Marketing Your Medical Practice in 2023

Marketing is crucial for any business, including medical practices. While it’s tempting to focus solely on the medical side of the operation, simply hoping new patients come to your practice is not a winning strategy.

In today’s highly competitive healthcare industry, effective marketing can help medical practices like yours attract and retain patients, build brand recognition, and improve your bottom line. Even already-successful practices can grow through effective marketing.

In this article, we’ll explore the importance of marketing for medical practices and how you can implement effective marketing strategies in 2023.

Why Marketing is Important

Attracts and Retains New Patients

Marketing helps medical practices like yours attract new patients who are in need of your services. While great marketing gets more patients in the door, poor marketing prevents you from reaching the right people.

Determine who your typical patients are; this is your target market! By determining who your patients are, you’re more likely to reach them. For example, if you run a women’s clinic, sponsor a meal at a women’s book club in town or, share your posts on a women’s-only online forum in your area. Niching down will help you to get to the heart of your target market.

But, marketing is not just about attracting new patients; it’s also about retaining existing patients. Your practice can use marketing to keep your patients engaged and informed about your services, their care plan, and other offerings. For example, implementing remote patient care services like automated patient education or a HIPAA compliant messaging portal are unique offerings that other practices may not have.

Increases Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is important because it helps your practice stand out in a crowded industry. Through effective marketing, practices can build a strong brand image that patients can identify with. 

Your practice likely already has a logo, website, and other marketing materials. What you may not be doing is driving home your practice’s mission and values in all of your communications. For example, if your practice places a great emphasis on patient comfort, you could write in your emails or flyers “We dedicate ourselves to making patients feel as comfortable as possible.” 

While often overlooked, this mindset shift can set your brand apart from the rest. By being consistent in your messaging and focusing on your mission, you can establish trust with prospective and current patients as well as improve your reputation in the industry.

Improves Revenue

Marketing increases practice revenue through attracting more patients and increasing the frequency of visits. Patients tend to put off scheduling doctor’s visits for a variety of reasons. But, if a prospective or returning patient sees outreach from you, they’re more likely to schedule. Again, hoping isn’t a marketing strategy. It’s up to you to communicate your offerings with your target audience.

By implementing effective marketing strategies, you can also increase your patient base and promote high-value services that generate additional revenue. This can include offering package deals, promotions, and loyalty programs that encourage patients to return for follow-up appointments.

Ways to Market Your Medical Practice in 2023

Now that we’ve discussed why marketing is necessary, here are a few ways that you can begin marketing your practice. Keeping in mind, that every practices’ goals and strategies are different.

Develop a Strong Online Presence

In 2023, having a strong online presence is essential for any medical practice. Patients often turn to the internet to research medical providers, so it’s important for practices to have a user-friendly website that provides information about your services, location, and staff. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can also be used to engage with patients, share updates, and provide educational content. 

Utilize Email Marketing

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to stay in touch with patients and keep them informed about the latest services and promotions. Practices can collect patient email addresses through your website, appointment booking system, or in-person interactions. Regular newsletters can be sent out with updates, promotions, and educational content that keep patients engaged and informed.

Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can help medical practices attract more patients who are searching for your services online. SEO strategies can include keyword research, content optimization, and link building.

Utilize Paid Advertising

Paid advertising can be used to target specific audiences and promote your practice’s services. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are two of the most popular platforms for paid advertising. Practices can target specific keywords or demographics to reach potential patients who are searching for via search engines like Google or Bing.

Don’t Have the Time? Consider Outsourcing.

Some practices are lucky enough to have an internal marketing director or department who can implement and manage these strategies. However, this isn’t the case for most practices. If these strategies appear to be beyond the scope of your practice’s capabilities, outsource to a marketing company whose sole mission is to help practices market their business and gain more patients. 

It’s for this reason that BodySite is “pearing” up with Patient Pear. Patient Pear offers a proven marketing system that will help you gain new patients each month. Let Patient Pear automate your scheduling and keep your calendar filled every month! Patient Pear provides doctors with a digital advertising service that aims to attract new patients through paid advertisements on platforms such as Facebook, Google, and TikTok. You can learn more about Patient Pear and how to attract new patients with digital advertising in our upcoming marketing webinar on March 15th at 12pm EST, featuring Patient Pear. 

Not using BodySite yet to augment your suite of services in your health practice? Click here to start your 30-day free trial to get started today!