The Importance of Customer Acquisition
Customer acquisition refers to the strategies your company uses to bring in new customers. In the modern world of healthcare, there are constantly new ways to acquire patients. Implementing new customer acquisition habits into your marketing strategy can be very beneficial. It will allow you to stay ahead of competitors and grow your patient base.
It takes a special approach when it comes to healthcare. You need to know patient values, as well as understand what they are looking for in a healthcare practice. By representing this understanding on different platforms, potential patients will feel more connected to your practice.
Ensuring that your practice exhibits a unique message and strategy is the most important part of patient acquisition. This will set you apart from competitors and urge potential patients to remember your practice for a particular reason. Today, there are endless platforms that your practice can use to distinguish itself, but the truth is that only a few are necessary and effective. By focusing efforts on the most effective mediums, you will notice that customer acquisition is not as demanding as it may seem.
NewGen Marketing believes in adapting to the future of healthcare and staying one step ahead. Our team values a multichannel approach, with the understanding that this is the way to acquire the most patient leads. The future of healthcare is changing – is your practice prepared? Check out these tips on improving your practice’s customer acquisition strategy.
1. Encourage Referrals to Improve Customer Acquisition
Patient referral programs are inexpensive and highly effective. As we all know, word of mouth is the most effective marketing channel; and referrals are no different. One way to do this is to encourage patients to refer their friends or family to your practice and receive a reward. This way, next time one of your patients’ friends mentions that they need a particular doctor, your patient will feel more inclined and reminded to speak up and recommend your practice.
Referrals can also come from physicians that do not offer a specific service. Many times, their patients will be recommended for physical therapy or perhaps blood work. But the question is – how do physicians craft this list of preferred clinics? It all comes down to relationships and maintaining them.
If your practice is not already a reputable staple in the community, do not worry. You may begin by introducing yourself to physicians in the area. This includes handing out pamphlets or infographics with important information, such as services, names of your specialists, phone numbers, and website information. This way, they will be able to provide their patients with more information and lead them in the correct direction with referrals. By staying connected with physicians and making sure that they feel appreciated for any and all referrals, there is more of a chance it will continue.
NewGen Marketing works with healthcare providers to ensure that their practice is seen as a leader in the community. By improving brand reputation, nearby physicians will take notice and be more likely to refer their patients to your practice.
2. Dominate the SEO Game
Right now, the most common way that patients find providers is through online searching.
Most commonly, through the template, “Best _____ specialist near me.” For this reason, it is absolutely imperative that your practice is utilizing SEO marketing to drive your practice up in search engines.
A higher SEO ranking will increase your clicks, ultimately increasing potential patient leads. Luckily, SEO marketing is inexpensive, and investing in it can also improve your practice’s online presence.
The first step for healthcare SEO is to focus on local SEO trends – this way you will reach individuals in your community. This includes keeping your Google Business page updated including contact information, pictures, reviews, and service hours. When someone searches for a specific business in the area, Google will display four or five prominent ones – and your business should be on there. By focusing on keyword optimization and website improvement, this is very possible.
SEO is also useful to gain national recognition. Many healthcare organizations will provide a “blog” category on their website. This is one of the best ways to incorporate SEO keywords to increase your practice’s ranking. Blogs can consist of patient education articles and other newsworthy healthcare content. This will make your website content useful to people from all around, ultimately driving up the local ranking as well.
By upgrading your practice’s website and including better SEO, your practice will be able to acquire patients on a heightened scale.
3. Take Advantage of Social Media
Social media is a rising force in the healthcare industry. Creating a well-defined social media profile is a great way to raise brand awareness. This should include consistent branding, engaging content, patient testimonials, and team spotlights.
Posting engaging, educational content is one of the best ways to reach social media users. They will be more likely to interact if they feel they can gain something from it. For example, if your practice specializes in physical therapy, it would be wise to post content relating to this, such as exercises or stretches. It can also be beneficial to post newsworthy content on your social media platforms. During COVID-19, many social media users were getting their news from different social media platforms. Many would even reshare posts to their stories. This can bring attention to your practice’s profile and make more users take notice.
Patient testimonials are another great way to gain recognition and reliability from potential patients. This humanizes your practice and allows social media users to see what a visit at your practice might look like. 90% of individuals check reviews before deciding on a healthcare provider. Therefore, including these on your social media can be very beneficial.
NewGen Marketing strongly believes in using social media as a prominent marketing tool. Our team has witnessed the undeniable benefits it has proven for other companies. We are delighted to offer social media services to our clients. If you are interested in learning more about how NewGen approaches social media from a healthcare standpoint, check out this article.
How Can NewGen Help?
NewGen Marketing is a modern marketing team specializing in healthcare practices. We offer a variety of services, including social media management, SEO, web design, content creation, and general advertising. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your practice.