visits or never miss an appointment.
Other Methods To Implement
The above methods are perhaps the best methods of how to get new patients for your medical practice. You should still, however, keep some other tactics in mind, such as direct mailing. If you opt for direct mailing, however, you will have to plan it carefully in order for the profits to be greater than the costs. You can also try getting your name out in the community by volunteering or offering special programs, such as outreach ones for those with lower incomes. Even something small, such as sending handwritten thank you notes to any current client who refers a new one, can make a big difference.
